Reviewing the iPad: A Discussion

Which apps do you find most useful?

I received my Ipad about two months ago from my school system. I am an embedded therapist in an Integrative Preschool for children living with Autism. I was enthralled then with my Ipad and my excitment has not waivered.  All  the preschoolers  (typical and on the spectrum)  are instantly motivated and attentive. The Ipad has provided opportunities for children that have difficulty initiating communication to ask  a peer if they want to 'play ipad' (therapist guided of course). I find myself making lesson plans  for my language groups and always  keeping in mind an Ipad app that will help enhance my lesson's objectives. Recently I found that most of my preschoolers living with Autism had such difficulty guessing and acting out simple actions in a game of charades. I had the children watch a preschool version of a verb app, then turned the volume off and had them watch again, then  I had them watch me do the simple actions. The children then tried to make the gestures and have  their peers guess! The Ipad provided me with a quick 'video modeling' opportunity that helped the children attend and understand gestures and  enhance their interest in the game of charades with their typical peers!

I work in Inpatient Rehabilitation with patients that have various neaurological issues.  I have really been interested to see whats out there.

I agree with Sue C. I have been a SLP for many years and have seen several therapeutic methods introduced.  Techonolgy is vital for our populations.  I work with students who are multiply handicapped.

Last spring I started using the iPad with them.  It opened a new world of attentiveness, excitement and interest to learning and a way for them to demonstrate their knowledge. As well the iPad has modernized our means to enable them to readily communicate.

We do have some students who have difficulty tapping the screen.  We are hoping more apps will be developed for them to be ample to scan through Bluetooth.

I went to an Asha school conference in 2009. The hottest topic among the round table discussions was using iPhones or iPods in speech therapy. I started downloading a few artic apps for the iPod - this was before iPads had been invented! SLPs are so good at incorporating a variety of speech and language goals with a wide range of materials that using the iPad as a tool in therapy is a nobrainer. The iPad basically makes speech and language visual, exciting, fun, and challenging. It's so exciting to use such creative material that I'm afraid I've developed a case of 'appsberger'. Using the ipad has brought about several breakthrough opportunities for some of my students.