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TOP PICKS | 13 TOOLS
Language Skills Apps for Kids with Special Needs
Top Picks
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Speech Journal
Audio wed to images for multiple learning/teaching goals
Bottom line: Journal is easy to use, but sharing option is weak.
Grades: Pre-K–3
Price: $3.99
Articulation Station
Pricey but definitely worth it for kids struggling with pronunciation
Bottom line: For helping students with letter and word pronunciation, this highly valuable tool is worth the cost.
Grades: K–2
Price: Free to try The only letter sound that comes as a trial with the free version is "P," otherwise you have to pay anywhere from $3.99 to $7.99 for the various letter sound programs. The Pro Package that contains them all is $59.99.
ConversationBuilder
Themed scripts help kids practice successful social exchanges
Bottom line: For speech-language pathologists, this is a must-have tool for helping kids learn conversation skills.
Grades: K–6
Price: $19.99
QuestionIt
Wh- questions taught in concrete ways for kids with language delays
Bottom line: A solid, if basic, approach to teaching question words and concepts to students with significant language issues.
Grades: K–7
Price: Free to try, Paid
Proloquo2Go
Brilliant tool helps kids with speech difficulties communicate
Bottom line: The price is hefty, but Proloquo2Go carries its weight by providing students and teachers an effective, one-of-a-kind communication tool.
Grades: K–12
Price: Paid $249.99
Read&Write
Useful text-to-speech app and extension unlocks the written word
Bottom line: A valuable tool to make classroom use of websites and digital documents more accessible to all students.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free to try 30-day free trial. $145 per year for a single license and access to Read&Write across all platforms. School and district licenses also available.
Seeing AI
Free app uses AI to communicate the world to visually impaired kids
Bottom line: Students who are blind or have visual impairments will likely find this multifunctional tool to be a welcome and useful shift from more limited apps.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free
Vizzle
Visual lessons reinforce concepts for students with special needs
Bottom line: Thoughtful but dated tool helps with differentiation and progress-tracking for students with autism.
Grades: K–12
Price: Free to try, Paid After the free trial, price is dependent on usage licenses.
Pictello
Fabulous tool can help kids create social stories
Bottom line: Pictello is a great way for kids to create social stories that can help them find their unique voice and prepare for internal and external struggles.
Grades: 1–5
Price: $19.99
News-2-You
Draw kids into weekly news with powerful symbols and voice narration
Bottom line: Students can expand literacy skills, learn about the world, and get involved with discussion questions and activities.
Grades: 2–6
Price: $1.99 per newspaper; $54.99 per year New and archived newspapers can be purchased for $1.99. Annual access to all newspapers is $54.99.
ClaroSpeak
Give kids a voice with supportive, quality text-to-speech tool
Bottom line: It's easy to use, and the multiple settings and functions make this app well worth the price.
Grades: 2–12
Price: Free, Paid For $9.99, users can unlock more voices, OCR, save to Dropbox and Google Drive, and autocorrect.
Notability
Flexible note-taking tool empowers learners of all abilities
Bottom line: An excellent tool that lets students make their notes thorough and useful in the way that best suits their learning styles and abilities.
Grades: 6–12
Price: $9.99
Microsoft OneNote
Note-taking giant built for flexible, collaborative work
Bottom line: A powerful (and free) tool for thinking and organization that's making smart strides in the education space.
Grades: 6–12
Price: Free
