Our Current Favorite iPad/ iPhone Apps

Here is a list (and some video) of Elizabeth (2-yrs old) and Matthew's (4-1/2 yrs old) favorite apps these days. I've categorized them as best as I could. Some apps are listed in more than one category. Please feel free to comment and share your favorite apps with us.

Short-term Working Memory
NACD Simply Smarter


Expanding Knowledge
Mini Adventure Animals - I love integrating this app into our reading time, especially when we read about animals. Great real-life photos and youtube videos AND it's customizable.

Matching Jobs
ABA Animals flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Earth Science (by kindergarten.com)
Sesame Street Podcasts - not an app but free short videos featuring the letter of the day and things related to it.

Learning Concepts
Photo Touch Concepts (by Grasshopper Apps)
ABA Problem Solving What Rhymes (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Problem Solving Which Go Together (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Which Does Not Belong? (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Receptive by Function (by kindergarten.com)
Little Matchups Opposites (by Grasshopper Apps)
Little Matchups The Matching Game (by Grasshopper Apps)

Learning Patterns/ Critical Thinking
Caboose - Learn to Recognize and Complete Patterns
Little Patterns
Monkey Mathschool Sunshine

Little Solver Preschool Logic (by Alligator Apps)- this game gets progressively harder as Matthew gets more successful with the basic patterns.

Injini/ Injini Lite

Early Numeracy Skills & Math
KidCalc - Great app except I don't like the number tracing activity on this app. It's overly responsive and allows random screen swiping to trace the numbers.

Monkey Mathschool Sunshine
Grover's Number Special
Kinder Add
Line 'Em Up
Preschool Prep Meet the Numbers
PhotoTouch Numbers
123 Toddler Counting
Counting Bear (by Grasshopper Apps)
Montessori Counting Board (by Grasshopper Apps)

Speech Production & Articulation
SmallTalk Phonemes

NACD Apraxia

Talking Tom (and other Talking Friends)

Just For Fun
Monkey Mathschool Sunshine
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
Talking Tom (and other Talking Friends)
Grover's Number Special
Matching Job
More Breakfast
More Pizza
Cupcakes!
Your Teddy!
Balloonimals
Fruit Ninja
Scout's ABC (by Leapfrog)

Books and Activities
I Like Books (by Grasshopper Apps)
The Monster at the End of this Book
Another Monster at the End of this Book

Lightning Was Here Puzzle Book
Thomas the Train books - Some (or maybe all) of the books have a memory matching game that's both auditory and visual.

Sight Words
Verbs with Milo

Noodle Words

A+ Dolch Pre-primer and Primer Sight Words
300+ Sight Words
Little Reader Three-Letter Words (by Grasshopper Apps) - I just wish the words were in lowercase letters instead of uppercase letters.
Little Reader Four-Letter Words (by Grasshopper Apps)

Language Input/ First Words/ Phrases
My First Couplets (by Smart Baby Apps)
ABA Animals flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Sports flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
My Home (by Smart Baby Apps)
Animal Kingdom (by Smart Baby Apps)
Food Festival (by Smart Baby Apps)
Around Town (by Smart Baby Apps)
My First 1000 Words (by Smart Baby Apps)
My First Words (by Smart Baby Apps)
ABA Vehicles flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Things You Wear (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Musical Instruments (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Things You Play With (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Actions (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Fruits & Nuts (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Vegetables (by kindergarten.com)
Noodle Words

Sentence Construction/ Reading Comprehension
Sentence Maker
I Like Books
ABA Alphabet flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Shapes flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
Sentences Builder (by AbiTalk)


Drawing & Writing
Drawing Pad
iWriteWords - I haven't used this app with the kids yet because we're not actively working on writing yet. I downloaded it because I wanted to try it. I'll use it when we start working on writing.
Paint Sparkles

Letter/ Color/ Shape Recognition
Monkey Preschool Lunchbox
123 Color
Preschool Prep Meet the Letters (uppercase)
Preschool Prep Meet the Letters (lowercase)
Preschool Prep Meet the Colors
Preschool Prep Meet the Numbers
Preschool Prep Meet the Shapes
ABA Alphabet flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Shapes flashcards (by kindergarten.com)

Audiobooks
Tales2Go - Since both Matthew and Elizabeth like listening to age-appropriate audiobooks, I'll be using this app in the car so they can listen to books in the car instead of their usual kid music sometimes.

