School With the Ipad

We loved the holidays but it is also nice to be back to our regular routine. School has started back so Junior and I are very busy. I spend time each morning working with him and then his teacher comes by for an evening session. On the good days we do as much as possible because during this time of year there are many days that Junior is just not up to doing his work. Today for example the weather is changing and Junior is not feeling well. He is dealing with increased seizure activity and lots of asthma both of which are making for a cranky kid. So our typical school day routine is out and he is listening to stories and watching some educational shows.

Our first Monday back in school we did a big review.
During the reading portion Junior was not happy. He made faces and complained but it quickly became clear that it was boredom and not lack of ability that was the issue. We are now working on words with four letters as well as introducing blends. I have a sneaky suspicion that he is able to read far more then we realize.

These pictures are from Monday of last week, you will notice his "looks". The handeholder(www.handeholder.com, sorry but blogger is not letting me link for some reason) is turning out to be a fabulous tool and allows Junior's ipad to be up at eye level for him even in his stander.

I am hoping to find an app that would allow me to have the sentence on the ipad screen for him to read. I could then place just the pictures on his felt board so he can show me which picture the word/sentence matches.

During Junior's math review he just did the problems in the order they were presented on the app(teach me kindergarten). For some reason he thinks when math is super easy it is funny and not boring. During science time Junior wanted to look at his new space book. We are currently doing a farm unit but since it was a review day we worked on space stuff.
We found a very neat solar system app(solar system simulation) which went perfectly with his book.

Now for a few pictures from the rest of the weeks school sessions.
Working on some reading words
Math time(fruit tree math to go along with our farming unit)
Junior is doing a unit on farming and we have been learning about plant life cycles.
It was great to have an app about life cycles to go along with our other activities.

I Want To Do It Myself

Junior has to stiffen his arms to get his hands to move so needs hand over hand help with most activities. If he thinks I am doing too much and not letting him help enough he gets very upset.
I have one of his ipad boards set up with some general things he might need to say while doing activities or talking. Yes, No, I don't know, maybe, help me please, etc. To avoid his need to holler at me I recently added a symbol for "I want to do it myself".

Today we were putting together the solar system that his teacher gave him for Christmas(thank you Teacher Cindee, Junior loves watching the planets rotate and the sun light up). Junior quickly told me "I want to do it myself" when he started to feel he wasn't getting to really help.
Oh how I love the voice the ipad has given Junior.

Saying Merry Christmas the Ipad Way

Christmas afternoon Junior had to call and tell Grandma and Papa Merry Christmas and also thank them for his present. I made some adjustments to his "phone talk- grandma" boards to add in the Christmas symbols and then he was all set.
These are just two of the boards for his "phone talk - grandma" you can also scroll down to about 12 more symbols he uses while on the phone. He will look away from the ipad if he wants me to scroll to a different set of symbols while he is "talking"

Merry Christmas

Junior had a great Christmas and especially enjoyed using his ipad while opening gifts.

Telling me he is ready for his next gift
Asking for help getting it unwrapped
We had to pause for a treatment so here he is showing me which of his new shows he wants to watch.

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you all had a blessed day

Ipad Accessibility - Finding Some Answers

We love Junior's ipad and it has opened a whole new world for him but it can be hard to position for him. Junior can not lean down to look at it and it needs to be at eye level for him.
If we are doing an activity I need to stop and hold it up for him to be able to answer questions or tell me what he wants.
Not long ago I contacted a new company called Handeholder, www.handeholder.com that makes stands and holders for the ipad. I asked about the possibility of making an extender arm for the current ipad clamp that they make. They were fantastic and so very willing to help. They made a prototype with the extender arm which we are trying out and we are also trying the regular clamp for when Junior is not in his wheelchair.

We got the clamps on Friday and are working on the best way to attach the extender arm to Junior's wheelchair. A work in progress, but I am quite sure we will get it just right for him.
Here are a few pictures of the clamp with extender arm. The first few pics were taken the day it arrived and it is attached to a stool since Junior was not in his chair.
Now attached to his wheel chair armrest.

We attached the regular clamp to a tripod and are able to place it next to Junior's stander, recliner, bed, etc. Junior is absolutely thrilled to have his ipad right there next to him at eye level. It is very sturdy and I am not worried about it falling off the clamp, we can also still rotate the ipad even while it is attached to the clamp.
The regular clamp attached to the tripod
In this picture Junior is in his stander using the proloquo2go app during an activity.
We are so happy to have found something that works for Junior. He is so pleased to be able to tell me things while we are doing activities without me having to stop to hold up the ipad for him.
Be sure to go check out the site www.handeholder.com ,they have lots of great holders for the ipad.

Rudolph

Junior the red nose reindeer.
Here are the boards he is using
He is showing me what he needs next to make his reindeer hat.

Now I am a reindeer but something is still missing
I need a red nose

So Behind

Wow, I have not posted here in awhile. Things have been very busy. Junior had a sinus infection at the beginning of December and is now having serial casting. That along with the normal holiday activities is keeping us on the move.

He continues to use his ipad a great deal and loves giving step by step directions with it during craft time. He also loves be able to pick out the game he wants and being the competitive guy he is, demanding a different one if he starts to lose. I am seeing a definite change in his level of confidence which is wonderful.

I have pictures from some of the activities we have done where Junior is using his ipad and will get them up soon. For now have a very Merry Christmas.
We recently found this link to an iband and Junior thinks it is way too cool.