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great apps for a child with special needs By Tanni Haas, Ph.D. Like other kids, kids with special needs are diverse and there are many educational apps that can help them with their special needs. Here are eight of the best ones, and they’re all free! If you’re a parent or caregiver of a child with special needs, have your child check them out, and then download the ones most useful and fun for them. n ChatterPix Kids. This app is great for a child who needs help practicing their oral communication skills. They can either upload or take a picture of themselves, draw a mouth, and then record anything they want to say. It’s particularly useful if you’re having a difficult conversation at home and your child finds it easier to express their views through an avatar rather than directly to you. It can also be useful in school if your child requires extra time composing an answer to a teacher’s question. They can record and re-record their response until they get it the way they want it. Available at Apple Appstore; Google Play. n Coach.me. Drawing on the latest psychological and behavioral research, this is a great app which assumes that a key to achieving one’s goals is to develop good, consistent habits. The user decides which habits they’d like to develop, tracks these habits over time, receives reminders, and then gets positive feedback (high-fives) when they reach their goals. Depending on your child’s age and maturity, they can either use this app on their own or with a little help from you. Available at Apple Appstore; Google Play. n Emotionary. If you want to help your child better understand other people’s emotions, the best thing you can do is help them better understand their own. This app has more than 100 short, dictionary-style definitions of common emotions, each accompanied by an emoticon. This helps your child develop a rich vocabulary for expressing their emotions, and it teaches them coping skills, so they don’t become overwhelmed by their emotions. They can create their own emoticons for emotions they think aren’t included in the app but are important to them. Available at Apple Appstore; Google Play. n iOT Session. Created by Dr. Frederick Covington, a well-known occupational therapist, this app features lots of kid-friendly, game-like exercises aimed at improving visual perception, tracking, and coordination. It also
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improves fine motor skills, especially a kid’s ability to create proper letters. The app is used by occupational therapists, but your kid can use it, too, either on their own or with your help, to track their progress over time. Available at Apple Appstore. n MindShift CBT. Based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, this app teaches your child how to deal with different anxiety-provoking situations like conflicts, social situations, and tests. It features tools that helps the user relax, practice mindfulness, and reorient their thoughts. It has audio recordings with guided meditations, a journal to record thoughts that make them the most anxious, and general tips for managing anxiety. Available at Apple Appstore; Google Play. n Model Me Going Places 2. This social-skills app teaches your child how to interact with different kinds of people they may encounter in their daily life, such as grocery store clerks, hairdressers, doctors, and restaurant servers. It has 12-photo slideshows that model
kids engaging in appropriate behaviors with people in different settings. Available at Apple Appstore. n My Little Suitcase. This game-like app, which can be played by up to four people, enhances your kid’s ability to memorize and match items. Similar to the popular card game Memory, each player has a suitcase with six different items represented on a small card that is faced down. Players take turns turning the cards over. If the card is theirs, they put it in their suitcase. If not, it’s the next player’s turn. Aside from improving their working memory and retention skills, they learn how to focus, categorize, and engage in proper turn-taking. It’s also a great game for the whole family! Available at Apple Appstore.
Tanni Haas, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Communication Arts, Sciences & Disorders at the City University of New York - Brooklyn College. CCM
