iPad Apps
The Friendship Circle - The Special Needs iPad & Apps Series
http://blog.friendshipcircle.org/2011/02/02/the-special-needs-ipad-app-series/
In only one year the Apple iPad has revolutionized the tech industry. 15 Million iPads have been sold and estimates are that within the next 3 years over 115 million tablets will be shipped...
..To try and make sense of all of this we have put together a nine part series on the iPad and useful applications.
In this series we will try and provide guidance and resources that will make it easier for those looking for more information about the iPad, new apps and special education.
See the series here:
http://blog.friendshipcircle.org/2011/02/02/the-special-needs-ipad-app-series/
See many more links for valuable information on iPad apps on our page here:
(scroll to bottom of page)
Parents Share More Links:
Deena Writes:
Writing:
There are loads in English for the ABC's and very few for Hebrew letters, but Id id find some. This is one of them -
http://itunes.apple.com/il/app/id430805154?mt=8
It isn't VERY exciting, but SN will do it for a few letters at a time and each one of these is good practice. It's definitely more fun than practicing on paper.
Unfortunately the free version only has a few letters.
Math:
This one has a few games. We started with number recognition first, and now SN "graduated" to the math part. It's on SN's level now - I would have liked to go on to the next level (they only have up to three numbers - that's ok for the math but we can go on now) - they probably have it in the paid version; still have to look into it. If they do - then I really recommend this game. Lots of fun learning math.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/itouchilearn-numbers-for-preschool/id419514216?mt=8
Vehicle Number Trace - for a kid like mine, who can recognize numbers but has a hard time drawing them - you trace numbers on here, but using a "vehicle" (now THAT is using his obsessions in a constructive way!), so you get the truck to "ride" around the number, tracing it. I didnt' use it yet but I imagine it would be something perfect for SN. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vehicle-number-trace/id434064539?mt=8
The balloon popping game - SN loves this - I only have to guide him to go to Level #2 (where you have to pop the balloons in order- Balloon #3 will not pop unless you first popped #1 and #2) and not go to Level #1 (which is just silly balloon popping - though good for some of our sensory kids AND I've used ti when I felt it would be good for him as 'stress relief'.. but level #1 isn't 'educational' in any other way)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/123balloonsle/id395700799?mt=8
Fine motor skills:
This is great for dragging - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/knobpuzzle/id412665117?mt=12
This is another graet app that I really really like (because I've SEEN the tremendous difference it made to SN's control of his finer motor skills) - I wrote about this once. It is actually teh ToyStory read-along story, but it comes with two games that we go directly to. One of them is with little plastic parachuting soldiers, wher eyou have to gently guide the ipad (just by using slight moves to actually "move" the ipad -t he iPad as you know is sensitive to movement too, not just touch) so that the soldiers dont' hit any of the pictures on the wall until they reach teh floor safely. They have a few levels. The first is relatively easy, and once SN mastered that one, he went on to #2 and #3 and is now really good with it. I can really see how it made his control better. Highly recommended for kids who need more awareness/control of their movements!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toy-story-read-along/id364376920?mt=8
Miscellaneous:
This is also a great app - KidsMag a montly kids' activity magazine - they give the first one free. It has LOADS of activities, some of them absolutely excellent for SN. Like the one where he has to match the number to the number of animals in each box, or the one where he has to match appropriate clothing for the fireman, or finding the differences, or learning how to brush teeth... it's done really well, and lots of fun for the kids using things they like, so SN loves it and really gets a lot from it, in many different areas -
http://www.portegno-apps.com/?p=245 (sorry, dont' have the actual download link - you can google it)
Animals - this is just a fun game which I use to teach him a bit about various animals - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/3d-zoo/id433595828?mt=8 - it shows different animals at a time, very realistic, you can make the animal walk to a different point, make a sound, turn, etc - it's kind of like going to the zoo, the animals are very realistic, and I use the opportunity to teach him a bit about each animal.
This - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/animals-in-pieces-hd/id389752370?mt=8 - is also about animals, it is a puzzle that is simple enough for him to do but hard enough for it not to be too easy (I have no other chance of getting himto do a puzzle -t his is the only one he'll do - so there's another advantage). This one comes with a lot of info about each animal, its habitat, what it eats, etc.
one last one - this is WAY too hard for SN but Racheli does pretty well at it (it's good for older kids) - it is excellent for a few purposes that happen to be things SHE needed - it's all very timed and you have to work very quickly to get the amount of points needed in order to go on to the next level. As soon as you master one game enough to get at least 2 stars, you now can use these stars to (permanently) "unlock" the next game.
I can see this being an EXCELLENT tool for some older kids -
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/albert-hd/id414479653?mt=8
For more free apps you can check/subscribe to www.freeappalert.com and see what apps are free for a limited time. I dont' go on there often but when id o, that's where I got the others from.
I usually only pull the iPad out when I'm checking the kids' heads or need them to sit still for a while for wahtever other reason, so I'm usually there with them and helping them along, but most of these games are good for kids to do on their own too -v ery few of them really need my guidance.
Resource for Hundreds of Special-Needs Apps
This is a link to a new (scribd) document of 200 excellent special education-use apps for modern appliances. http://www.scribd.com/doc/24470331/iPhone-iPad-and-iPod-touch-Apps-for-Special-Education
It's very well done, organized, and annotated.
Mundo Messenger Ola
A first-of-its-kind-in-the-world application for transmitting instant messages from afar via symbols, to our children with special needs who have difficulty speaking or writing and require adaptive communication devices. The app is similar to WhatsApp using symbols. This enables communication with the children and offers them the opportunity to 'speak' with us and with the world in a way that was not possible until now. The app was published this week in Israel and can be downloaded from the Israeli AppStore only.