plosive

Note: Plosive is currently only for school-based speech language pathologists in the United States. Since we’re based in New York, some of the features may also be calibrated to the needs of New York-based SLPs, though we want to be inclusive of all use-cases. More announcements to come.

What is a Speech Language Pathologist?

Speech-language pathologists (or “SLPs”) assess and help treat people who have speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders.

In a school setting, this work involves (among other things) early intervention and treatment of a smaller subset of diagnoses, particularly around articulation, pragmatics, receptive language comprehension and expressive language skills for students in Kindergarten through to around 4th grade. (Of course, this list is not complete.)

But this is no small task.

An uphill climb

SLPs have to contend with most or all of the following and more:

• shifting schedules with caseloads ranging from 15 to 50+ students
• a certain amount of data tracking and paperwork per session
• compiling targeted and relevant materials for sessions
• working in close liaison wit school admins, advisors, and parents
• (sometimes) unclear leadership hierarchies for when issues arise

Where Plosive can help

There is no substitute for the humanity, dignification and psychological safety that an SLP can provide for their students. That is the core of their expertise and their unimpeachable territory - an app can’t replace that.

But an SLP’s job doesn’t begin and end with the sessions they hold. As mentioned above, there is a complex web of logistics surrounding each session, with requirements around scheduling, reporting, nuanced communication and more.

It is for these challenges that Plosive aims to ask the question: “how can technology help?” How can Plosive make work more delightful for SLPs by reducing friction, frustration, and offering a palette of practical power-ups to make everyday tasks easier?

First, a disclaimer: I am aware of the hesitation to add even more tech in schools. While I applaud the intentions of the movement, I - as a non-SLP software engineer - believe the teachers that say that providing “an iPad for every student” was firmly a double-edged sword, and wasn’t the magical elixir like it was, at times, purported to be.

I want to clarify that Plosive is categorically different: it is not meant to be rolled out en-masse to all students enrolled in speech therapy services.

Rather, Plosive is to be used primarily and directly by speech therapists themselves, to help with “everything else” that comes with the job.

Plosive offers the “basic stuff,” like scheduling features and data collection tools for sessions.

But we think we can do more, and we’re excited to share it with you. ✨

We launch in 2024. 🚀

To read about our values on technology, AI, pricing and feature ideation, visit Our Values.

To learn more and to sign up for our newsletter, you can find us over at https://plosive.app.

Earlybirds who sign-up to the newsletter will receive a 33% discount for their first 3 months.

Thank you,

Kevin