When my adult daughter, Jessica, got her first iPad, it truly opened a new world to her. She is challenged with ataxic cerebral palsy and cognitive delays. With PCs and Macs, she always struggled using a mouse and keyboard, handling CD-ROMs and DVDs, and navigating complex computer menus. Now, just through finger gestures on the tablet screen, she gains access to apps, movies, and music. It's portable and travels with her to her day habilitation program and to visits with her family.
Jessica is now forty-five, but mentally much younger. While her literacy levels are low, she has good receptive skills, and we have gotten used to her unique speech
patterns. She doesn't understand calendars or calculators, but she enjoys people and life. There are those with more cognitive abilities whose use of a tablet or smartphone is essential for helping them manage their life and work, but for Jessica, an iPad provides opportunities for connection, fun and basic learning.
Providing Jessica with an iPad was just the start of an ongoing learning process. We would explore Apple's App store, download apps that we thought she might like and demonstrate how they worked. Some she liked, some we discarded, and then we'd try again. It's challenging to find the apps that are interesting, have low literacy requirements, are easy to manipulate, provide encouraging feedback, and
aren’t too childish. Movies and music were an easier decision, as for years she had pointed out the VHS and DVD’s she liked, and she had an extensive collection. However, they were still physical media that required handling. Many a VHS tape was digested by the video player and DVDs could be easily scratched, smudged, or easily become stuck in the machine. Once we downloaded the digital movie or audio file onto her iPad, Jess could open it by tapping its picture icon and it couldn’t be broken or misplaced! For those people with more significant cognitive challenges, the iPad can be a great tool for encouraging conversation, discovery, and learning. The magic of this digital tool is how it provides opportunities for engage-
DIGITAL TOOLS AND THE IMAGINATION : OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONNECTION, BASIC LEARNING, AND FUN
FACETIME
Apple, Inc. | Free (included with iOS)
apps.apple.com/us/app/facetime/id1110145091
This free Apple app allows Jessica to connect from her group home to relatives around the country. We set up her FaceTime call list with pictures of her family, and we now have regular daily video calls with her during which she shares her day, and we talk about family members and upcoming events, like our annual trip to Florida. If she can't get us immediately, it's no problem, she just goes down the line of family pictures until her brother, uncle, aunt, or cousin, picks up (She is relentless!). For us, it's a comfort knowing how she's doing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when her residence wasn't open for visits, it provided us with the assurance that she was well and receiving the best of care. FaceTime also provided her with the connection to continue her important speech therapy lessons.
SENSORY LIGHT BOX
Cognable | $3.99
https://apps.apple.com/fm/app/sensory-light-box/id533976433
When this app starts, you're presented with several screens containing thirty circular icons. Each icon has a description of "leaves," "undersea," "balloon release" and more. Press on any of these circles and you might at first be disappointed, as you're presented with a blank screen. But wait, just press one finger to the screen, then another and finally, all your fingers and the results are swirling icons and sounds that you can draw across the screen in infinite patterns. The images, color and sounds are fabulous, but they also provide you with opportunity for conversation!
For example: Look what you did! It was your fingers that made those beautiful pictures and sounds! That's amazing! There are leaves swirling on the screen! What time of year do you think of when you see this? What holidays happen around this time of year? Have you ever "crunched" your way through a pile of leaves? Now it's snowing across the screen! Do you like the snow? What season brings snow? What season comes after winter? Do you have a favorite season? Would you rather throw a snowball or splash in the warm water at the beach?
That's just the beginning! With thirty icons to choose from, there's a lot of material to talk about!
