Hannah, Ethan, and Abigail got an AMAZING holiday gift this year from my old (in years known, not age!) friends, Julie and Heather. An iPad! I so, so, so wanted to get one for Hannah because I have heard so many people talk about the amazing things children with special needs like Hannah can do with them.
It got off to a slow start with Hannah having no clue what to do with it at first, but here we are a week or so later, and she is really starting to get into it! She has a few favorite apps that we have been working with, but nothing has been her favorite as much as this one. She will play with it for 20 minutes or so at a time! What is even better is that we can put some of her favorite music on at the same time (using the iPod feature), so that we can work to a beat or rhythm.
With Hannah’s movement disorder, this app has been wonderful for her. It forces her to try and concentrate to get her hand where it needs to go, which is difficult because the object keeps moving. But she absolutely loves it. Especially when she gets the ‘reward’ of the animals popping up and cheering her on when she touches the iPad, even if she misses the sun!
There are a couple of other great apps that she really likes such as the Baby Piano Lite and the Sound Touch.
One benefit that we didn’t even think about until we got it was that we have something to help keep us busy when we are waiting 30 minutes or more for some of these doctor appointments! At the neuro’s office before her EEG, we had a 45-minute wait, and so we “turned on” her Wiggles movie after about 15 minutes of waiting and being restless, and she was a happy camper 🙂
I apologize for the darkness of this video, but I only had my phone with me, and it was nighttime. This was one of those “had to capture” moments watching Abby work with Hannah on her baby rattle sun game. I love the HUGE grin on Hannah’s face during this video. Abby and Ethan are fantastic teachers with her and so patient! Such a wonderful, wonderful gift in so many ways.
I love seeing Abigail working with Hannah. My kids enjoyed watching the video too.
Thank you for sharing the video of Hannah and Abby playing with the IPAD. What a wonnderful gift! Its so great to see Abby interacting with her little sister and how very PATIENT she is with her. Her voice was sooo soothing. What a great big sister she is. You are very blessed to have 2 older siblings who are so helpful! Hannah seems to really be enjoying the Ipad. You are lucky have such wonderful and caring friends, God Bless them!
Hi,
I have an iPad and every Friday, you can get a free app by visiting http://momswithapps.com/ Some of the apps are great for the kids and my daughter who is special needs benefits from some of their free apps. Just wanted to share if you don’t know already. If you have any questions, let me know. I have had my iPad app for over six months and love it. There is a word puzzle like scrabble and it’s so addictive. Its called words with friends, there is a free app but I think it has ads so I chose to buy the app which I think is less than three dollars. I play this word games with other people around the world and it’s at your own pace. When I do pt or ot, it entertains me while I help my daughter do therapy.
Nicole