While not based on technology, I wanted to share this with you. This blog is maintained by the president of AOTA, Florence Clark, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA. She has a lot of great ideas and a great style of writing. I really enjoy getting her perspective on some issues. So check it out and let me know what you think!
http://otconnections.aota.org/blogs/aota_presidential_blog/default.aspx
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Puzzles for Children
Finally!
After some searching, I have found a great puzzle app for younger ones. Puzzles for Children is a simple but valuable app that I use quite frequently with my preschoolers. The user simply has to drag the piece from the right side to its proper place in the puzzle, and drop. The puzzles gradually become more difficult, including simple inset puzzles and 6 piece "interconnected" puzzles. The graphics are interesting for children and very well done. For a free app, it doesn't get much better than Puzzles for Children. I would definitely recommend it for your therapy tool kit!
Price: Free
Age Level: 2-5
Skills Addressed: finger isolation, puzzle skills, visual attention
After some searching, I have found a great puzzle app for younger ones. Puzzles for Children is a simple but valuable app that I use quite frequently with my preschoolers. The user simply has to drag the piece from the right side to its proper place in the puzzle, and drop. The puzzles gradually become more difficult, including simple inset puzzles and 6 piece "interconnected" puzzles. The graphics are interesting for children and very well done. For a free app, it doesn't get much better than Puzzles for Children. I would definitely recommend it for your therapy tool kit!
(image courtesy of itunes.apple.com)
Price: Free
Age Level: 2-5
Skills Addressed: finger isolation, puzzle skills, visual attention
Monday, May 14, 2012
Letter School
Woo! Sorry for the recent lapse in posts -- life right now can sometimes get in the way of my app research :) But I'm back! With a few great apps for you to try out.
This is a pretty common app used in the schools, but I figured I'd blog about it anyway in case some of you haven't heard of it yet. At a recent OT conference, we all went around the table sharing our favorite apps -- and a few different OT's listed this one as a good one. It's definitely a winner!
Letter School is a great app for making learning letter formation motivating and fun. You start by choosing a letter (upper or lower case) or number to work on. The Lite version allows you to choose from letters A-E, a-e, and 1-5. All letters and numbers 0-9 are included in the Full version. There are three different "levels" to forming the letter. In the first level, the child simply taps the starting point for each part of the letter, and lines that look like soapy lines appear to form the letter. The next level involves the child tapping where the letter stars, and drawing the lines appropriately. It forms a railroad track. If the child is having difficulty figuring out where the start the lines of the letter, the dots will "wiggle" to give a little hint. A train then traces the correct formation of the letter. In the final level, the child will form the letter themselves after the initial visual fades away. Again, a hint will pop up if the child is having difficulty remembering how to form the letter.
I can't speak highly enough of this app! It can be used for a variety of kids with an array of diagnoses. Definitely a great addition to your therapy tool kit!
Price: Free for the Lite version; $2.99 for the Full version (totally worth it!)
Age Level: 3 to 12-ish
Skills Addressed: letter formation, finger isolation, visual attention.
This is a pretty common app used in the schools, but I figured I'd blog about it anyway in case some of you haven't heard of it yet. At a recent OT conference, we all went around the table sharing our favorite apps -- and a few different OT's listed this one as a good one. It's definitely a winner!
Letter School is a great app for making learning letter formation motivating and fun. You start by choosing a letter (upper or lower case) or number to work on. The Lite version allows you to choose from letters A-E, a-e, and 1-5. All letters and numbers 0-9 are included in the Full version. There are three different "levels" to forming the letter. In the first level, the child simply taps the starting point for each part of the letter, and lines that look like soapy lines appear to form the letter. The next level involves the child tapping where the letter stars, and drawing the lines appropriately. It forms a railroad track. If the child is having difficulty figuring out where the start the lines of the letter, the dots will "wiggle" to give a little hint. A train then traces the correct formation of the letter. In the final level, the child will form the letter themselves after the initial visual fades away. Again, a hint will pop up if the child is having difficulty remembering how to form the letter.