Object Identification/ Visual Scanning
PhotoTouch Toys
Little Finder (by Alligator Apps)
ABA Animals flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Sports flashcards (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Receptive Identification by Class (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Receptive Combined (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Receptive by Feature (by kindergarten.com)
ABA Receptive Identification by Noun (by kindergarten.com)
My Home (by Smart Baby Apps)
Animal Kingdom (by Smart Baby Apps)
Food Festival (by Smart Baby Apps)
Around Town (by Smart Baby Apps)
Injini/ Injini Lite

Toy Review Tuesday: Thomas the Train Wooden Railway

Not all kids really get into train toys. Matthew did. Our little train engineer will play with this train set for at least 15 minutes - that's relatively longer than other non-electronic toys and non-screen based games. Elizabeth, his assistant train engineer, enjoys it too. The kids started out with the Water Tower Figure 8 set and then inherited a large plastic tub of tracks from older cousins.

They have two battery-operated metal trains - Salty and Percy - and all the other trains are made of wood. Train Engineer Matthew has mastered the art of connecting the interlocking wooden tracks. Matthew is very particular about how the track is set-up and which trains are on it. If we add another train without his approval, he says "Nooooo!" and takes it off the track. Both little engineers always make sure the trains stay on track. The battery-operated trains tend to go off-track if the tracks aren't connected just so. Some reviews online cite this as annoying but I think it's a good way to hold the kids' attention.

I honestly enjoy playing with the train set too. Bill says I seem to enjoy it more than the kids when I help make elaborate railroad lines. It's just so much fun to think of the possible configurations with bridges, tunnels, twists and turns and then watch the battery-operated trains pull the other trains along the track.



Thomas & Friends books on iPad/ iPhone
Matthew, in particular, has been enjoying Thomas the train so much that I have borrowed Thomas & Friends books from the library. We also have all 13 apps on my iPhone and iPad.

The apps are mostly developed by HIT Entertainment and some by Callaway Digital Arts. The HIT Entertainment ones feature an interactive book, a coloring sheets (6 choices), puzzle, and voice recording capability. The Callaway Digital Arts ones feature an interactive book, a matching game, puzzle, coloring sheets (6 choices), and a short video excerpt of the story.

All books are narrated in a British accent. All the stories are quite lengthy (and wordy) and don't hold Matthew's attention. So I usually disable the British narration and make up a shortened story as we manually swipe through the book.

By HIT Entertainment:
Down at the Docks
Thomas and Toby
Thomas Gets a Snowplow
Thomas and the Castle
Thomas Gets His Own Branch Line
May the Best Engine Win!
Calling All Engines
Thomas-saurus Rex
The Special Delivery

By Callaway Digital Arts:
Misty Island Rescue
Day of the Diesels
Engine Activities
Hero of the Rails

Waitress Mommy

Grover is one of my favorite characters on Sesame Street. (I actually like him more than Elmo.)

If you grew up watching Sesame Street, you may remember Grover, the cute and loveable furry waiter, which was one of his many roles. The app called "Grover's Number Special", now on the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, brings him to life in this interactive game. Matthew is still learning to play this game. Tilt the device one way or the other to move the tray and catch and count the ingredients for the special of the day.

One evening, Elizabeth and Matthew were seated at their little table pretending to eat play food. I decided to bring "Grover's Number Special" to life and surprise my unsuspecting customers. I offered to bring food to their table and clumsily set the food down so it would land on the floor. Elizabeth was shocked at the mess I was making and Matthew thought it was funny.

Here's a short video of the app and my attempt at waitressing.

Toy Review Tuesday: Pictures on Lids of Baby Food Jars

I saved some lids of the jarred baby food Matthew used to eat. Then I cut small pictures from magazines and glued them on the inside of each lid. We've successfully used them for several activities.

Activity Ideas
"Look for something... (descriptive)" is one game we have played. We'll have all the picture lids facing up and look for something yellow or round or shiny and so on. As a learning activity, not a testing activity, if I find something first, I'll pick it up, show it to the kids, and say, "This banana is yellow." Elizabeth is usually the first echo in the room saying, "banana yellow." (Yes, she's very verbal and articulate).

