The reviews for our ConversationBuilderTeen social skills app are really starting to come in now. It is really gratifying that so many SLP’s and parents really understand what I was trying to accomplish with the teen version of ConversationBuilder. On top of having conversations about normal teen obsessions, we cover the yucky stuff too – Bullying, Sarcasm, Peer Pressure, etc. It is these modules that I believe are the most important.
We worked hard to make these “real” conversations that teens would have. So often, teen with social skill deficits are targets are bullying, and they are told to walk away if someone is bullying them. The sad truth is that if this approach worked, then bullying wouldn’t exist. Instead, we teach kids how to respond with sarcasm when they are being bullied or having peer pressure applied to them. We teach them how to take the fun away from the person doing the bullying. Only when a student can become adept at doing this will the bullying stop.
Jenna Rayburn of Speech Time News has written a wonderful review of ConversationBuilderTeen. She has used it with teens and seen first hand how well they respond to it and why it is important. She writes:
The themes in conversation builder are suited well for teenage relationships. It’s often hard for SLP’s and teachers to model the type of situations that take place in the high school hallways in an authentic way. I like that the answers aren’t always example of ‘good behavior,’ but rather typical teenage phrases. For example, in the sarcasm model, one of the items includes a group of girls telling a fake story to you about a popular girl. One of the correct answers is “Will you shut up!” The app uses expected teenage slang and sarcasm “Right – and I bet she robbed a bank last night too” to demonstrate real life communication exchanges.
The bullying topics are appropriate and put the students in the actual situations. For example, in one conversation, someone says “How’s the most popular girl in school?” The student must detect sarcasm and decide how to react.
So far, I haven’t seen another app on the market take on tough topics like Conversation Builder Teen. Smoking, stealing, online bullying, Facebook, self deprecating sarcasm, sitting in the cafeteria, defending others, pregnancy rumors, breakups, dating, parties, concerts, divorce, and texting are just a few of the conversation topics.
Stop by her blog to read the rest. On top of many images from the app, she is also having a raffle for a free copy. The raffle ends in 4 days, so hurry!
To find out more about ConversationBuilderTeen and our other speech therapy apps, tap on the icon below!
