APPyTrails: A Road Trip with Apps
by
Cristen Reat 
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What do an accessible theme park, an iPad and a road trip have in common? Vacation fun!
Spring and summer time bring thoughts of getting away from the routine–vacations, camps, visiting relatives and that inevitable time in the car called: The Road Trip. We know from experience and our own childhood that road trips can sometimes be fun, sometimes frustrating experiences. Including a child with special needs on a long car trip can pose unique challenges.
My two sons, Martin (13), and Vincent (10), enjoy new adventures, but it is not always easy. Vincent has Down syndrome, a visual impairment, and many sensory issues, making travel and trying new things—regardless of how well planned out—quite challenging.
Recently, our family traveled to Morgan’s Wonderland which is the world’s first accessible theme park. I thought I would share how our family used technology during our trip to maximize the fun factor and reduce stress. Technology was not the focus of the recreation, but rather a tool that could enhance the experience of having fun together.
Morgan’s Wonderland, located in San Antonio, Texas, features 25 acres of ultra-accessible activities and equipment including a carousel, train ride, car ride, fishing pier, sensory gym, playground, swings and much more. All areas are designed to be wheelchair accessible and sensory friendly; welcoming people of all ages and abilities to relax and play together.
Before the visit.
We used our iPad to go to the Morgan’s Wonderland website, looked at photos of all of the activities available, downloaded some pictures and talked about them (Skills: new vocabulary, conversation building about what we will do).
In the car- Road Trip!
Our family loves playing Mad Libs, so we took turns playing by passing the iPad around using the free Mad Libs app. The visual display is crisp and easy to read with hints available if you get stuck (um, usually those pesky adverbs trip us up!). It is a way for all of us to play a game together at our individual levels that results in lots of giggles (skills: parts of speech, language development).
Martin and Vincent enjoy playing Switch Box Invaders, which harkens back to a version of the popular arcade game Galaga. No matter where you tap on the screen,
the “spaceship” fires at the aliens, making it a successful experience for Vincent who has visual tracking and processing challenges. The sound effects are great, points are tallied, and the speed at which the spaceship moves
is adjustable, making it a fun way for two brothers with different skill sets to play and enjoy together (okay, mom likes it too). Skills: visual tracking, cause and effect, fine motor.
For those times when the boys are just staring out of the window asking “are we there yet?” we use Signs – Autism Series to see how many of these community signs we can pick out and identify on the road. Signs includes pedestrian crossing, stop sign, camping, exit, one way, etc… (skills: picture identification, naming, vocabulary, safety).
At Morgan’s Wonderland
We used the camera for snapping photos and taking videos of each other throughout the different areas of the park.
After the trip.
Once home, Martin used the app Pic Collage to take his favorite pictures and make collages out of them. These photo collages can then be printed out or shared via email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. There is an option for creating and sending a physical postcard that is great for sharing with loved ones far away. This is a creative activity that the boys can do together.
There are other fun ideas the boys had to remember the trip. They used the app Kid in Story Book Maker to create a customized book where they could place a picture of themselves into the story! Vincent likes to talk, so by using the voice recorder feature, he enjoyed narrating the sequence of events while Martin typed in the words (skills: social stories, literacy).
Scene Speak is an app that provides a framework on the iPad to create interactive visual scene displays which is great for creating books and social stories. The unique feature of this app is that it allows you to create hotspots, which is an area of the screen where you can add sound, text labels or a link to another scene. For example, Martin and Vincent spent a lot of time in Sensory Village, which has a darkened room where soothing sounds and images of butterflies, tadpoles and falling water drops are displayed on the walls. We took some of these pictures and added “hotspots” so that when you touched the scene, our recorded voices said “Look at those butterflies” or “Can you catch a tadpole”? All in all, this is a visual and auditory way to talk about all of the things that we saw and did together (skills: sequencing, language, communication).
So, for your upcoming family vacation, think about using your mobile device to make that road trip seem just a little bit shorter and make those amazing memories last a little bit longer! Have a story to share about how your family uses technology? We would love to hear about it!
Perfect Apps for the Road
Pic Collage
by Cardinal Blue
Pic Collage is a great app for sharing pictures on a trip. Pic Collage allows users to make a collage using their camera roll on their iPad or Google Images. Students with special needs love this app. They can easily add stickers, text, fonts and frames to their photo collage. Then, they can share their collage on social media sites.
Price: FREE | Offers In-App Purchases
Website: https://piccollage.com/
Switch Box Invaders
by Cognable
Switch Box Invaders is a game for users with special needs who use assistive technology to control the iPad. The game is a motivational means of developing and improving sequencing, timing and basic switch control skills. It can be controlled with a single switch connected using most iPad compatible switch interfaces or it can be played by touching any part of the screen with a hand or arm. Switch Box Invaders is perfect for killing boredom during wait times at theme parks, events, and in the car.
Price: FREE
Website: https://blog.cognable.com/switch-invaders/
Mad Libs
by Penguin Group USA
Mad Libs is a fun app where users make up silly stories by filling in sentence blanks with nouns, adjectives, verbs and other word types. It teaches grammar, sentence structure, parts of speech and vocabulary. Mad Libs can be played alone or as a great form of educational entertainment on long road trips
Price: FREE | Offers In-App Purchases
Website: https://madlibs.com/apps/
Scene Speak
by Good Karma Apps
Scene Speak is a unique app for children to create interactive visual scene displays and social stories. Users upload images and add “hotspots”. A hotspot is an area of the screen with sound, text labels or links to another visual scene. What a fun way to remember a trip!
Price: $9.99
Website: https://www.goodkarmaapplications.com/scene-speak1.html
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.
Cristen Reat is co-founder of BridgingApps and a mother who found success when using a mobile device with her children who have special needs.
More Traveling Tips
- The Disney Disability Pass: The Not so Mickey Mouse Approach to Enjoying the Parks
- Avoiding Meltdowns During Theme Park Vacations
- Make-A-Wish Is Not Just for Sick or Dying Kids
- Free Access Pass to America the Beautiful
- Encourage Traveling for All Without Limits
- Traveling with Special Dietary Need
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This post originally appeared on our May/June 2014 Magazine