Matthew doesn't process complex "wh" (what, who, where) questions yet, except he knows some simple, straight-forward ones through rote learning. If I were to read a short story to him and ask him what, who, and where questions in relation to the story, he would not know how to answer them. But if I showed him some picture lids and asked him, "What do we drive?" then he'll pick up the lid with a car. "What can we eat?" then he'll pick up the lid with green beans or other food instead of one with a telephone.

To help improve auditory processing and short-term working memory, I ask Matthew for 3 or 4 pictures out of 4 to 6 picture lids laid out face up in front of him. And I require him to give me the pictures in the same order that I had requested verbally. Ideally, he should do it without any prompting or repetition of the request. When he can't seem to remember or he gets the order mixed up, I guide him hand over hand. Matthew can usually get a sequence of 3 correctly.

Elizabeth likes to look at the pictures, verbally label the ones she knows, and drop them into the can with the slotted lid.

iPhone Apps
For the tech-savvy like Matthew, iPhone apps that are structured like the activity I described above include:
"ABA Receptive Identification by Class" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification - FFC Combined" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification by Function" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification by Feature" created by Kindergarten.com
"ABA Receptive Identification" created by Kindergarten.com

Toy Review Tuesday: Memory Game

I remember playing Memory Game as a child. It was one of the many games I enjoyed. It makes me happy to see that Matthew has taken an interest in it too.

I began teaching Matthew how to play a few months ago. Starting out with just 2 pairs, I'd illustrate how to turn over the cards individually to find the matching card. I had to be quick and enthusiastic about it to keep Matthew's attention and get him interested. He wasn't very interested the first few times I brought out the game.

Teaching him the objective of the game only took up to a minute or less each time we would "play". Whenever I let him have a turn, I applied the "errorless learning" method, wherein he always succeeded at finding the matching card. This involved either hand-over-hand help or me pointing to the right card to flip over.

Gradually, as he started to show more interest, I added a 3rd pair. These days we play with either 4 or 5 pairs while Elizabeth likes to look at the other cards. It's cute to see her pretend to play too. She'll say "Match!"

A couple of iPhone apps helped build upon his interest and understanding of the game too. The app "Monkey Preschool Lunchbox" has a mini memory game in amongst the other games. Another one I have on my iPhone is "Preschool Memory Match".

When Elizabeth is older, Matthew and I will teach her to play Memory Game too.

Why and How I Teach Sight Words

The brain hears by seeing - something I learned this year. An excerpt from the article Brain Hears Just By Seeing, "The brain's auditory cortex reacts to and categorizes stimuli even when you only see the sound being produced and can't hear it." This probably explains how Bill, when he was a child, could watch a TV show on mute and still understand it. He could lip read.

So if the brain hears by seeing, then the brain can hear speech sounds when presented with a written word. Of course, this would probably be more possible after having the appropriate and correct input once or a few times before it is able to "hear" the word correctly. For example, if the only language I knew was English, then I wouldn't know that the "j" in Spanish was pronounced silently, like an "h". But given the input or knowledge of the Spanish alphabet and/ or language, my brain would be able to recognize "Juan" and enable me to pronounce it correctly with an "h" beginning sound instead of a "j" sound like in "jump". My brain wouldn't hear anything either when presented with Chinese characters because I don't know the first thing about them.

The interesting research on how the brain hears what it sees encourages me to continue teaching Matthew sight words. With a second set of ear tubes and regular ear checks with an otoscope, Matthew's ears have been fluid-free and his hearing has been good as far as I can tell. But hearing levels can fluctuate. Background noise can be distracting. Since Matthew can read, his preschool teacher can show him the words "stand up" if he is unresponsive to verbal instruction. As soon as he sees the words "stand up", he stands up.

Signing vs. Speaking
Signing would've worked too to get him to stand up. Matthew and I communicated via signing when he was 15 months to about 2-1/2 years old. It served as a useful and helpful bridge to fill in the communication gap when Matthew wasn't saying as many words yet. In our experience, sign language seemed to help ease communication frustration (most of the time, not all the time) and increase receptive language skills.

He still signs a few words these days like "more" but he always pairs it with a verbal "more". Generally, we've dropped sign language. As soon as he started articulating more sounds and saying a few words, I decided it was time to encourage spoken language more than sign language.

