Newbie looking for help

[ASDVISLD]

Hi!

I am a carer for a young girl (9) who is ASD Vi (no useful vision) and has SLD.

After many months of battling VI services in the area for an iPad for her, with no results, I applied to a charity and got one!! An iPad 2, with external QWERTY keyboard (as I have taught her to touch type) and a griffin military case!! Very pleased to say the least!

My main reason for posting here is I am now looking to set it all up for her.

Does any one have any recommendations as to what I should enable/disable to make the iPad easy to use for her?

Also any recommendations on Apps for the blind? I mainly want to use it for some number work, audio books, audiotary games for when she is on 'free time,' and the ability to put on it videos or pages relating to her school work that she can access herself and listen to independently. I ideally want to be able to put text documents onto it, titled, so she can find them herself and get them read to in, in reference to school subjects and topics as well as putting her own IEP stuff onto it. Am I asking too much?

I know I'm asking a lot, but after fighting so hard to get her one, I really want to get the best from it.

Thanks

ASDVISLD

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[Gabriel1]

Hi there,

Good for you for keeping up that fight.

This thread may help, I wrote the info for iOS 5.1, but I'm happy to look at any differences in iOS 6 if you think it will help......How To Guide for Using VoiceOver in iOS 5.1

Have a good look around this section of the forums as well http://www.ipadforums.net/special-needs-ipad-forum/

The Archangel

[ASDVISLD]

Thank you for the reply.

I have been having a good look round and there really is some super stuff out there for special needs.

I, in an ideal world, also want to make an iPad choose board. Where I can load 4/5 icons on the screen and she can choose one and it link into the activity, name the page 'time to choose' and let her choose her own activities.

With enough research there must be a away!!

ASDVISLD

[Gabriel1]

Thank you for the reply.

I have been having a good look round and there really is some super stuff out there for special needs.

I, in an ideal world, also want to make an iPad choose board. Where I can load 4/5 icons on the screen and she can choose one and it link into the activity, name the page 'time to choose' and let her choose her own activities.

With enough research there must be a away!!

ASDVISLD

I'm not sure I entirely understand the choose board but if it can be done then I'm certain that someone here will know......I would suggest posting in the Special Needs section as not everyone checks the new member intro's.

The Archangel

[ASDVISLD]

When using PECS with ASD children, they have a choose board. So it will have pictures on it, say a computer/outside play area/inside play area/cars and they remove one picture and bring it to me. That is them choosing to do that activity.

As the child in question enjoys music, stories, rhyming stories, I was hoping there was a way I could list these on one screen and for her to scroll over them so they are read out, and then a double click to choose one and it hyperlink into the app or book and she can then play/listen to her choice.

Make sense?

[Gabriel1]

When using PECS with ASD children, they have a choose board. So it will have pictures on it, say a computer/outside play area/inside play area/cars and they remove one picture and bring it to me. That is them choosing to do that activity.

As the child in question enjoys music, stories, rhyming stories, I was hoping there was a way I could list these on one screen and for her to scroll over them so they are read out, and then a double click to choose one and it hyperlink into the app or book and she can then play/listen to her choice.

Make sense?

You could make a home screen with just the specific apps (it's easy to do and we can walk you through it) then the voice over guide I linked to earlier has details of how the iPad will read out the apps on that page as she touches them. Specific books might be more difficult, but if say, she opened iBooks using that method then the same process could be repeated to find the specific book.

The Archangel

[Gabriel1]

BTW, I just typed PECS into the App Store search and it came up with some useful looking apps (once you ignore the body building stuff lol!).

Does she use Braille? The iPad does work with Braille controllers.

The Archangel

[ASDVISLD]

Yeah I did think about just making a folder on the home screen of things she can choose for her 'free time' at school so she can go in it using voice over and choose those apps in there. That might be simpler. Thanks.

I also was going to make folders for each day of the week in regards to her curriculum work, so I can put worksheets or videos in them the relate to the subject so that she can sit down herself, open Monday and start the day independently. Her parents can them see/share what she has done at school on the weekend.

So many ideas for her, just trial and error I guess.

[ASDVISLD]

BTW, I just typed PECS into the App Store search and it came up with some useful looking apps (once you ignore the body building stuff lol!).

Does she use Braille? The iPad does work with Braille controllers.

The Archangel

She doesn't really use braille. She is not your typical tactile learner that you would get with a VI.

If it doesn't create an auditory response, she isn't really interested. Again the VI service have denied her an iPad for 18 months and there is no braille reader in sight either.

[Gabriel1]

Check this link out....


https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/via-...528499232?mt=8

It's an App by the Braille institute that lists apps for the visually impaired.....this could be very useful.

The Archangel