I was playing around with the Erika's World website from my iPad, and I decided to check out the pdf documents containing the lyrics to some of Erika's favorite songs (strategies that work). When I opened the document on the iPad, I noticed an option that appeared on the top-right of the screen: "Open in iBooks." What happened next literally made my day. The pdf document appeared on a bookshelf, in a library separate from the iBooks that I had purchased. This is my very own library of pdf documents!
In Erika's mom's world, the significance of this cannot be overstated. I realize that at Erika's school, there is no wifi access, so this concept of accessing these pdf documents from the classroom at a moment's notice from Erika's iPad is truly a novel idea. I immediately opened all of the lyrics, and they are now in a library on my iPad. When Erika arrives at school today, I hope the teachers take a look at her iBooks app (per my note), where they will find the lyrics to "I'll Show You The World." Erika and I sang this together this morning, as we viewed the lyrics in iBooks.
These documents were created using the Writing With Symbols 2000 software. They took quite a while to create, but this is a format that the schools have been using for social stories, and Erika has been seeing these types of PECS symbols paired with words since she was two years old. On one hand, the software is amazing. It has text-to-speech functionality. But it is also very clunky, and I was absolutely shocked to discover that when the document was finished, I could not save or export it as a pdf document, or any other type of document (such as a Word document). After the time that went into making these, the lack of options was discouraging, to say the least. This left me with two options for sharing it with somebody who didn't have the Writing With Symbols software. Option #1: I could do a screenprint, and compile the information in another program, or Option #2: I could print the documents and then scan them to create pdf documents. I chose Option #2. I am a bit spoiled on the technology end. Instead of being grateful to have a printer and scanner on hand, I was cursing the software that was driving me to do the unthinkable: printing out documents for the sole purpose of re-scanning them to make pdf documents. Now that I can see them beautifully displayed on the iPad for instant access at any time in iBooks, I know it was all worth it.
This opens up so many possibilities for us, to create social stories which can be accessed anywhere via the iBooks library on Erika's iPad. So now, I am wondering if I should stick with this tried-and-true (but oh-so-clunky) software, or if it's time for an upgrade of some kind.
To streamline the process, there are apps for the iPad which allow you to make social stories with photos. Stories2Learn got mixed reviews, but for $13.99, this is definitely worth a try. You can add your own audio, so the story is heard in mom's or dad's voice instead of the computer's voice. I know that some kids have trouble generalizing, which is why the PECS icons may be preferred over specific photographs. But Erika seems to be pretty good at generalizing at this point, so I don't feel that would be a great concern for us. Here is an example of Stories2Learn in action.
For a larger investment of $49.99, there is the iCommunicate for the iPad App. This looks like it might be less intimidating for Erika's teaching staff than the ProLoQuo2Go, since it doesn't have all of the hierarchy of speech to figure out. It actually serves a different purpose. This App is completely educator-driven: you can create choices, first-then boards, as well as picture schedules. It appears to have all the functionality of Boardmaker, without all of the printing and laminating, which is the best of both worlds for this mom. I have said it a million times since Erika's diagnosis at age two: I am the mother of triplets. I have always had three kids in tow (plus my purse). In a perfect world, I would have also been lugging around all of the laminated icons, perfectly organized in binders with strips of velcro, and available at a moment's notice. But that has never been my reality. I say we move forward with this one. If you own stock in velcro, this may be a great time to sell it!
While we are on the subject of Apps, I found a great site called Apps for Children With Special Needs. A few Apps that I am considering for Erika include Tap & Learn and Off We Go, Going on a Plane. The Tap & Learn quiz mode may hold Erika's attention and appeal to her wanting to fill in negative space (like a puzzle). It would help her to practice the spellings of these words. The second app is an interactive social story about flying on a plane. We are at a point where we are considering the feasibility of traveling by air for a family vacation. Erika's dad is quite concerned that her behavior would derail whatever plans we would make. I disagree. I feel that she is very content in a car, and the flight would not be a problem. We would have to keep her content while waiting for the plane, and we would have to keep her busy during the flight to minimize disturbing other passengers. My husband and I have differing opinions regarding how much "noise" is acceptable to subject other people to. I feel that with a little knowledge and understanding, other people should be able to tolerate Erika's tone of voice for a short-duration flight. And with a little planning (music, earphones, a movie to watch), the "noise" would be minimal. This is new territory for our family, but the App would be a useful tool to prepare Erika for a flight.
One more App that I discovered for Erika is the PegLight for iPad. It's essentially a Lite Brite for the iPad. A Lite Brite that you can bring to school, or in the car, or to grandma's house, without leaving a trail of colored pegs behind you. Of course, Erika's not drawing any clever pictures yet, but she likes to fill in the entire grid with red. Perfect for her, since she finds filling in negative space very calming. It seems like it would be just the thing to keep her busy on a flight (and we wouldn't even lose any pegs between the seat cushions).
-Erika's Mom
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