Increase Speech, Articulation, Vocabulary
Aside from the research on the brain hearing what it sees, there are other benefits to teaching reading at an early age. Articles like "Teaching reading skills to children with Down syndrome" talks about teaching reading to help with speech, vocabulary, and working memory.

The book "Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome - A Guide For Parents and Teachers" by Patricia Logan Oelwin catapulted me into introducing a few words of high interest to Matthew like Daddy, milk, cat, apple, Matthew, Mommy, and ball, pairing the words with pictures to provide a visual cue. What worked best for us included using words that were of high interest to Matthew and words he heard often in daily conversation and routines. He was 2-1/2 years old.

As he learned to read more words, his speech (verbalization/vocalization) and vocabulary picked up by leaps and bounds. Our suspicions of verbal apraxia were dispelled.

Speech therapy at school and using the SmallTalk Phonemes app on my iPhone has corrected many speech errors and improved his articulation of individual letters in the alphabet and a few blends. He says "Mommy" very clearly now instead of just "b" or "bahbee". He was substituting the 'm' sound with a 'b'.



Today, he can read over 110 words by sight without any pictures. He can read many of the words on the dolch list.

Our Favorite Tools and Resources
- Mentioned earlier, the book "Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome - A Guide For Parents and Teachers" by Patricia Logan Oelwin was helpful to me.

- For articulation, iPhone app SmallTalk Phonemes.

- Homemade flashcards. I started with laminated cards with the word on one side and the corresponding picture on the other. It was easy to do with nouns. When we started to move into words on the dolch list I just wrote words on plain 3x5 index cards. I flash 5 to 7 new words a week and review several old ones. We keep the flashcard activity fast and brief.

- Homemade alphabet, number, and word videos, a couple of which I shared on my blog. (Click on "videos-learning". The link is also found in "View Posts by Category" on the sidebar.)

- Preschool Prep Meet the Letters and Meet the Sight Words DVDs, books, and iPhone apps. Matthew loves Preschool Prep.



Factors That Help Sight Reading
We only have one set of eyes and good, clear vision helps tremendously in allowing us to take in information, process it, and learn.

Matthew was around 7 months old when we took him for his first eye exam with a pediatric opthamologist. A little far-sighted than one would expect, the doctor said, but nothing that would require eyeglasses. His clogged tear duct that had been making his one eye gunky and crusty every morning finally cleared up when he was 10 to 11 months old. So surgery was not required to probe the clogged duct. After another eye exam at 16 months and 28 months and no major concerns, the doctor said he didn't require another eye exam until he was 4 years old unless he developed a problem before then.

It is Matthew's good vision that is partially responsible for allowing him to learn sight words. Other factors are his strong visual style of learning, good visual memory, fluid-free ears and good hearing, improving articulation and speech, and of course, high interest in learning to read.

Comprehension
I think comprehension will develop with exposure, practice, and maturity. He understands the meanings of individual words but learning to understand a story or an idea is harder to grasp - for anyone who is trying to learn a language.

Comprehension may also develop by pairing written high interest phrases or sentences with the corresponding situation. Moving forward to 3 or more-word phrases from 2-word phrases, I currently use plain 3x5 index cards to visually prompt him with highly used sentences. "I want more please", "Let's go home", and "Time to eat" are a few examples. Today, he came to me with something on his mind and slowly but clearly said, "I want help please." Unprompted.

In the bathroom, a list is posted as a visual prompt for his toileting routine. He can read it. I use it to prompt his next step in case he gets sidetracked with singing or self-talk.

One of Many Paths to Literacy
Learning sight words is just a beginning step in learning to read. To quote the Preschool Prep DVD:

"Learning to read is a combination of many skills including letter recognition, decoding skills, phonics, phonemic awareness, and memorizing sight words. Knowing sight words alone does not mean that a child can read but it is an important step on the path to literacy."

Tech Savvy

When Matthew was a baby, I didn't know the extent of Matthew abilities when I was told he would develop like other kids but just at a slower pace.

At age 3, he takes my iPhone, unlocks it, and scrolls through six screens of apps to find his favorites. He does this all by himself after observing me many times and some trial and error on his own. He has not accidentally deleted any of the apps (yet). His current favorites are Talking Roby, Talking Hippo, preschool prep apps, I See Ewe, Toddler Counting (by iTot Apps), and SmallTalk Phonemes.

