Do any of your kids have iPads? Any applications that are useful?

[lottieandmia]

My dd is going to be 12 next month and it's difficult to find a suitable gift for her. I know that at school she uses an iPad and she likes devices that have a touch screen. She can read and write but we don't know how much of what she reads she understands. Her communication is very limited. I was wondering if an iPad would be a good present for her? I was also wondering what applications there are that could be useful for her and aid her learning.

I would definitely recommend getting an iPad. I bought one for myself but my dd (4) loves it. There are so many apps that have been great for her such as spelling, matching, sequencing, counting games etc. I'm sure there would be loads of useful apps for your DDs age but can't recommend any as my dd is much younger. Hopefully somebody with a DC a similar age will be able to thou :)

www.theguardian.com/technology/appsblog/2013/jun/19/50-best-apps-kids-iphone-android-ipad

That's quite a good list i was reading explaining some good apps if that helps

Not sure I shouldn't have done this but I bought one of them Tesco hudl thingies for my 4 year old son, and he loves it. There are many apps for his age, with that he was able to improve his line following skills.

Slightly embarrassing question, but don't have an ipad and not great at these things... Do apps work on a laptop scuha as a MacBook Air, or do you need the touch screen. If not, maybe we should get one for the kids...

I think you can buy different apps for the MacBook Air? Ones made specifically for that, and not touch screen but I may be wrong.
I would highly recommend getting an ipad case such as the griffin survivor from amazon for younger kids, its well worth the £25ish I paid for it. It protects the iPad from any drops, spillages etc

There are a lot of communication apps designed for people who can read but have trouble with speaking.

Thanks osospecial - DH has just announced that he's going to get us an ipad! What a coincidence... Will def get a griffin too.

decaff - am very interested in the communication apps as DD has a speech delay - she is coming on leaps and bounds but something especially for her would be great!

Sorry to hijack this thread...

This might be of interest.

www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/pedagogy_wheel.pdf

trying to keep in tune - this is wonderful, thank you!

That's great everyone - thanks so much. I think this idea might just work.

There are some amazing apps lottie, my dd has severe communication issues too and I was amazed at how quickly she could find her way around the iPad and it gave her some freedom to choose what she wanted to do/ or watch (as she has her favourite cartoons on there too)

Ruggles, if you have younger DC out of all the apps I've tried the 'my first app' ones are the best, dd loves these

www.myfirstapp.com/MyFirstApp/Home.html

Ooh Osospecial, thanks for that Griffin case thing, we've been looking for something like that for ages. I see there's a harness for it too which would be great as ds is encouraged to carry his around at school.

My dyslexic daughter has the Samsung Galaxy Note, which she loves. Very intuitive with lots of assistive technology which is built in. There's something about a touchscreen that works very well.

I shudder to think what life would have been like if ds1 had been born before the ipad era. He blew us away with how fast he worked out how to navigate his ipad...in fact a little too well, as he was soon finding new apps in the App Store that he wanted us to buy for him and it got a bit too expensive!

It has improved his life hugely. In an educational sense (his vocabulary and problem solving skills rocketed very quickly) but it also serves as a way for him to have downtime...with a device he knows like the back of his hand, with everything under his control

Thanks again - I am definitely going to get her one. Can I ask where the best place to buy one is - the Apple Online store?

I will try and get the list of Apps that our SaLT team use. The head of service is positively evangelical about their benefits for students with communication difficulties :)

Thanks Donki