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SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

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Original poster

ipads - would one be good for ds?

17 replies

hazeyjane · 30/10/2012 14:23

Dh was talking about getting an ipad for ds for xmas, but they are so expensive I am not sure whether this would be a good thing to spend our limited money on. Then I remembered the family fund, we may be able to get some funding for one.

But I want to know what things would an ipad help ds with, either now or in the future?

He is 2.4 and has gdd, severe speech delay - good understanding, but no verbalisation at all. We are teaching him Makaton, and hes has 2 or 3 signs. He started to point after using an app on the ipad with his portage worker, and enjoys doing the talking cat thing at sn nursry (although he mostly likes hitting the cat in the face). He is not interested in books unless they have texture or sound (he loves the 'thats not my....' books) he also loves anything that lights up, and has sounds.

So, would an ipad be a helpful thing for him? What would be the best reasons to put in a request to the family fund? I would ask his SALT about this, but we haven't seen her for 4 months!

Thankyou.

OP posts:

FreshWest · 30/10/2012 15:00

We recently got an iPad for dd (4.8, no speech, some receptive language). We have some apps on it for nursery rhymes and ones that show a picture which you touch then touch the word ie a picture of a cat, the iPad makes a miaow noise then you press the word and it says cat. Other apps we have are to help with hand eye coordination.
Hoping also that if she hears things often enough (on her terms) then they will sink in. She has recently started saying her name in school after hearing us say it over and over at home! Wont say it at home though little monkey.....but I digress
Before the iPad we got these books. It might be worth getting these first to see if they help speech develop then think about iPad later.

Original poster

hazeyjane · 30/10/2012 15:48

those books look lovely, thankyou, I think they will be on ds's xmas list.

How frustrating fir you that she will say her name at school.

It is thought that ds has a genetic syndrome, one of the features of which is no speech or severely delayed speech, so at the moment his SALT is focusing on things like makaton and communication pictures as a way of communicating.

OP posts:

cansu · 30/10/2012 15:49

I have one for dd aged 7. She got it a year ago and she has used it lots and has enjoyed both the educational and the fun stuff. However though she was similar at your ds age to how you describe I am not sure she could have used it much at such a young age and also at that stage of development. It depends on whether it is easily affordable. If you would be pushed to afford it I would possibly wait a while as it is possible that he might get more constructive use out of t further down the road when he has more skills.

SallyBear · 30/10/2012 15:59

Ds4 aged 5yr 7mos. We got him an iPad at the beginning of the year. He is really clever with it. Lots of games to help him discriminate, choose, match etc. we also have some apps that speak for him but we haven't focused on those as yet. It's on my to do list! I think that they're good tools and every class from Nursery upwards at his Special School have one. They're of the opinion that the iPad has taken the various SALT tools and run with them. I would definitely think of getting one, but DON'T get a 16gb one. You will fill it up really quickly. The mini iPad is out next week so that might be a better size for him to physically use.

silverfrog · 30/10/2012 16:09

dd1 has had an ipad/ipod touch since she was 4ish.

it has helped her with just about everything possible, and also helped me eg with apps like iprompt where i could have visual timetables in my pocket.

dd1 learned to read and write from apps - and loads of foundation skills like matching and sorting.

ProcrastinatingPanda · 30/10/2012 16:15

I got an iPod touch for DS so he could get all the apps but could easily take it out or put headphones on with Disney music playing and stick it in his pocket. He's 5 now but I got him it when he was about 3 I think. It's cheaper alternative too.

zzzzz · 30/10/2012 16:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WilsonFrickett · 30/10/2012 16:37

DS loves ours but I would worry about giving a 2.4 year old one, they are pretty fragile (the ipads, not the 2.4 year olds ). Unless you're prepared to supervise really closely I would probably wait a year - I'm not sure the benefits outweigh the expense of dropping it and smashing it at that age. Although Panda's point about an ipod is good too, they're a lot cheaper I think...

silverfrog · 30/10/2012 16:43

an absolute must if handing over to any child is a decen protective case.

in 5 years of giving dd1 my expensive toys to play with, she's never managed to break any of them

otterbox defender cases are good, or there's a great toodler one called something like MyGuy - hang on, will google

zzzzz · 30/10/2012 16:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

silverfrog · 30/10/2012 16:46

ahh, of course - it's called iGuy! d'oh!

there is also a fisher price apptivity case which is supposed to be ok.

ProcrastinatingPanda · 30/10/2012 16:54

I ordered one from eBay for DS that is made of thick plastic and clips around the device rather than just slipping the device in the cover (as it can slip right back out again!) and then a rubber cover goes over the top. You can throw that thing down a flight of stairs and there won't be a scratch on it :o

WilsonFrickett · 30/10/2012 17:25

I never even thought of protection .

corkysgran · 30/10/2012 18:45

We got DGS an iPad from Family Fund about 6 months ago. We also paid about £40 for a Big Grips rubber case for it. It's been dropped, thrown etc with no damage at all - well worth the money. You choose the apps you think will be best for your DS, even at his age there will be loads. DGS seems to be teaching himself to read with a phonics app! Not bad for a non verbal 4 yr old. You don't really need to make much of a case to FF they know the benefits of iPad to DC with SN, that's why they offer them. We said something like 'for educational, social and fun'. Sorry, FF take months to reply so you won't have it by Christmas x

TheNinjaGooseIsOnAMission · 30/10/2012 19:34

we got one for dd3 last year through the family fund when she was 5. It's been great for her, we take it to all her appointments too so she has something to do while we wait, which as you know with some places can be hours! If you google 'Flo Longhorn apps for very special learners' there's loads of apps that start at a very basic level. We have a griffin case which we've found better than the otterbox just because dribble can be an issue and that one has a built in screen protector.

Original poster

hazeyjane · 30/10/2012 22:28

Thankyou so much everyone. Lots of good points on here, I think we will apply to the ff for a grant.

Ds wouldn't be left on his own with it, he needs guidance to use just about everything, so it would be something that we would use with him. I will look at the protective cases as well, drool resistant would definitely be handy!

OP posts:

Dev9aug · 30/10/2012 22:30

very very useful, but you have to be very careful to limit time on it, otherwise nothing would be as exciting as the ipad any more.

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