iPad Apps for Children with Special Needs

iPad gives new hope to those with autism and other disorders. (San Jose Mercury News, 3/26/2011)

Excerpt:     While hordes of iPad users whiled away their soggy Saturday by catapulting angry birds at green pigs, Marquis Alforja was expertly flicking his tiny fingers through the intricacies of a specialized app to learn how to spell -- and perhaps, one day, to actually speak aloud -- the word "S-W-A-N."

Nestled in his mother Marlene's lap, the 3-year-old San Jose boy with autism aligned the letters perfectly to their spots on the screen. Marquis, who does not talk, giggled with delight when the swan spun around on the bright screen in celebration.

A roomful of other parents of special-needs children gathered around, taking careful notes of app names, as their children traced cyberletters, etched cyberpumpkins, strummed cyberBalalaikas and decorated their virtual homes with hearts earned from figuring out addition problems.

They had gathered at Via West Campus in the hills above Cupertino for an ongoing seminar series to teach families how Apple iPads and the exponentially growing world of apps can be used for helping kids with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and other disabilities to better communicate and learn.