He pushes the 'on' button on his vReader and vTech Mobigo, then proceeds tapping on the screen and navigating through games. I don't think he understands all the instructions but he understands enough to be able to experiment, learn to figure out some of the games, and play some of them independently.

If I let him, he'll randomly click on the laptop mouse when he wants to view more of the videos that I made for him or look at photos. But he's a little too click-happy with the mouse and since there are too many important documents on my laptop, I've taken away his mouse-clicking privilege.

Yes, he may be learning many things at a slower pace. But he is tech savvy just like most kids in his generation.

Potty Tracking System and Rewards

In addition to using the ListMaster iPhone app, I now also use the I Go Potty app by Huggies. It's a simple app that I use for potty reminders. I can set the time til the next potty and set regular potty interval reminders, like every 30 minutes for example. And I can also set reminders to be sent between specific hours during the day so I don't get a potty wake-up call in the middle of the night. Best of all, the app is FREE!

To address the timing issue we've been having, I'm using a Toilet Training Data collection sheet for the next 2 weeks to try to get a better idea of when we should take him to the potty depending on patterns he might have. The data collection sheet has 5 columns:
- Time
- Pants Check (W/D/BM)
- In Potty (N/P/BM)
- Self-Initiated (Y/N)
- Notes.

Another mom shared it with me (Thanks Jennifer!). I wish I had done this when we first started but better late than never, right?

Contact me if you would like a copy of this document. I can email it to you.

It probably seems like overkill to have 3 things to track his potty progress but it's what I feel needs to be done right now.

Rewards
The I Go Potty app has a star reward system that unlocks games after 9 stars (9 successful potty visits). But Matthew isn't interested in a cumulative reward system. An immediate reward makes more sense to him. So I really just use that app's 30 minute alarm and I'll show him the game once it is unlocked.

So what do I reward him with after using the potty? More drinks! I got the idea from one of the comments on my previous post "Potty Training." He likes juice so I give him a small cup of watered down apple juice if he's in the mood for it.

Food rarely works as a motivator or reward for Matthew unless it's juice, pears or oranges. But he has to be in the mood for food even with accepted, ultra-limited selection of favorite food. So we use toys or games as a reward too. His current favorite toys are Alphie the Robot, vReader, and preschool apps on our iPhones. We go with whatever works.

And most importantly, he loves the praise we give him for sitting on the potty for 2 to 5 minutes and for successfully peeing in the potty. We haven't tackled #2 in the potty just yet.


Related Posts:
Toy Review: Alphie the Learning Robot
Go Potty
Potty Progress: Saying "Wet"
Potty Training

Potty Training

Sitting on his potty chair for the 10th time today, Matthew was successful with a pee potty. Unfortunately, he wasn't sitting quite right so pee shot out over the front guard of the potty chair and soaked my pants since I was sitting in front of him. But I praised him for going. I applauded his effort. That was more important than my wet pants.

He understands that going in the potty is expected and loves the praise he gets for successfully using the potty. He even clapped for himself as he was peeing. Yes, it's a proud moment for us all.

Readiness signs
We started introducing Matthew to the potty in August last year. He was showing an interest in the toilet, imitating Bill or I in the bathroom. He was willing to sit on his potty chair at bathtime and bedtime.

He knows the sign for potty. He can also verbalize "potty." However, without recognizing the urge to go yet, he doesn't communicate that he wants to or needs to use the potty.

Generally, sensory awareness is low in individuals with Down syndrome. This seems to be true for Matthew as he doesn't seem to sense the urge. He is also indifferent to being wet or having a poopy diaper. So in this regard, perhaps he isn't completely ready but we wanted to start the process anyway because of his interest.

Potty Strategies & Ideas
During the Christmas break, we ramped up our potty training efforts, taking him to the potty (roughly) every hour. He now wears pull-ups during the day, even to school. So he uses the potty at school too even if it wasn't originally in our IEP (Individualized Education Plan). He wears a diaper at naptime and bedtime.

