Reports of iPhone and iPod Touch apps especially developed for children and adults with developmental disabilities and others in need of alternate communication options have inspired many parents to imagine our own 'wish lists' of apps that would benefit our families.
Parents have long worked on creative solutions and alternatives for our sons and daughters with developmental or physical disabilities. They may have speech delays or other challenges in communication, planning or learning. We have tried 'low tech' options like pictures with word or phrases on index cards connected by a key ring; laminated, velcro encrusted photocopies of cartoon strip representations for self-help skill sequences, or transition schedules; and/or trusty 'refrigerator rules' posted to help avoid parent-child power struggles.
Relatively inexpensive commercial products available in toys and greeting cards have inspired some parents to create home-made communication boards that their children can use to get across basic important messages in the alloted seconds of recordable sound. Once a child learns that they can clearly express an idea aloud by pressing a button, the problem soon becomes one of capacity. Why would they choose only to have messages that express what their parents or teachers believe are important when they could have three good 'knock knock' jokes programmed in the same space?
Of course there are professional communication devices that have solved the capacity problem. Most have been reduced in size and weight so that children do not need a desk top or full size wheelchair table to hold them. But they are often too expensive to be available to most children and teens who could use them, and also are often too unwieldy and too vulnerable to the effects of gravity and other aspects of physical nature to last.
Insurance, including medicare and medicaid, cover only expensive "dedicated, proprietary devices" that can not be used for non-medical support or entertainment. In a New York Times article from September 2009, Peter Ashkenaz, described as a spokesman for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is quoted advising: “We would not cover the iPhones and netbooks with speech-generating software capabilities because they are useful in the absence of an illness or injury.” In recent years, mainstream computers and devices customized for use as communication devices have other software deleted and options disabled when provided to clients for that purpose.
In a time when we all want personalized ringtones, elegant design and convenience in all our electronic devices, children and teens with disabilities may not be impressed with the lack of choice in features, colors and design of communication devices. They do often lack convenient accessibility while going from place to place and there may be a general lack of thought and design in carrying cases, if a case is available at all.
Communication devices having options like lighted text for low light situations, earbuds or other alternatives for quiet rooms or noisy crowds, and other reasonable accommodations should be standard by now. I believe most children and teens would prefer an option of recordable voice messages along with the artificial computer voices available for typed in phrases. Regional accents and terms unique to individual families may not be thought to be a reasonable accommodations even in the most expensive devices.
Sometimes children who do have augmentative communication devices want to use them constantly, but staff and parents alike are unfamiliar with how to use or program them or integrate their use into the classroom or ordinary life. They assume that the person wishing to use the device is willing to go without a voice because potential 'listeners' are not familiar with it.
Much of the attractiveness of the iPhone and iPod apps available for children and teens who benefit from options in communication and organization is that mainstream kids and adults are quite familiar with them or willing to learn more about them due to their general appeal and tech culture status.
Both Terri Mauro and Patricia E. Bauer have reported on the iPhone and/or iPod Touch apps known as iPrompts (scheduling, timer, choices and image library) and Proloquo2Go (remarks and queries with associated icons). Hopefully popular culture and tech innovations will continue to respond to the true diversity of our communities with more of the benefits of universal design.
Browse at your local bookstore, public library or online retailer for books like iPhone Application Development For Dummies(scowl), by Neal Goldstein, or,
iPhone: The Missing Manual: Covers the iPhone 3G, by David Pogue, 
read online about the Apple iPod Touch and iPhone
and general information about Boardmaker, Makaton and PECS products
.iPhone Apps for autism schedules, diabetes, seizure disorder
http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=57
New York Times 9/15/09
Insurers Shun Multitasking Speech Devices
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/technology/15speech.html
Boardmaker and PECS Communication Alternatives
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art57783.asp
Amazon Kindle 2 and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art60812.asp
Assistive Technology for Communication
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32724.asp
UK DSA - Down Syndrome Association
Interactive-Visual Timetable Software Page
http://www.supportdisc.co.uk/Visual_timetable.htm
Warning: Reports are that at least one third party seller on Amazon.com charges $34.48 for a $25 iTunes gift card, that arrives with its code showing. An accompanying letter explains that this is in case the card is lost in the mail or there are problems redeeming the card. You do not need to pay an extra $9.52 for something that was mailed for 84 cents.
I apologize to readers who may have purchased iTunes gift cards through links here to Amazon.com. Although this website (slightly) benefits from purchases made through Amazon links at the bottom of articles, I recommend that families support local retailers, bookstores and their public library wherever possible. That being said, readers often find highly discounted prices on books and other products, great sales and good service through Amazon and its third party sellers. Please be vigilant about double checking 'handling' costs and other fees when ordering anything online.
