The Apple iPad has been hailed as a savior for assisting children with autism spectrum disorder or other special needs. It was portrayed as a minor miracle in a recent segment on “60 Minutes” and has been found to help even the very young quickly learn.
Anecdotally, teachers, parents and therapists describe the profound differencethat apps for Apple and Android products have made in helping autistic children develop skills. IPad programs have provided a means of communicating for some children with autism who cannot speak or have language delays. Other apps help children learn to handle social situations that can be stressful, like crowds at malls. And many programs can help develop fine-motor skills, which promote functions like writing or manipulating small objects.
More @ http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/finding-good-apps-for-children-with-autism/
Six-year-old Joshua Bruckner looked intently at the iPad on his family’s kitchen table, playing a game of sorting colored beans into colored jars.
With a tiny finger, Josh, a boy adopted from China who has multiple disabilities, stroked the iPad’s touch screen, pushing red beans into red jars, blue into blue.
“Nice work!” the iPad’s recorded voice announced, making the sound of applause every time Josh made the right choice. “Right you are. You’re so smart.”
“I’m so smart!” Josh said, smiling with delight.
Mom Cindy Bruckner said when Josh first started, he only knew two colors. She had tried teaching him colors by posting labels all over the house—“Red” – but it took him a month to catch on.
Yet after using the iPad just a half-dozen times, Josh has learned eight colors, maybe 10, Cindy said. The device is also a hit with her adopted autistic son, Robert, 13, who loves to play educational games on the iPad.
