It can: show the work
SpeechSeed’s weekly PDF — days practised, words attempted, per-sound accuracy from real adult verdicts — is concrete evidence of home effort a team can see. It is a practice record, not an assessment.
For families
Working with your child’s school.
How assistive technology fits the IEP conversation, what the IDEA regulations actually require the team to consider, and what a practice-support app can honestly contribute. General information — not legal advice.
The framing
You know your child. The team knows the system. Both matter.
An IEP conversation goes better when everyone brings what they actually hold: the team brings services, goals and law; you bring the ground truth of your child’s days. Assistive technology sits right at that intersection — and it has legal standing in the conversation.
Under the IDEA regulations, the IEP team must “consider whether the child needs assistive technology devices and services” (34 CFR §300.324(a)(2)(v)). That single clause means AT is a required consideration, not a favour. This page is general information, not legal advice — your district’s process, and a local advocate if you have one, govern the specifics.
What to bring
What a practice-support app can honestly contribute — and what it can’t.
It can: demonstrate access
Folio with School Mode shows a team what a student who types to speak can do with a dignified talker today. PicExplainer shows how photographed figures become audible. Demonstrations move meetings.
It can’t: be the service
No app of ours is an evaluation, a therapy service, or an IEP goal. Services are delivered by professionals; our tools support the practice around them. Any vendor who blurs that line is selling you something.
Boundary lines, per app
Our own fine print, in plain sight.
SpeechSeed: practice between sessions; never scores individual speech sounds; routes you to an SLP when signs warrant. Folio AAC: a talker for students who read and type; complements, never replaces, an AAC evaluation. PicExplainer: explains photographed figures and flags what it can’t read; AI can make mistakes — verify important information; complements tactile graphics. Sidle: for older students; not a medical or therapeutic product; its App Privacy label — “Data Linked to You” — is named plainly on its page.
Try before you ask.
Every free tier works on a family iPad today, with no accounts to create. On privacy, the App Store labels say it best: SpeechSeed and PicExplainer read “Data Not Collected”, and Folio’s reads “Data Not Linked to You”, with School Mode keeping the talker itself on-device. Two weeks of real use is worth more in an IEP meeting than any brochure — including ours. Words that serve you in that room: “students with IEPs,” “assistive technology consideration,” and the citation above.
Free to use. Any optional upgrade is shown in the App Store before purchase.
Background: assistive technology in the classroom · when to talk to an SLP · executive-functioning skills
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Questions, a caseload we should think about, accessibility feedback — write to robin@kindabilities.com and Robin will read it.