Apple celebrated the 1 year anniversary of the iPad just recently. Why not, they made a ton of money off these things. iPads have had much discussion on the web as being beneficial for the disabled. Amongst the autism-parent bloggers, probably no one has carried that torch more than Shannon Des Roches Rosa, who writes on BlogHer. Squidalicious, and The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism.
If you follow those blogs you know this already: Shannon, Leo and Iz were in the video that Apple produced for the Year One event. Leo in the Apple: iPad – Year One Video and My Son the Top-Secret Apple iPad Project.
Here’s the video. They start talking about autism at about
There is a lot of talk about the iPad and the iPod touch as educational tools, AAC devices and the like. I got pulled into the world nearly two years back with discussion of the benefits of the iPod touch, by one of my favorite commenters on this blog. I really like the way Shannon posed it though: a piece of independence.
Left Brain Right Brain 
It was pretty exciting to see people I knew being featured. And I love to watch Leo spend happy minutes spelling words.
They start talking about autism at 4:07.
Let’s give them a cheer:
L E OOOOOOO!
S H A N N O Nnnnnn
I did not know that was them. She has been one of the loudest in the cheering section for iPad. Given enough of a tax refund, Livie and I hope to join them in cheering the iPad at least, maybe even the iPad2. The hairs on the back of my neck went up when I heard that autism was part of the ‘year one’ presentation for the iPad.
I just see the tablets as a technological door opening that many autistics with severe communication issues will be able to use. I truly believe that this is a beginning of a paradigm shift in the way that the disabled will be able to interact with the world and the way the world interacts and views them.
High Five Shannon/Leo!
Great to see!
I have used both a touchscreen laptop, and a slate with my son. Prior to getting the touchscreen when he was 3 1/2 years old, he was only a spectator while someone else operated the mouse. I could not get through to him that the mouse (down there) controlled activities on screen (up there). But by interacting directly with the touchscreen, he got the ‘idea’ of the cursor for the first time, as it followed his finger. A few weeks later he had worked out the concept of the touch-pad mouse, then the standard mouse, and eventually left-clicks (we are still working on right-clicks, and click-and-drag).
Within a few months he was surfing youtube looking for Thomas the Tank Engine videos. Using the internet got him interested in the meaning of written words, and he became an avid reader, even though he was still non-verbal at that stage.
Once he mastered the mouse, he commandeered my old slate (an HP TC1100) and eventually learned that the pen worked in similar fashion to the mouse. He could carry the slate around anywhere, and it was more rugged than the touchscreen and could cope with being dropped every now and then. Using the pen as a mouse helped him with fine motor control, and helped him master pencils and crayons off-line – he would never have had the motivation if he had not needed to master the slate pen to surf the net.
The ipad appears to combine the best of both the touchscreen and slate, which is excellent. Being able to operate a computer opens up so many options for our kids.
Congrats! That is very cool. Kudos to Apple for a great product, and for putting an AAC app on iPad demo units in stores (P2G). Thanks Shannon Des Roches Rosa for convincing me the iPad was durable enough and worth a shot. My son still loves the smaller iPod Touch though, and greets me at the door to try and pick pocket it away from me.
The justification for getting the iPad was both for its entertainment value and for pre-AAC uses (plus my son is worth it!). However, I am thrilled to see his interest in “Bob’s Books” type apps, and the watching him navigate independently is indeed priceless.
After celebrating a great first year – I hope Apple teams and developers are back to work – because there is so more that can be done here to remove barriers to putting iPads in the hands of people who could benefit from their potential.
Dammit, I cried watching that footage Shannon. I’m such a cry baby these days.
I’m off to get an Ipad. I imagine 2 years old is not too young to start? Thoughts, recommendations?
Sullivan, you are right — the key is what the iPad can do for Leo: increased independence with learning and leisure. Nothing besides food and family has ever motivated Leo like his iPad does. Thanks for helping to spread the message, I hope.
Thanks everyone for the kind words. I can’t wait to hear about the successes you experience as well. And still kind of tickled that Leo made Steve Jobs’ keynote audience of tech-heads reach for their hankies.
As for reviews and recommendations, my iPad/autism resource page follows, including a link to fundraising ideas, plus a spreadsheet of apps that I maintain in collaboration with Jordan Sadler, SLP and and Corina Becker, an adult with autism:
http://www.squidalicious.com/p/on-ipads.html
…first paragraph was meant to end with “I hope more people who can help our kids *get* that message.”
Shannon,
I kinda found the first version fun.