I'm not a speech pathologist. I'm a dad who wanted his son to be understood.
My son arrived early, born premature at just under 33 weeks. He has fought for things most of us are handed for free from the very first day, and one of the hardest has been his own voice. He was later diagnosed with severe childhood apraxia of speech, or CAS, a condition where the brain knows exactly what it wants to say but struggles to send the right signals to the mouth to say it. The words are in there. The path to getting them out is just harder to build.
If you are a parent of a child with apraxia, you already know the work it takes. The practice is daily, it is repetitive, and it is the thing that helps most. You also know how quickly the costs add up, and how many of the good tools sit behind a monthly fee. I kept running into apps that did almost exactly what my son needed, then asked for a subscription to keep using them.
So I built the thing I wanted for my son, and I made it free. SaySoKids is a small set of calm, kid-friendly tools for practicing sounds and words, the same kind of practice his therapist sends us home to do. He can slide his finger under a word and hear each sound stretch and blend. We can count his tries and watch the wins add up. And I can load in the exact words he is stuck on this week.
I believe practice this important should not be held back from a child because of what their family can or cannot afford. Every tool here is free, with no account required and nothing collected about your child. I will keep it free for as long as I possibly can.
If hosting costs ever grow beyond what I can quietly cover, I may one day add an optional donation link for families who are able to chip in toward keeping the lights on. If that ever happens, it will only be a thank-you jar for the server bill, never a gate. The tools stay free for everyone, full stop.
I built this out of love and a lot of late nights, but I am a parent, not a speech-language pathologist. These tools are here to support the practice you do at home. They are not therapy, and they do not replace a real evaluation or a professional who knows your child.
If you think your child may have apraxia, please see a speech-language pathologist. Apraxia Kids, an independent nonprofit (not affiliated with this site), has directories and guidance for families.
To every parent doing this work: I see you, and I am right there with you. I hope these little tools help your child the way I am praying they help mine.
With you,
A dad, and the person behind SaySoKids