However, with the hourly schedule, we seemed to be missing the window 90% of the time. We were either 3 minutes too late or 3 minutes too early. So last week, we decided to take him to the potty every 30 minutes when he's home and offering water or juice as often as possible. Yes, it's a tedious process but we've learned to incorporate it into our day by keeping an eye on the clock or setting a "potty alarm." It certainly isn't easy when I have 8-month old Elizabeth to tend to as well. But the more practice he gets, the more chances for more successes. Each success is a little baby step to being potty trained.

An idea from another mom is to put Matthew in underwear under the pull-up so he'll feel that he's wet since pull-ups tend to wick moisture away from the skin. I'll try it for the sake of trying it but I don't have high hopes that it will work for someone who doesn't seem to mind playing in wet pants.

I also thought of purchasing the "Peter Potty" which is a standing toddler urinal made just for boys. My sister-in-law recommended it as it worked for slowly transitioning her son out of diapers. The Peter Potty purchase has not been made. Amazon.com is out of stock and we haven't decided if we wanted to try this. We'll continue to use the Baby Bjorn Potty Chair for now.

Another thing I tried was putting Matthew on the toilet. But he was not comfortable on it and seemed very unsteady even with me holding him since his feet couldn't reach the floor.

Standing to pee in the toilet isn't an option for him yet either since he is short. Standing on a stool and using toilet targets is another idea I've quietly entertained but haven't tried. He'll need more stability getting up on a stool and standing on it without holding on to anything and I'm afraid it might turn into a messy game, which would involve me mopping the bathroom floor multiple times a day.

A Learning Process
Matthew is learning the routine: use the potty, wash hands and dry hands. He is learning to pull his pants down and pants up, which requires finger and hand strength and coordination. He still needs help with this. He usually falls forward when pulling his pants up. He is learning that he needs to keep his balance when pulling his pants up.

It's the baby steps that matter to us. Some days we take a few steps forward. Some days we take a few steps back.

Potty Tracking
I've been tracking the number of successes and number of times he sits on the potty using my newest iPhone app "ListMaster." More searching led me to more iPhone apps specifically for potty training utilizing reward systems. However, Matthew doesn't yet understand cumulative reward systems so accumulating several stars to earn a treat or a toy will not work for us right now. So I'll stick to the chart I created on ListMaster for now. As you can see, our batting average for success is currently pretty low.

No Deadline
We're taking it a day at a time. Having him potty trained by the time he goes to Kindergarten would be ideal. Age 5 is the earliest that kids start Kindergarten here. Because his birthday is in October, which is past the beginning of the schoolyear (August), he will be going to Kindergarten a few months before he turns 6. So we have time. But if that does not happen, then we'll just have to rethink things.

Asking other moms in the DS community, it seems kids with Down syndrome potty trained at age 5 - 7 on average, with a few trained as early as 3 and a few as late as 8 to 11. Some did it in a week. Some took a few years.

Every child is different though. Maybe Matthew will be potty trained by his 4th birthday. Or maybe Matthew won't be completely potty trained until he's 5 or older. But right now, with his interest, cooperation and willingness (very important!), we feel it is certainly worth the effort to try. It's another little step toward independence.

Stopping and trying again later is also certainly an option.

Your Experiences, Ideas and Strategies
Please share potty training ideas and what worked for you by leaving a comment. I would love to hear them and many parents who read this blog would find it helpful too. Thanks!



Related posts:
Go Potty
Potty Training

The Dentist and the Alligator

I've never taken Matthew to the dentist. That task has been delegated to Bill since it would be easier for him to hold Matthew in the dental chair than it would be for me. His first appointment was 6 months ago.



The 2nd visit to the dentist for a routine check went fairly well. He was calm when in the waiting area. But Bill needed to sit in the dental chair with him and hold him still. The dentist looked in Matthew's mouth while he screamed in protest. The screaming stopped shortly after the dentist was done checking his teeth. And I think he forgave the dentist when she gave him a giant toothbrush and toothy alligator to play with. He enjoyed using the giant brush so much that he even tried to brush Bill's teeth with it.





The good news is he has zero cavities! I'm hoping Matthew inherited Bill's genes for good teeth and not mine. I had lots of cavities while growing up while Bill is 30+ and he has not had a single cavity in his life. Bill drinks soda everyday, a few times a day. Unbelievable but true (and so not fair)!

As Matthew gets older and his language skills increase, I foresee us not needing to hold him down at the dentist anymore. But that will probably be several years from now when he can understand why it is important to see the dentist.

