TPP 025: Amberlynn Slavin Talks About SnapType, Her App for Kids with Dysgraphia & Dyslexia
episode
Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
26 min
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 9 hours ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
How does SnapType let students type directly on a photographed worksheet?
So let's say a teacher passes out a worksheet in class and a child could either have currently an iPhone or an
iPad
and an iOS device. They would take a picture of that worksheet right on the app and then within that app right there you can just tap on the screen and you can type like so let's just say his name and instead of writing your name in you could type your name in and you can type right on that document. And so that alleviates that handwriting aspect that a lot of children struggle with who have, you know, these different things going on in their life. It's not necessarily taking away handwriting altogether. I think absolutely children should practice handwriting. This is not to take away from handwriting. It's just to help them stay included in class because they fall behind in class sometimes and it's it's so hard to see because they're such bright and smart children, but they can't keep up sometimes.
Welcome to the Tilt Parenting Podcast, a podcast featuring interviews and conversations aimed at inspiring, informing, and supporting parents raising differently wired kids. I'm your host, Debbie Rieber, and today's episode features a conversation with the creator of a unique app for kids with dyslexia and dysgraphia called Snaptype. Amberlyn Slavin, an occupational therapist, created Snaptype in 2014 to help kids who struggle with handwriting. fill in worksheets and other schoolwork using an iPad or iPhone so their handwriting challenges don't slow them down. And today the app has helped hundreds of thousands of kids around the world feel more confident and more fully participate in the school in a way that respects and supports the way their brains are wired.
In our conversation, Amberlynn tells us about her inspiration for dreaming up SnapType, her process in developing it, and how the app has been received. As you'll hear from our conversation, Amberlynn loves what she does, and we love to hear stories of people who are actively doing the important work of finding creative ways to help our kids thrive. Thanks for listening to the Tilt Parenting Podcast. To learn more about Tilt, visit www.tiltparenting.com. Hey everyone, this is Debbie Rieber with the Tilt Parenting Podcast, and today I am here with occupational therapist and creator of the SnapType app, which is designed to help students with dyslexia, Amberlynn Slavin. Welcome Amberlynn. Hey Debbie, thanks so much for having me.
I'm so happy to have you on the show. And so in late June, I posted an article from Attitude magazine about you and your app and it generated a lot of interest in what you're up to and a lot of enthusiasm among parents who left comments about their, you know, maybe their kid has already used and they're loving the app. There were others who said they were working towards getting Snap Type written into their child's list of accommodations for their IEP at school. So first of all I wanna congratulate you on c creating something that is clearly needed And it seems to have already been embraced by and and widely used among the families who need it.
Yeah, thank you so much. It was a an exciting thing to it kinda took off really quickly as well. Like I created it actually while I was a student um in grad school. So to know that I was helping other students while still being a student was kind of a fun thought to know that I'm helping all these, you know, children too. So
That's great. Well, I definitely want to hear all of that story and and how this came about. So before we kind of get into the specifics about your app and how it helps kids with dyslexia, can you tell us a little bit about that? I know you recently received your master's degree in occupational therapy. I'm kind of just curious about you personally, why you chose occupational therapy as a discipline and what inspired you to go down that path.
Yeah, definitely. So my undergrad was actually in physical education. So I've actually been a gymnast my whole life. I've done it competitively, I did it collegially.
Why does Amberlynn believe handwriting practice is still important?
So gymnastics and physical education um has always been a part of my life.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How does SnapType let students type directly on a photographed worksheet?
0:00–3:50
2
Why does Amberlynn believe handwriting practice is still important?
3:50–7:06
3
What inspired Amberlynn to create SnapType while in graduate school?
7:06–10:08
4
How did she turn the idea into a minimum‑viable product and find a developer?
10:08–12:35
5
What early feedback did SnapType receive from parents and teachers?
12:35–16:04
6
Is SnapType being used in schools and how do IEPs accommodate it?
16:04–19:25
7
Can SnapType be used internationally and in other languages?
19:25–22:30
8
What are the differences between the free and paid versions of SnapType?
22:30–26:01
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
TPP 266a: A Conversation with Poet and Advocate LeDerick Horne
TPP 522: A Whole Child Approach to ADHD with Phil Boucher, M.D.
TPP 091a: A Conversation With Steve Silberman About His Book “Neurotribes”
TPP 521: A Conversation with Dr. Peter Gray About Restoring Childhood
TPP 253a: Advocate and Author Jonathan Mooney on Why Normal Sucks
TPP 520: Dr. Özgür Bolat on Why Rewards Backfire and the Real Science of Motivating Kids