Learning at Home: Learning Challenges

Poorani Doonan, founder of Speech with Milo, is a licensed speech-language pathologist based in San Ramon, California. Poorani recognized the versatility of the iPad and iPhone in speech therapy, and created a range of apps that provide both parents and speech pathologists with affordable interactive tools to help children enhance language building skills. Poorani recently joined the Special Education Team at a local school district and provides therapy for children Kindergarten-5th grade. She has presented to Apple on the benefits and applications of using the iPad for speech therapy.

Sound Literacy is an instructional tool for tutors and teachers.

For help on how to customize Sound Literacy to meet your needs be sure to visit our blog.

Sound Literacy is the first iPad app that brings your letter tiles in to the 21st Century. It is NOW being used in 19 countries across the globe and growing quickly! Spread the word and integrate Sound Literacy into your curriculum.

***Named one of the 12 Best Apps for Special Needs of 2012 by Teachers with Apps***

Available on Apple only

About the App
1) 6 games that each test a different learning ability
2) Email your results to those that need to know
3) Suggests how to make better use of your learning strengths
4) Explains what difficulties you will experience where you have a weakness
5) Three different paths up the mountain encourage you to replay games and improve your skills
6) Collect all 18 yetis

Give your kids global academic advantage: read 20 minutes with your kids every day! Available on Apple and Google Play

This app is a fun, effective phonics recognition game th

Dyseggxia was created for students with dyslexia. It includes a randomized series of exercises to practice recognizing and building words that are typically difficult for students with dyslexia to remember. Once purchased, the user can play in Spanish or in English.

This app allows independent discovery of an unknown spelling or a quick check on an uncertain word.

Dr. Gary Brown's Autism/DTT Letters app uses Discrete Trial Training (DTT) to help your child learn the letters of the alphabet (A-Z) and to learn the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters. The letters can be viewed in a simple sans-serif font, serif font, handwritten print font, a cursive font and with several other new card sets. The app also includes the letters in American Sign Language. This app has been tested extensively in Dr. Brown's clinic with children who have autism, ADHD, and other developmental disorders.


DTT is not a children's game. It is a therapy based on years of scientific research. DTT is the primary teaching method used in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to teach numerous pre-academic and social skills to children with autism. This app can be used to help teach the letters of the alphabet to children with autism, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), or any child who has trouble staying on task.

This is Dr. Gary Brown’s Autism/DTT Shapes App. This app uses Discrete Trial Training (DTT) to help your child learn the basic shapes. DTT is the primary teaching method used in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to teach numerous pre-academic and social skills to children with autism. This app can be used to help teach the basic shapes to children with autism, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), or any child who has trouble staying on task.


Children using this app will be able to learn the shapes in English, French, Norwegian or Spanish by taking a flash card like quiz. Other language packs will be added soon! (Note, the startup and config screens of the app are currently in English only.)

Help your child learn to read by using Sight Words by Teach Speech Apps. This simple flash card app makes it easy to practice sight words anywhere. Based on the Dolch Word list that is broken down into 6 groups:

- Pre-Kindergarten
- Kindergarten
- 1st Grade
- 2nd Grade
- 3rd Grade
- Nouns

Teach your children everyday kids activities through a fun drag & drop sequence game designed for children with autism and developed by specialized therapists.

Visual Instruction for Autism and Special Needs. Replace all of your flash cards with the 4,400 pictures and 2,200 exercises developed by professionals. More than 500,000 users in 104 countries! Create custom lessons using the starter library, or purchase any of 50 individual libraries with over 4,400 pictures and 2,200 exercises developed by professionals. Subscribe to the Brain Parade Community for access to thousands more lessons shared by your peers around the globe.

This is a sample version of Verbal Me, a basic AAC and choice board app designed by special needs teachers for their students. Non-verbal kids can tap a button and the iPad will speak the button text aloud in either a boy's or girl's voice. This limited version includes 14 screen choices: yes-no, A-B-C, 1-2-3-4-5, Happy-Mad-Sad-Calm, Day-Night, bullying, weather, colors, fruits, letter sounds.


Buttons contain text and/or picture so non-reading students can participate.

Autism iHelp is a vocabulary teaching aid developed by parents of a child with Autism and a speech-language pathologist. Autism iHelp was inspired by the need for specific language intervention tools for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder focusing on their unique strengths and difficulty with expressive vocabulary.

Autism iHelp - WH?'s consists of questions paired with appropriate real world picture responses.

This app includes several photos and questions chosen based on established expressive language milestones.

Autism iHelp - WH?'s address a very specific area of higher level language need in the Autism population. Through routine learning, children learn labeling of concepts. WH ?'s require incorporating more abstract thought and generalization in regard to the learned concepts. Children with Autism often have difficulty with this particular skill, and Autism iHelp - WH?'s apps are an excellent way to target a vital educational benchmark in a mobile capacity.