Minimal Pairs is a fun and engaging application for working on speech sound discrimination and production. The app is designed for children whose speech is still developing, but it can be useful for a number of different people. Minimal pairs exercises are used by people with with dysphasia, dyslexia or dysgraphia; teachers of adult literacy; therapists working with children who have language and literacy needs or those working with people for whom English is a second language. The app can be set up by parents, teachers and speech pathologists and can be used in both listening and practising for speaking modes, using phrase completion tasks.
There are settings to turn the Dubdub styling off if you’re using the app with an older child or an adult.
The program targets the following speech sounds in the initial, medial, final and blend position of words: p, b, m, n, t, d, k, g, f, v, s, z, dz (as in jam), j (as in yacht), w, r, l, th, sh, ch. You can choose to work on sounds at the beginning of words (such as wing and ring), the middle (open and ocean), the end (bed and bet), or in blends (such as clock compared to lock). Each task can also be modified to have the symbol and text, just the text or just the symbol. At the end of each set, you can watch motivational videos of Dubdub and see the results. Results are easily shared via email so you can keep a track of progress made by your child.
Features:
• Over 700 individual target words
• Targets auditory discrimination (identifying the difference between sounds in words)
• Targets spoken production of minimal pair contrasts at word level and within phrase completion tasks
• The app covers all consonants in English and offers both English and American voices
• Option to present the cards with symbol only, symbol + word or word only
• Spoken cues
• Engaging and colourful Widgit symbols
• Fun and motivational videos
• Fun sounds used as a reinforcement to aid learning (can also be turned off)
• Option of two themes (Dubdub’s theme or simple -- adult friendly -- theme)
• Clear visual feedback on each item
• Automatically keeps track of accuracy
• Email results table (includes performance of each item within the set and the overall percentage correct within the set.
• Parental control menu access
• Information from our resident speech therapist
• Enables self directed learning and continuation of therapy at home