Let's add some color!

Next up in the Speech Production category is Descriptive Sentence.

This exercise is all about rich, vivid, elaborate, and gloriously indulgent expression. So, in the spirit of the task, let's make this post considerably more lush than the last one.

The ability to use vivid, descriptive language is essential for rich conversation and storytelling, and can be a great challenge for clients who perform beautifully overall.

The task itself is straightforward: show the client a picture and ask them to produce one or two descriptive sentences about what they see. Encourage the use of multiple adjectives and invite them to express themselves freely (having a generous, ready-to-use list of colourful adjectives on hand can be a wonderful support).

Tapping the black bar at the bottom of the screen reveals a sample sentence for the image. These illustrate the type of lavish, descriptive response the task is aiming for, and serve as inspiring examples to help the client get started. Bear in mind that they are not the only acceptable answers, just examples that are carved out to show what an elaborate, descriptive sentence could look like.

Descriptive Sentence -task challenges both cognitive and linguistic flexibility. It is excellent for stretching into more abstract, imaginative language use. It can be a perfect fit for clients who are capable but tend to be passive in their interactions and limit themselves to, even rigid functional vocabulary. When you want to work on adding some flesh to the efficient, bare-bones sentences or when you feel that your client just needs a gentle push into tapping into the colors of their vocabulary, this task can be a valuable tool. Sometimes going overboard is just what you need to strike a good balance!

When working on this task, I recommend grabbing a piece of paper and writing the sentences down. Writing makes the work visible and delightfully concrete. This allows for unhurried review and comparison across sessions. Seeing the difference between an early attempt and a later one can make progress wonderfully, tangibly visible. Working in parallel with the sister task Precise sentence allows for comparison of plain language versus detailed language making the richness and expressiveness of these sentences tangible. Remember to include the date in your notes to track progress!

There you go — a gloriously wordy task for when one plain, lonely word will simply not do.

To the point!

Next up in the Speech Production category is Precise Sentence. This exercise is all about precise, concise expression. So, in the spirit of the task, let's keep this post short and simple too.

First post with the new look!

Precise Sentence is a good fit for clients who tend to be verbose or go off on tangents, leave out key words, or drift off topic. A defined constraint  like “use as few words as possible” structures the idea and sharpens the message and guides towards structured language processing.

The task is straightforward: show the client a picture and ask them to form a short, informative sentence based on what they see. You can add structure by specifying a word count, for example: Create a sentence from this picture using three words.

There is a black bar at the bottom of the screen. Tapping the bar reveals a sample sentence for the image. Note that this is not the only acceptable answer, just an idea of what a sentence could look like. together. You can use them when reviewing sentences together to demonstrate precise and simple language and ask “Can you try again and aim for something even more simple, like this example?”

This can be a great task for clients who are just moving to sentence-level expression and find it a bit intimidating. A clear and concrete goal lowers the threshold and gives the process a starting point. You can scaffold the sentence structure with simple questions, for example:

Where? → "At the hairdresser"

Who? → "She"

Where is she? →

“She is at the hairdresser.”

Who? → "a boy"

What is the boy doing ? → ”building"

What is the boy building? → "a sandcastle"

“A boy is building a sandcastle.”

When working on this task, I recommend writing the sentences down. I like to have the client work through a few pictures while I write the sentences down, and review them together. You can also ask your client to do the writing if they are able. Multimodal work supports neuroplasticity, and the combination of writing and speaking can lead to some genuinely surprising moments in language processing and planning. For some clients this can be a great starting point for a discussion on  symptom awareness.

There you go, a straightforward task to work on precise and informative expression. Next post will look very similar in terms in task structure, but with almost opposite goals. Stay tuned!

summer season, fresh look

In Finland, there is an expression about shedding your “winter fur” when you take the first swim of the summer. It is a small seasonal reset after the long, dark winter months and a playful transition into the summer season full of light and color.

Midsummer is a popular time for that first swim. This year, SanapsisPro joined on the fun!

As midsummer rolled around, SanapsisPro jumped into the deep end and a whole new visual look emerged - fresher, lighter, and more energetic. The new design brings brightness and ease to the app while keeping the core experience familiar: clear tasks, simple navigation, and practical support for everyday speech therapy. Dive in and take a look!

As you can see, the language switcher now sits in the top corner. The same look applies across all languages, and below you can see a few examples from each language.

What do you think? Let us know in comments or send us a note!

🌸☀️Happy Midsummer! ✨

🌼🌿 Hyvää juhannusta! ✨

🍃🌻 Glad midsommar! ✨

We have questions

Questions are a powerhouse for everyday communication and connection. They help us show interest, seek information, clarify meaning, repair misunderstandings, and take a more active role in conversations overall.

Working on questions can be especially important for many people with communication difficulties. As we discussed in the previous post, some challenges can partly stem from difficulty getting started: not only with speech, but with the whole action of initiating communication. And asking questions requires a lot of initiative!

A question begins with curiosity: noticing that there is something we want to know. Then we narrow our interest down to a specific piece of information and make the decision to initiate an action to ask. And this happens in the background before we get to the more visible part: formulating the question itself and taking the conversational turn to ask it.

The Build a Question task provides a tool for familiarizing the client with different types of questions and constructing them in a structured way.

On screen, you see a picture, a sentence frame, and several possible question words. In this first example, the picture shows some cows in a field. Under the picture, the sentence fragment says:

… do cows eat?

The options presented are: What? and Which?

And you guessed it — the task is to select a suitable question word to complete the question. The number of options can be adjusted according to the client's needs, as shown in the next examples.

Task with a wrong answer selected

Task with the correct word selected

In these examples you may also notice that selecting a question word simply changes its color to orange, regardless of whether it is a suitable or unsuitable word for the sentence. So no feedback from the app? How is this helpful? How will they know if their selection is correct?

Glad you asked! No automated feedback means that the task does not end with the selection. After your client makes a selection, you have the freedom and flexibility to evaluate and discuss the task together.

You can start by asking them to read the completed question aloud. For example: What do cows eat? vs. Which do cows eat? This makes the task nicely multimodal: the client looks at the image, reads the sentence and options, makes the selection, and hears the completed question, all of which support the processing of information and meaning as well as self-monitoring and correction. After making their selection, they can verify the answer themselves with your support, or try again if needed to get it right.

Your job as the therapist is to support the process. You can guide the client by asking questions: Does the question sound right? Does it make sense? You can also ask: Is the question easier to understand when you see it on screen with the picture, or when you hear it out loud? How about when the question is written on paper? Is it easier to process when you also see it as a full sentence?

This is where you can make connections to real-world situations. What kind of support does the client benefit from the most? How can they seek that support in their everyday life?

If they are ready for a challenge, you can continue with questions like: What information are we seeking with this question? What kind of answer would it lead to? What is the answer?

So. Many. Questions. All of them provide an angle for supporting the client and help them think about and start formulating questions in various scenarios. This is the versatility of SanapsisPro at its best.

So, although the task format is simple, it can open the door to many useful therapy moments: reading, listening, reasoning, self-monitoring, and conversation. More importantly, it gives the client supported practice in one of the most active parts of communication: noticing that something is missing, becoming curious, and taking the initiative to ask.

That is a powerful skill to build — one question at a time.