The Use of Mobile Apps in Improving the Lives of People Born with Special needs

One of the most difficult, yet very critical and avoidable role as a parent or a school teacher, is to make a child feel part of the society; to make him/her feel loved and enable him/her to fit in. I know that you are already prejudging my statement because you feel that such a role can be easily achieved without much ado, but think of a situation whereby you are dealing with a child who has language disorders in the expression or reception of verbal communication.

I’m saying this because I’m a father and also a teacher and my son was born with cerebral palsy. I think now you will get my point. Decades ago, it would be difficult for such a child with special needs to communicate with the rest of the world like other people, but today, through the use of mobile software specifically designed for people with special needs, they can easily connect and engage with the rest of the world at the click of a button.

Therefore after discovering that my son was born with the condition 12 years ago, I knew that I was tasked with the duty of enabling him improve his intellectual abilities as well as being able to communicate with others. I just wanted him to feel part of the human population. I never wanted him to feel rejected and I wanted to stand by him in whatever he desire which would help him have a better future.

Back then, it wasn’t easy though. I had to enroll him at a special school. At that time the school had a limited number of accessories and devices for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and thus much of the communication models taught included the use of body language and sign gestures. I usually felt that they weren’t doing much to help my son. I wanted him to develop just like a normal person.

How Apps Enabled my Son Improve Communication and Cognitive Skills

That made me to do more research on better ways of helping my child . That’s when I realized that there were several app for the iPad that could help him develop better motor responses. I researched on the best apps that could help him achieve this and downloaded them on an iPad that I had bought him. I then had to help him get started on using the apps to better his communication skills.

Indeed one such app worked well in enabling him to strengthen his intellectual abilities through preinstalled game geared to help people with cerebral palsy . Through the games tailored for people with such a condition, he was able to learn on focusing and soon he was able to communicate with people especially online and the experience really boosted his spirit and made him feel comfortable about his condition.

The more he was developing his intellectual abilities with other through the apps, the better he became and within a year, I realized that he had developed a new hobby. He had started scrapbooking. This was a very good indication that he was becoming more of a ‘normal’ person and it made me feel great. I loved the way he would document various events and occasions by scrapbooking. After much thought, I decided to help him in his new hobby and thus I decided to launch a scrapbooking website for him.

I assisted him in getting started and to date, his site attracts a decent number of traffic each months. He loves connecting with his visitors and sharing his experiences with them and through that he has improved tremendously.