New York, Pamela Mandell – is Founder and CEO of Speak Eazy Apps and is a certified speech and language pathologist with over 14 years’ experience. She currently provides speech and language services for toddlers at a non-profit school in Manhattan, as well as home-care services for babies, toddlers and preschoolers with special needs. Pamela is also mother to 2 boys.
The website states:
‘Feed Maxi is a fun and interactive speech-language app featuring sign language & 3D animations! Created by a speech-language pathologist, children increase expressive, receptive & pragmatic language skills while feeding Maxi, an adorable, hungry monkey, during a highly motivating & interactive game! During play with Feed Maxi, children learn language skills without ever knowing it!’
Feed Maxi the Monkey features Sign Language & 3D Animations to Enhance Communication Skills in Toddlers, Preschoolers and Children with Special Needs.
Feed Maxi emphasizes receptive (understood) language, expressive (spoken) language and pragmatic (functional/social) language and introduces simple sign language. Children label and identify requested food items, repeat Maxi the Monkey’s comments, such as “ouchie wawa,” “more” and “yummy in tummy,” and imitate sign language.
One testimonial on the website says:
‘Feed Maxi is a great interactive app that promotes communication while keeping my son entertained at the same time! He loves the surprises and rewards that he gets when he is successful, thus promoting further interest in playing. Truly, he has expanded his very limited diet since we downloaded this. HUGE for him! Since using Feed Maxi, he is now interested in a variety of different foods that he has recognized from feeding Maxi! WE LOVE IT! Penny Perez CEO & Founder Williams Syndrome Changing Lives Foundation’
Pamela explains that the inspiration for Feed Maxi came from a breakthrough therapy session she had with a little boy who suffered from a profound speech and language impairment.
“He was nonverbal, couldn’t follow directions or engage in joint routines, and was unable to identify objects in his environment until I put pictures of food items in front of him and put a monkey puppet on my hand,” says Pamela. “I spoke in a silly voice playing the monkey and the boy started to smile and interact for the first time! The ‘monkey’ asked the boy for pizza and the boy picked up the pizza picture and put it in the monkey’s mouth.”
The app is available to download from the Apple App Store and costs $2.99 US. It is only available for the IPad. More information can be found on the Speak Eazy Apps website
Email: support@speakeazyapps.com
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App Store Link
Part 2 with this reporter’s personal review follows here.