I can't speak highly enough of this app! It can be used for a variety of kids with an array of diagnoses. Definitely a great addition to your therapy tool kit!
Price: Free for the Lite version; $2.99 for the Full version (totally worth it!)
Age Level: 3 to 12-ish
Skills Addressed: letter formation, finger isolation, visual attention.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Cut the Buttons
This app was recommended to me by a co- worker of mine who was using it with a 12 year old boy to work on fine motor skills. She was having difficulty motivating him to participate in fine motor activities, but he enjoyed this app immensely. I tried it and immediately loved it! It's a great app that is very motivating and works on a couple different skills.
The game consists of buttons that slide up and fall down the screen. Using on screen scissors, the client has to time the fall of the button with the fine motor movement of cutting. As the buttons fall, you need to use your other hand to move a small bucket and catch the buttons. Some buttons have a screw in the middle of them, and you lose points by trying to cut these buttons. There is also a multiplayer mode where two individuals can play. It is actually fairly difficult, and involves a fair amount of fine motor control, hand eye coordination, and timing. I recommend it for older pediatric clients to fine tune their skills as it is a very motivating game.
Price: $1.99
Age Level: ages 7 & up
Skills addressed: visual attention, fine motor control and coordination, hand eye coordination, bilateral movement integration, cause and effect
The game consists of buttons that slide up and fall down the screen. Using on screen scissors, the client has to time the fall of the button with the fine motor movement of cutting. As the buttons fall, you need to use your other hand to move a small bucket and catch the buttons. Some buttons have a screw in the middle of them, and you lose points by trying to cut these buttons. There is also a multiplayer mode where two individuals can play. It is actually fairly difficult, and involves a fair amount of fine motor control, hand eye coordination, and timing. I recommend it for older pediatric clients to fine tune their skills as it is a very motivating game.
Price: $1.99
Age Level: ages 7 & up
Skills addressed: visual attention, fine motor control and coordination, hand eye coordination, bilateral movement integration, cause and effect
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Zoo Train
I spend two days a week in a special needs preschool, where the primary diagnosis is ASD. I have been struggling as of late to find appropriate apps for some of the kids, especially those younger (3 y/o) with visual attention difficulties.
I stumbled across Zoo Train today, an app that includes five different games that are appropriate for kids ages 3-5.
Included are simple, inset like puzzles of 3-6 pieces, a game where you can create your own train, complete with cars filled with different types and amounts of animals. As an OT who works alongside SLPs frequently, I immediately saw the possibility for speech therapists to use this app also ("Where do penguins live? How is this different from where the zebras live?").
For the older pre-school clients, there's a game that involves placing different sections of a train track, including horizontal, vertical, and curved tracks, to create a large train track. It is a great perceptual challenge and the kids Telly seem to like the challenge of this task, and especially love the end where the train goes along the track they have created.
I normally wouldn't recommend an app after only one day of use, but this app was great! It was great to use with pre-schoolers of different levels and abilities.
Price: $1.99
Age level: Pre-school level
Skills addresses: Visual perceptual, ocular motor, visual attention, fine motor
I stumbled across Zoo Train today, an app that includes five different games that are appropriate for kids ages 3-5.
Included are simple, inset like puzzles of 3-6 pieces, a game where you can create your own train, complete with cars filled with different types and amounts of animals. As an OT who works alongside SLPs frequently, I immediately saw the possibility for speech therapists to use this app also ("Where do penguins live? How is this different from where the zebras live?").
For the older pre-school clients, there's a game that involves placing different sections of a train track, including horizontal, vertical, and curved tracks, to create a large train track. It is a great perceptual challenge and the kids Telly seem to like the challenge of this task, and especially love the end where the train goes along the track they have created.
I normally wouldn't recommend an app after only one day of use, but this app was great! It was great to use with pre-schoolers of different levels and abilities.
