Using AI to Generate Custom Materials for Speech/Language Therapy

Imagine being able to snap your fingers and instantly create a 3rd grade reading passage that’s all about Minecraft and is packed full of /r/ words.

Do you have anyone on your caseload that could use that?

What about a word list of 6th grade science vocab that all use prefixes?

Or a custom social story specific to the exact behavior that your client is struggling with?

Well…it may not come at the snap of a finger, but with some careful use of artificial intelligence, that reality is already here!

I’m Carrie Clark and on this episode of The Speech and Language Kids podcast, I’m going to show you how you can use artificial intelligence, or AI, to generate custom therapy materials in the blink of an eye!

Listen to the Podcast Here

You can listen to the full podcast episode below:

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is the field of study that focuses on creating machines and computers that can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.

AI is all around us, built into many computer systems that we already use.

But within the last few years, it has become more accessible to the average person through use of platforms like ChatGPT.

Now, we can ask questions and the AI can scan the internet and give us a pretty darn good answer in seconds.

Or, it can create something totally new based on the information it gathers and the prompts we give it.

There are some really exciting ways to use AI in our profession, and one of them is creating therapy materials.

Our clients benefit from the repetition of being able to work on skills over and over and over again.

And they also benefit when we can use therapy materials that are specific to their interests.

Through AI, we can generate custom word lists, reading passages, and even images that include their target skill and incorporate their interests.

And since these AI systems are generative, we can create new ones all day long!

As exciting as this is, we need to be very careful about how we’re using these tools.

AI can’t “think” the way humans do.

AI doesn’t know the difference between good advice and bad advice.

It doesn’t understand how words sound.

And if it can’t find an answer, it will often make one up that sounds good but may not be actually based on research.

Take for example this AI-generated checklist for getting ready in the morning. It looks good at first glance, but when you take a closer look….

Not so great, huh?

Here are some tips for how you can safely use AI tools to generate materials:

1. Don’t ask the AI to create something that you don’t already know.  You shouldn’t be asking it to tell you how to do therapy or how to teach a skill.  Instead, ask it to create a material based on a therapy skill that you already know.
2. Review everything that comes out of the AI. Use your professional judgement to tell if the material created will help your client or not.
3. Don’t enter personal or identifying information into AI. These tools are not HIPAA or FERPA compliant, so don’t type in the client’s name, date of birth, or any other identifying information.
4. Watch for Cultural Biases. The AI doesn’t know if it has created something offensive.  Make sure you check everything over before using.

There are a few different options for using AI to make materials.

Tools like ChatGPT have free or low cost options that will allow you to create your own materials.

Speak to the AI in a conversational tone and provide many details about what you want included in your material.

The more specific you are, the better!

Continue the conversation with the AI to get it to continue to tweak it until you have what you need.

Or, use a pre-built tool like ours inside The Hub (see the next section).

Here are some ideas for how you could use AI to generate therapy materials.

We’ve already created AI tools inside The Hub that will do this for you.

Click on the links below to be taken to that tool inside The Hub (must have a full, paid membership to access).

• Word List Generator: Generate a list of words based on the client’s therapy targets and interests.
• Sentence/Prompt Generator: Create a list of sentences or prompts that include the clients target sounds or skills (like following directions, answering questions, etc.).
• Reading Passage Generator: Create a simple reading passage for each client based on their therapy goals, reading level, and interests.
• Image Generator: This one is my favorite! Tell the AI what you need included in the image and it will make one! Stack it full of items that contain your target sound or that focus on your target skill. But be warned….they get super silly! AI-generated images are hilariously weird and your clients will LOVE getting to tell you all of the things that are wrong.
• Conversational Prompt Generator: Working on a skill in conversation? Enter the client’s interests and what level of conversation they’re working at and you’ll get a list of prompts to get you going.
• Social Scenario Generator: Working on social skills? Generate sample scenarios that target that skill in a specific setting. Then talk through them with your client and ask “how would you navigate this situation?
• Social Story Text Generator: Need a social story for a client? Enter the grade level and the skill/situation/behavior and we’ll generate the text for a simple social story that teaches that skill. Copy and paste it into a word document to add your own images and customize it to the child.

Click Here to Grab Membership to The Hub to Access These Generators!