Owning a mobile device offers many opportunities for kids to learn like they never have before, especially children with special needs. Those with developmental delays or other needs have to learn skills like any other children, and also sometimes need to find a way to communicate with their caregivers.
Enter educational apps. There are so many of them out there to choose from that there is almost an overwhelming amount of choices. In order to help you pick out the best of the best, here are five mobile apps that you can use to help your special needs child.
1. Choiceworks
Choiceworks is a great learning tool to assist children with completing daily routines as well as understanding and controlling their feelings. It was created with the help of child development specialists to give clear and consistent support and to help encourage positive behavior in children, both for the home and the community. Teachers can also use it to help with routines at school.
Some of the key features include adding your own images and audio, sharing boards, saving boards for multiple children, and the ability to save boards as a PDF or to print them.
2. Talk Tablet US
Talk Tablet US features six different English voices and one Spanish voice. It is a fully-featured ACC speech app for people who can’t communicate because of Aphasia, Autism, Down Syndrome and other types of speech difficulties. You can use it to call phones or talk with other Talk Tablet users for free.
You are able to customize its appearance including buttons, colors, fonts, and even page layouts. It also features over 12,000 communication symbols but also gives you the option to choose from your iPad’s photo album.
3. Bugs and Buttons
Bugs and Buttons has eighteen mini-games that all feature bugs. It helps to teach counting, patterns, sorting and other types of fine motor skills. All the games are designed to be learned quickly and independently; they offer kids just the right kinds of challenges. Levels get more difficult in order to keep children engaged, even when they’ve mastered the activities.
4. Toca Hair Salon
Toca Hair Salon is a game where children can work on self-directed play. The app features six different characters that have life-like hair. Children can choose to cut, color, comb or style their hair. They can even have their characters regrow their hair using a magic potion. Another fun feature is that the characters make fun sounds and faces while their hair is being cut or styled.
5. Write My Name
Write My Name helps kids with fine motor skill delays as well as sensory processing issues. They can use this to practice their writing skills. Children can practice writing their name, trace upper and lowercase letters, and write more than 100 sight words. There are also rewards within the app to encourage children to keep practicing new words.
Conclusion
Apps are no longer just mindless games. They can be very useful to help children with developmental delays, as well as work on their fine motor skills, routines, and even self-directed play. Caregivers can rest assured that with appropriate guidance these apps are sure to engage any child.
Sarah is a professional blogger and writer who specializes in all things tech, education and entrepreneurship. When she isn’t writing awesome things for her clients or teaching cute kids how to write, you can find her meditating, doing yoga, and making illustrations for her children’s books.
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