Until then, I'm thinking of ways to help him cope. I've put together some pictures from his recent dental appointment to show Matthew using an iPhone app called "Stories2Learn" which allows me to create short stories using my own pictures and words and record my own voice. Since he's a visual learner, maybe this will help him cope better at his next visit to the dentist. Showing him pictures of himself at school to help him adjust to preschool seemed to work so maybe it will work for the dentist too. Or maybe it won't make a difference. But it doesn't hurt to try and is certainly worth the effort.

Flashcards With Sounds

Like most kids with Down syndrome, Matthew is a visual learner, meaning he learns best by seeing. In some ways, he is also a kinesthetic learner, meaning he learns by doing. We trying to increase his auditory processing skills too so he can learn better by listening or hearing.

I usually tailor my activities to match his learning style. Here's a video of one of my improvisations. I found a free app for the iPhone called "I Hear Ewe". It has recorded real-life sounds of farm animals, wild animals and modes of transportation. I use it to bring pictures to life by showing Matthew a flashcard of the animal as I tap on my iPhone for the sound. Matthew enjoys it. And when he's enjoying an activity, he's learning!

Matthew's List of iPhone Apps

I love technology. Matthew does too. He likes my laptop and my iPhone. I've downloaded several iPhone apps for him.

ABA Flash cards (free) by Kindergarten.com - Actions, Alphabet, Zoo Animals, Fruit & Nuts, Emotions
Real life pictures with the word for the picture on top. Voice audio says the word clearly. It can be turned off. Pictures can be ordered alphabetically or shuffled.

Balloonimals
Blow up balloons by blowing into the talking end of the iPhone. Shake the iPhone to create different animals with the balloons.

Echo
A game that's great for auditory and visual memory. A sequence of buttons flash on the screen. The challenge is to repeat the sequence in order with a new flash added to the sequence when successful. The goal is to match as many buttons in a row.

iPlay 'n Learn
Flashcards with letters, colors and shapes. Nice educational app but I think the voice is too fast for Matthew to follow. I'm also not impressed with the letter tracing feature on this app. It's not very easy to follow. I prefer iWrite Words for tracing letters.

iTouch iLearn Words
Features a match-the-word game and matching a picture to the word on the screen. Matthew isn't developmentally ready for this app yet.

iWrite Words
Letter-tracing educational app with easy-to-follow tracing guide.

Learn Sight Words ($0.99)
300 of the most frequently used words in the English language. I think this is the dolch list. Blue letters on white background.

Learn to Talk
Flashcards featuring high impact words, objects and labels, one word actions, two word actions. Tapping the word on the card spells it if spelling is enabled. Tapping the letter on the card flips it over to show the uppercase and lowercase form with audio of the letter, but not how the letter sounds.

Model Me Going Places (free)
Picture slideshows for modeling social skills. Limited to hairdresser, mall, doctor, playground, grocery store and restaurant.

Talking Tom (free)
A cat that repeats whatever is said to him.

TapToTalk
A tool for non-verbal kids to communicate. I have it on my iPhone but I haven't tried it with Matthew.

Virtuoso
Fun freeplay on the interactive piano.

Voice Toddler Cards – the talking flashcards ($.99)
Real life pictures with words underneath. Flashcards of letters, numbers, food, animals, objects). Own voice can be recorded for the picture or a default is also available in English or Spanish. Flashcards can be set to autoforward or manual tapping on the screen.

Wheels on the Bus
Poke or slide things on the screen for surprise actions. Own voice can be recorded singing the song.

More iPhone Apps
Here's a list of educational iPhone apps I've seen or heard of but haven't downloaded:

Baby's Animal Show
iTot cards
Pocket Phonics
Wh Questions
Which Doesn't Belong
Which Goes Together

Other Blogs That Have Listed Favorite iPhone Apps:
Yo Mamma Mamma
Sue Mayer - Special Needs Mom

What are your favorite iPhone Apps for kids?

If you have a blog and have written about your favorite iPhone kid apps, please share the link and I will add it to the list.

UPDATE:
Here are more resources.
- a .pdf file listing 200 iPhone & iPod Touch Apps for Special Education.
- Apps for Children with Special Needs
- Lunchbox Reviews: The Best Kids Apps Reviewed