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!