Faith's iPad

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There's a blog I read called Caleigh's Corner about a little girl with CP. Her symptoms are similar to Faith's except that Caleigh is nonverbal. One of the posts discussed Caleigh having her own iPad along with a special language app to enable her to "talk." I saw the photos of Caleigh with her iPad and thought how awesome that would be for Faith to have her own.

Then, a couple of months ago, during a visit with friends, Faith discovered the Apple iPad for herself. I saw her with an app called Pocket Pond and how she could press the screen to make a splashing noise and the water ripple. She loved it! 

She also checked out a piano app where there are the actual keys of the piano. After she was done looking at it, she looked at me and said in the sweetest voice, "mommy, can we please take that little screen home with us?"

I discussed the prospect of Faith having her own iPad with her speech and physical therapists and they both agreed it would a great tool for Faith, educationally and therapeutically. They both encouraged me to apply for Great American Bike Race (GABR) funds to get Faith her own iPad.

The funds went through, and we excitedly made the purchase for Faith. Before giving it to her, we wanted to find as many useful free apps as possible and also download some of her Sesame Street videos. Finally, the day came for us to give it to her. She was soooo excited! She laughed and screamed, "I have my very own little screen!"

Faith playing Pocket Pond on her iPad with it sitting on her lap

Over the weekend we've been trying to help her maneuver around on the iPad. She's great about pushing the bigger icons but it's going to take some practice for her to touch some of the smaller ones. It's really great practice for using her fine motor skills, though! She needs to have an open hand to operate the touch screen and also be able to put her pointer finger in the right position. I've seen her do that several times this weekend and I'm so excited!

There are tons of apps out there - and I can't wait to be able to purchase some of them. Right now, we have some learning apps that help her with letters, sounds, numbers and sight words. Another app called Dragon Dictation allows her to speak into a microphone and it puts the words on the screen - perfect for our little storyteller!

Faith playing with her iPad while lying on the floor

I really believe having her iPad will help motivate her with learning and with attaining new skills. An added bonus is that it is so light and ultra-portable so we can take all of her apps with us wherever we go!

Faith sitting at the table, playing the piano on her iPad

We are so thankful to GABR for making this a reality for our daughter. There are many parents of children with special needs in other states who do not have funds available to make such a purchase. We can't wait for Faith to bring it to therapy to show everyone!

Having fun with the alphabet on her iPad

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