Price: $1.99
Age level: Pre-school level
Skills addresses: Visual perceptual, ocular motor, visual attention, fine motor
Monday, March 12, 2012
Sam Phibian
A favorite app of many pediatric OTs, Sam Phibian continues to be a staple in my own OT iPad tool kit.
Based on one of Apple's very first games, Sam Phibian has a very basic but fun concept. Kids really seem to love the game.
The premise is this: Sam Phibian tells you which bugs, and how many of them, he would like for his meal. It is the child's responsibility to pick those bugs -- and only those bugs -- as distractors like airplanes and underpants fly by. If the child picks too many items, Sam grows too big for his lily pad and the game is over.
This app is great for visual attention, horizontal tracking, and even cause and effect. And the best part? It's FREE! So hop on over to iTunes and add Sam Phibian to your OT app tool kit.
-- Erin
Based on one of Apple's very first games, Sam Phibian has a very basic but fun concept. Kids really seem to love the game.
The premise is this: Sam Phibian tells you which bugs, and how many of them, he would like for his meal. It is the child's responsibility to pick those bugs -- and only those bugs -- as distractors like airplanes and underpants fly by. If the child picks too many items, Sam grows too big for his lily pad and the game is over.
This app is great for visual attention, horizontal tracking, and even cause and effect. And the best part? It's FREE! So hop on over to iTunes and add Sam Phibian to your OT app tool kit.
-- Erin
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Welcome!
Hello all!
Let me begin this blog by sharing a story with you. Yesterday, I attended the Connecticut Occupational Therapy Association's conference. The keynote speaker, Mrs. Ginny Stoffel (president-elect of the AOTA), gave a very inspirational talk regarding leadership. As a new occupational therapist, I wasn't sure that I would be necessarily qualified for a leadership position. After talking with the chairwoman of the Occupational Therapy program I attended and the former technology liason for ConnOTA, Mrs. Kimberly Hartmann, I felt more confident that I was ready to take on a new role... and here I am!
I haven't been the new technology liason for more than 24 hours, but the ideas are flowing. I thought that a good way to get started would be to start a blog where I could share apps that I have had success with, apps that I think are not so great, and where you could share your own ideas with me also.
As for a little background on me...
My name is Erin Kilcullen, and I am a fresh, new graduate of Quinnipiac University. I work at KidSense Pediatric Therapy, a private practice in Connecticut. I received an iPad as a gift last May, and immediately saw the therapeutic potential for treating pediatric clients. At KidSense, we use a very multidisciplinary approach to treatment, and therefore I have some experience working with SLP's using apps that can be used to target goals for both therapies.
I am very excited to share some ideas with other therapists looking to use an iPad or tablet with their clients. I encourage you to comment about your own experiences with the apps and email me with any apps that you have had success with.
Let me begin this blog by sharing a story with you. Yesterday, I attended the Connecticut Occupational Therapy Association's conference. The keynote speaker, Mrs. Ginny Stoffel (president-elect of the AOTA), gave a very inspirational talk regarding leadership. As a new occupational therapist, I wasn't sure that I would be necessarily qualified for a leadership position. After talking with the chairwoman of the Occupational Therapy program I attended and the former technology liason for ConnOTA, Mrs. Kimberly Hartmann, I felt more confident that I was ready to take on a new role... and here I am!
I haven't been the new technology liason for more than 24 hours, but the ideas are flowing. I thought that a good way to get started would be to start a blog where I could share apps that I have had success with, apps that I think are not so great, and where you could share your own ideas with me also.
As for a little background on me...
My name is Erin Kilcullen, and I am a fresh, new graduate of Quinnipiac University. I work at KidSense Pediatric Therapy, a private practice in Connecticut. I received an iPad as a gift last May, and immediately saw the therapeutic potential for treating pediatric clients. At KidSense, we use a very multidisciplinary approach to treatment, and therefore I have some experience working with SLP's using apps that can be used to target goals for both therapies.
I am very excited to share some ideas with other therapists looking to use an iPad or tablet with their clients. I encourage you to comment about your own experiences with the apps and email me with any apps that you have had success with.
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