Assignment # 2- APP Detectives for IPod Touch

For my report on APPS detectives for the IPod touch, I had a lot of fun searching the ITunes APPS store for activities that would benefit a student of mine this past school year in Grade 1. He was diagnosed with Autism, ADHD, as well as Turettes ( recently). He was very bright, and loved Star Wars, ( could hum the theme song in its entirety, and often did this in class as a tic to help him stay focused!) He was also obsessed with the human body, and his favorite books for free time reading were invariably related to the human body or space. He also loved his Nintendo DS and was saving up his money to buy a Nintendo DSI. He has great keyboarding skills, was doing advanced math in Grade 1, as well as advanced reading materials.
My student was on a behavioral and social IPP. He had been having great difficulty socially ( initiating, and sustaining appropriate conversations with peers and especially had trouble with attending to people’s feelings. He loved games, but wanted to be first, and subconsciously often put people down about their abilities during games.
He had sensory issues, and his parents had decided to take him off meds. The meds. had been working great at school, but not so well at home. There was a lot of impulsivity and inappropriate responses. I had been doing a wonderful program I had found called Yogarilla- in which different exercises were performed by a gorilla, and the 2 of us had to reproduce them. He also loved the wiggle cushion I borrowed from the Autism library, and had recently started swimming at the community pool.
I chose 3 APPS for my student:
1. Model Me Going Places- this is a visual teaching tool for helping children navigate challenging locations in the community. This would be a good tool for my student as he is used to social stories as part of his programming, but he would benefit from the slide shows of children modeling appropriate behavior. This has been an area of difficulty for him, and as his mom and dad enjoy going out in the community with their 2 children, but are very hesitant going to the playground, restaurant, movie theatre, and grocery store, this could be of benefit for the whole family.
2. Human Body 3D Anatomy- because my student LOVES anything to do with the human body, I KNOW he would absolutely love this app. It involves the major systems of the human body, including lots of graphics in 2D. His favourite would be the rotating 3D organs with 360 degree rotational capability!
3. Traffic Rush game- this game involves stopping and accelerating vehicles through an intersection without crashing. It has been called, “ one of the best games on the iphone”, as well as one of the top 100 games of 2009.

The reasons I chose these particular apps for my student are probably quite obvious. As he is on a social and behavioral IPP, interactive social programming, especially ones where we could include classroom peers in the process (he loves to show people how things work or are done properly), would be fantastic. His engaged parents would also purchase and use the ipod touch at home, I am sure!
Also part of his programming, had been a behavior plan where he earned points for timed free time choices. This was often with a peer, and as he was very proficient with hand held games, the traffic game, and human body 3D anatomy would be huge motivators for him. It could also be a social teaching activity for him, as he navigates appropriate conversation and turn taking on topic.