App Tools for Back to School Success
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App Tools for Back to School Success
As the school year gets under way, parents of children with special needs are overwhelmed with information, IEP goals, and transition challenges. Here are some app ideas for supporting learning by making it less daunting, and more accessible and enjoyable! This is a list of apps for the iPad, and in some cases the Android platform, that we find particularly useful when it comes to supporting our children with academic tasks. A common feature of nearly all of them is the ability to customize information and create your own content for your child.
SpellBoard
by PalaSoftware Inc.
This is a useful app for helping students learn, manage and have fun with spelling words. You have the ability to categorize words according to grade level 1-12, record audio pronunciation of the word, and record sentences using the word. Included in the app are fun activities for practicing — Word Scramble, Word Search, and Missing Letter game. Each of these games has “hints” built in, so for those who can get frustrated easily.
Price: $4.99
Write My Name
by NCSOFT
This is a well-designed tracing app that is versatile for practicing writing letters and words, in both upper case and lower case. It can be customized to work on tracing any name or word by using stock pictures or adding your own. Audio can be added so the child traces the letters and then the word is read aloud to them.
Price: $3.99
Abilipad
by Cheryl Bregman
Created by an OT, Abilipad is a versatile app that can be used as a customizable keyboard, word processor as well as a communication tool. It has text-to-speech, word prediction and spell check built into the word processing function. The language and voice can also be changed to English, Spanish, German or French with a choice of 20 voices. Keyboards can be edited and fully customized where each key can be assigned a letter, word, sentence or picture with color options.
Price: $19.99
American Wordspeller
by i.m. Press
For students who need spelling support, this app is specifically designed for those who spell words “how they sound” or, phonetically. It is particularly helpful for ESL students or those who have Dyslexia. It includes 4 tools in 1: brief definition, cross-reference words that sound the same but are spelled differently (ex. petal/ pedal/ peddle) suffix speller, and prefix listed with definition.
Price: $2.99
BrainPOP Featured Movie
by BrainPOP®
Watch a different animated movie every day, then test your new knowledge with an interactive quiz – free! For more access to BrainPOP’s award-winning content, choose an optional in-app subscription and enable students to explore more than 750 Science, Math, Social Studies, English, Engineering & Tech, Arts & Music, and Health subjects. All movies are closed captioned..
Price: FREE
Special Words
by Special iApps
Special Words teaches students to recognize written and spoken words, and encourages their speech development, using pictures and sounds. It is interactive, allowing children to learn at their own pace with increasing levels of difficulty. The words and pictures are the same as those in the See and Learn Language Reading resources from Down Syndrome Education International. This app has 4 different levels and has a customizable feature, so it is a useful app for children with varied abilities and skills.
Price: 19.99
For complete review of each of the apps listed here, visit Bridging Apps: http://bridgingapps.org/
If you are interested in searching for more apps, creating your own list of apps and sharing them, please go to BridgingApps.org. BridgingApps, a program of Easter Seals Greater Houston, is a community of parents, therapists, doctors, and teachers who share information about using mobile devices (iPad, iPhone, and Android) with people who have special needs.
Click here for more apps
Sami Rahman and Cristen Reat are co-founders of BridgingApps.org. Both are parents who found success when using a mobile device with their child with special needs.
Photo Courtesy Kristen R. Walton via Facebook PSN Wordless Wednesday
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This post originally appeared on our September/October 2013 Magazine
