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Impact Awards presentation 2010.
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Impacting the world of people with a communication disorders and their families
Barbara Fernandes, M.S; CCC-SLP
Smarty Ears™, LLC
Total 36.5 Million Americans have some form of communication disorder.
Stuttering
Stroke
Voice
Language
Articulation
Difficulty Swallowing ? Autism
Challenges within Speech Therapy
• Shortage!! In 2000, there were 88,000 speech-language pathologists in the United States. ( We need 120,000).
• IDEA• Growing Spanish speaking
population – lack of materials
• Overwhelming majority of materials are printed- expensive & inaccessible to parents.
Paper & Pencil Materials• HearBuilder Phonological
Awareness - $149
• Webber Interactive " CD-ROM- $49.99
• 100 Grammar Tickle Stories : $29.99
• 400 Webber Sign Language Cards : $11.99
• PPVT/EVT™ Combo $400
- Printing & reprint- Storage & portability
The reality of technology for communication disorders
•Mightymo: $2989-3279•Minimo : $2669-2959
•DV4 : $7515•MT4 : $6879
Who pays the price? Parents, School districts &
Medicaid
We are trying to solve them:
Innovation Leader in Speech & Language Therapy Technology
Community Health
- reduces / eliminates waste caused by printed materials
Impacting our Environment
Technology + Speech & Language Therapy
- Culturally and Linguistically diverse individuals;
- world wide community!
- Improving the quality of life of individuals with a communication disorder;
- Improving the quality of services delivered to them;
Smarty Ears• Affordable - $29.99 X $ 364;
• Parents are able to practice with their children at home to maximize therapy time;
• We are green!
• Products being released in a variety of languages – Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish & English already available
• Portable & fun!
• 11 apps in 3 months! In a variety of areas : Language, Fluency, Articulation, Bilingual.
Challenges
•Available to iPhone & iPod users as of today;
•Capital – “A salary only goes so far”;
•One person company.
The future… • Expand into iPad market
• Expand into other Smart Phone industries
• Increase the number of languages and products available
• Expand into other health care professions;
• The possibilities are endless!
We are not solving it all
but we are for sure trying!