A couple of questions......
What do you see when you look at a smart device like the Amazon Echo Dot?
Do you see a device to just play music?
A device to just wake you up in the morning?
A device to just tell you the date and time?
If you follow me on Instagram (which you totally should lol), you know that as Speech Language Pathologists, we have to “see'' everyday items differently than the rest of the world. That’s one of the skills that make us who we are as CLINICIANS. We know that....
therapy is not only a science, but an ART.
Here are just a few features of the Amazon Echo Dot, but keep in mind that many Smart Devices have similar features:
Let's pretend that you were in a therapy session with a patient with 3 items 1.)a pen, 2.) a piece of paper, and 3.) an Amazon Echo Dot, could you have a functional and person centered therapy with just those three items?
Hopefully, your response to that question was a resounding "YES". Yes, you could if the patient had MOTOR SPEECH deficits. Yes, if the patient had MEMORY deficits. Yes, if the patent had LANGUAGE deficits.
If your answer wasn't "yes", then consider browsing the latest new F.A.S.T. Activity Guide in my digital download store for some inspiration. This guide is perfect for SLPs who see the value in leveraging technology to increase a patient's level of independence, task performance, or even communication effectiveness. The guide includes:
- over 25+ sample commands and questions
- 12+ sample long term and short term goals that can be customized to fit patient needs
- a 25+ item Skills Checklist related to the following competencies: Operational Competency, Linguistic Competency, Social Competency, Strategic Competency
Remember: facilitating the use of assistive technology as communication support and helping to improve quality of life are some of the many roles of a Speech Language Pathologist. This is totally within our scope of practice and can be so valuable to patients who are appropriate.
P.S. You can check out some of the Amazon Echo Dot's Adaptive Listening features within Accessibility Features here in this Instagram Post.
As always, have a great therapy visit!
-Dana (The Neuro SLP)
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