How iPad Can Change the Life of People with Disabilities

Noah Rahman suffers from mild cerebral palsy, which affects his normal ability to communicate, the ability to recognize things, and the ability to move physically. When he discovered that his language, cognitive abilities, and fine motor skills were being diagnosed by a development expert 12 months behind normal, he bought an iPad.

Four months later, his language ability and cognitive ability were consistent with his age, and his fine motor skills had made great progress.

Now, this 3-year-old child spends an hour or two every day on the iPad. He switched back and forth between applications, practicing reading and writing English, Arabic, and Spanish. In the fall he is going to school. “The iPad unlocks the vibrancy of the child because it's fun,” said the child's father, Sami Rahman, co-founder of the SNApps4Kids community. This community is mainly for parents, therapists, educators, etc. to share their experiences of using iPad, iPod touch, iPhone and Android to meet the special needs of children.

SNApps4Kids is actively working in the market for handicapped users. Touchscreen devices, especially the iPad, are transforming the lives of children, adults, and older people who have special needs. Rahman estimates that there are approximately 40,000 applications developed specifically for this segment of the population.

“Touchscreens make communications extremely smooth—each person has an iPad and each has an iPod,” said Michelle Diament. Michelle Diament is a co-founder of Disability Scoop focusing on disability related news. "If you are a disabled person, having something that other people are using will make you feel like they are in a circle."

For those lacking fine motor skills, the touch screen is a more intuitive device without interacting with the screen through a mouse, keyboard, or stylus. Compared to smaller iOS and Android devices, the iPad is more popular because it is easy to use and it looks very cool.

The following are four aspects of touchscreen devices that change the lifestyle of people with disabilities:

Before communicators came up with devices such as iPads or the like, the use of touch-screen phones to call such technologies was quite expensive and cost about $8,000. Now it takes only $499 to get an iPad, or $189.99 to buy a simple touch-screen calling application, such as Proloquo2Go.

For those children and adults who can't speak, the relatively affordable new technology allows them to “talk”. By simply touching the iPad, a person who can't talk and hungry can accurately express what he wants to eat. These applications can be individually customized for individual needs.

Another option is the Assistive Chat application, which automatically guesses completion sentences. For serious people with disabilities, Yes|No is a simple application that helps individuals to reveal their preferences when answering questions.

“These new technologies allow people with disabilities to regain their dignity,” said Vicki Windham. He is a teacher who teaches people of all ages to make full use of the iPad. He also writes reviews for some apps that are specifically designed for disabled people.

For iPad users with hearing problems, soundAmp R will amplify the sound in many situations. Users can also record lectures and speeches that they like or want to collect.

Vincent, the son of Cristen Reat, co-founder of the treatment device SNApps4kids, is a born Tang syndrome patient. This disease can lead to a decrease in skeletal muscle. Although he can walk, Reat thinks that his son is like a Buddha and spends most of his time sitting still. Vincent's attending physician and his parents have been trying to help him and keep him active. But until his physiotherapist put an iPad on a treadmill, he began to want more activity. He can now hold on for 9 and a half minutes while playing with the iPad.

In addition to enhanced walking athleticism, Vincent's fine motor skills have also improved. For Vincent, computers and previous technologies required him to switch back and forth between the mouse, keyboard, and screen. However, on the iPad, Vincent can use a single finger to write directly on the screen and make choices.

Similarly, Noah Rahman's athletic ability has also been improved. After touching the Elmo Loves ABCs app on the iPad, he can write the alphabet completely, which requires complex collaboration between the fingers. As a child only three years old, this is a great thing. "In the beginning it was 'for me,' and later 'to do it with me', now it was 'he completed it by himself'!" Noah's father said.

Educational Tools A few years ago, one of Jeremy Brown's junior schools specializing in autistic children happily took a hand at picking up his iPhone. "It's as beautiful as a fish in a stream," said Brown.

As a result, Brown began to focus on online discussions on technology and special education, formed the Facebook group iTeach Special Education, collaborated on the podcast EdCeptional and co-founded the Teaching All Students blog. Although iPad is not allowed to be used in classrooms in his area, Brown believes that iPad is a very good teaching aid method. It is estimated that 80% to 90% of children with autism in his students have very good skills in using iOS devices. Good results. Brown hopes his school and other schools in the area will be able to use iPads in the classroom.

Although no one advocates the replacement of traditional learning tools, some applications can indeed solve problems in many disciplines, including mathematics, language, reading, and writing. In October 2010, Apple even launched "Apps for Special Education", an educational app featuring education, on the App Store.

Brown encourages parents to separate the teaching and entertainment features of the iPad. Some students may watch YouTube videos on school buses, but when they are in the classroom, they know that Mr. Brown’s iPad is for learning only.

Behavior Monitoring Behavior Tracker Pro is a very popular application designed for parents, clinicians, and teachers. It can quantify specific needs as children's specific behavioral metrics. In addition to recording, good and bad behavior are recorded by video for later review. This application can automatically convert the input into a visualized chart.

High school teacher Vicki Windman noted that the iPad can help some people with Alzheimer's disease or people with memory loss improve their memory. At the same time, she still reminds us that touch technology is not magical: "You cannot cure Alzheimer's. Parents are constantly trying - they want antidote. But there is no antidote. This is a fact!"

This is not to deny its role. An application like Medication Reminder reminds the user of the time taken for medication. Memory Practice, a memory enhancement application, was developed by the developer for the mother who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Windman's father has been using an app called Nudge, which is mainly used to remind him every 15 minutes to complete tasks that will be disabled in the schedule.

Looking beyond the future, Cristen Reat, co-founder of SNApps4Kids, is still very cautious: “Just buying a device for you alone does not mean it will change everything!”

Rahman also agrees with this view. He said that browsing the iPad as a solution is a step backwards. “We strongly advocate that in selecting technical advice, users need to understand some objective things first,” Rahman said. “We are not just taking our son in front of the iPad and then walking away and letting it play. This is the key ."