Speech Therapy Apps: Can One Replace a Speech Pathologist?

No. A speech therapy app cannot replace a speech pathologist, and neither can a self-paced online program. Neither can assess your child, hear exactly what went wrong in a word or change the plan when something is not working. What a well-made app can do is give your child extra practice of a skill a speech pathologist has already taught.

That is still worth something. Much of the progress in speech therapy comes from practice, and an app can make the twentieth try at a sound feel like a game. This guide sets out how apps, online programs and live online therapy differ, what an app is good for, what it cannot do, and how to judge one before you pay for it.

What is the difference between online therapy, an online program and an app?

Live online speech therapy, a self-paced online program and a speech therapy app are often mentioned together, but only the first has a speech pathologist working with your child.

What it offers	Live online speech therapy	Self-paced online program	Speech therapy app
Who works with your child	A speech pathologist, in real time by video	Nobody live; usually videos and activities for a parent to follow	Nobody; a game or drill on a phone or tablet
Assessment	Yes, it is the first step	Usually a questionnaire at most	No
Who gives feedback on each attempt	The speech pathologist, as it happens	The parent	The parent, or the app’s own scoring
Who changes the plan	The speech pathologist, session by session	Nobody; the program runs in a set order	The parent, by choosing levels
Cost and funding	Per session fees; Medicare, private health or NDIS funding may help	A one-off fee or subscription, not usually claimable	Free to subscription, not usually claimable
Best used for	Finding out what the difficulty is and treating it	Background reading and ideas for parents	Extra practice of a skill already taught

What is a speech therapy app good for?

A speech therapy app is good for repetition. Once a child has learned to make a sound, or to use a new word or sentence pattern, they need many short goes at it in different words and settings. A bright picture and a reward chime help a reluctant child keep going.

Apps also suit:

Practice with a list that matches the goal. Picture cards for words that start with “k”, for example, when that is the sound your child is working on.
Turn-taking play. Some apps work best as a shared activity, with an adult and child taking turns to name, describe or ask about what is on screen. The talking between you is what helps, not the app on its own.
Older children who like independence. A child or teenager who has been shown what a correct attempt sounds like may enjoy practising on their own, if their speech pathologist suggests it.

In each case the app is a tool inside a plan that someone else has made.

What can’t a speech therapy app do?

A speech therapy app cannot do the clinical work. It cannot:

Tell you whether there is a problem. The same mistake can come from different causes, and the cause decides the treatment. Finding it takes an assessment.
Hear the difference between nearly right and right. A lisp, for example, can be a sound made with the tongue between the teeth or a sound made with air escaping at the side. Both sound “wrong” to a parent, and they are treated differently.
Notice when practice is going the wrong way. Saying a sound the wrong way twenty times is still practice, of the wrong version.
Decide when to move on. Moving from single words to sentences too early, or staying on one level too long, both slow progress.
Pick up anything else. A speech pathologist who is listening for one sound will also notice a stutter, a language difficulty or a hearing concern. An app only looks for the answer it was built to check.

Is there research behind speech therapy apps?

There is very little. In 2018 a team of speech pathology researchers at La Trobe University searched the app stores and appraised 132 apps made to treat speech disorders in children. None was rated excellent, 25 were rated good and most were average. About four in five had been made by or with a speech pathologist, so that label on its own says little about quality.

The same researchers noted that it was not known whether the apps’ design scores matched any real change in children’s speech. That is the gap to keep in mind when an app’s store page promises results. For what the research shows about live speech therapy by video, see does online speech therapy work?

How do I judge a speech therapy app?

To judge a speech therapy app before you pay for it, ask these seven questions:

Who made it? Look for a named, qualified speech pathologist you can check, not only a company.
What is it based on? A good app says which approach it uses and whether the app itself has been tested, not only the approach behind it.
Does it match your child’s goal? An app full of “s” words does not help a child working on “k”, or on sentences.
Who gives the feedback? If the app rewards every tap, judging each attempt falls to you. If it claims to score your child’s speech, ask how it was tested with children’s voices.
Can you control it? You should be able to set the level and turn off ads, timers and in-app purchases that pull attention away.
What does it cost after the trial? Check the subscription price and how to cancel before you enter card details.
What about privacy? If the app records your child’s voice, find out where the recordings are kept, who can hear them and how to delete them.

The quickest check of all is to show the app to your child’s speech pathologist, who can tell you whether its words and levels fit your child’s goals.

Are speech therapy apps useful for toddlers?

For most toddlers, a tablet game is a poor stand-in for play with an adult. Early language grows through back-and-forth: a toddler points, a parent names, the toddler tries the word, the parent adds one more. A screen can be part of that if an adult is talking with the child about it, but the talking is what matters.

When Dr Lauren works with toddlers online, the work is built around everyday play and routines, with Dr Lauren coaching the parent during the session. Online speech therapy for toddlers and late talkers explains how that runs by video.

Is an app worth using while we decide on therapy?

An app is a harmless way to play with words while you decide, as long as it does not put off an assessment. If you are worried about your child’s speech, an app will not tell you whether you need to be, and waiting rarely makes the answer easier to find.

If cost is the reason you are looking at apps, the funding guide sets out the free and low-cost routes to a speech pathologist, alongside Medicare, private health and the NDIS.

How do apps fit with online therapy with Dr Lauren?

In online therapy with Dr Lauren Crumlish, Dr Lauren does the clinical work: she assesses your child, sets the goals, runs each session by video, measures progress and decides when to move on. Between sessions, families do short practice that she has shown them step by step, and she chooses the materials for each child. Whether an app is one of them is her call for your child, not a fixed part of the program.

How online speech therapy works walks through a session from start to finish, and the home practice guide explains what the practice between sessions involves. Families who would like to work with Dr Lauren can apply. Our team will review your application.