Yay, we have an iPad! As mentioned in my last post, we were gifted an iPad by a couple of fantastic family members.
We have had the iPad for a few days, long enough to have a good play and see what it is all about. Kaden loves it! And I am very amazed in how quickly he has learnt the “basics”.
So far we have only downloaded cheap or free apps. The catch with the free apps – you have ad’s or you can pay for the app and have no ad’s. So far the best apps I have found for Kaden are;
Talking Tom Cat – Tom is your pet cat, that responds to your touch and repeats everything you say with a funny voice. (Kaden loves saying things to Tom for him to repeat back, it is great for encouraging speech).
Dexteria – Great for fine motor skills.
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox – Just a basic game for children, it is at the preschool level but Kaden still really enjoys it.
I have also found two great websites that review apps for special needs –
The first one is has video clip reviews –
http://www.spectronics.co.nz/article/iphoneipad-apps-for-aac
A Mum's Journey with Dyspraxia 
Hiya, I’m a workmate of Kirsti G (at Jobs.co.nz) who has shown me a few videos of Kaden after he went to Max’s House. I’m finding it very interesting reading your blogs! My grandmother was diagnosed motor neuron disease for a few years before she died and unfortunately lost her vocal muscles first – she was a big talker too. She bought an Ipad and used it to communicate as well, using an app that spoke once she typed out what she wanted to say. Is Kaleb doing that? Good luck on your journey you sound like a strong family 🙂
Missy
Hi Missy
Thanks for commenting! That must of been so hard for your Grandmother to lose her voice at that stage in her life!
Kaden has a PC Chat device that does the same sort of thing, we set it up with pictures of different things, and when pressed, it talks. We are hoping to get a simular app for the iPad because we have heard they are way better, with the hopes that by the time he is a teenager he can just use a “typing” app rather than pictures.
Thanks again!
Tracey