The answer should be yes. Not "how can I get my loved one help?"

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Reblog: AAC iPad App for Children with Special Needs – Giving Christmas #1

Amazing iPad APP for Children with Autism, Aphasia, or Other Problems Speaking!

 

I’m leading off the Giving Christmas Giveaways with this amazing APP for children with special needs that include problems speaking. My review is yet to come on this since I want to spend more time reviewing all the features, but I have to say – I am impressed!

Normally a $99 app – even with the cost of the iPad, this means families who need a communication device for their children with mild to severe speech issues have found a great deal! (To put this in perspective, 3 years ago we used a grant to purchase a communication device for Logan, for $350 – and it’s sat in the closet since because it was difficult to use for him!).

You can add any vocabulary item, organize any of them into groups, organize words or groups by location, Sync with the web interface, and literally have an amazing tool at your disposal!

Talk Rocket Go AAC iPad App for Children with Special Needs

Why This is a PERFECT Gift for a Special Needs Family…

There are many reasons – but because of this app’s versatility, you can literally help anyone with speech problems, from children with speech delays to adults with speech issues. You can take photos, use Google Images, use any of your own images as well – so you aren’t limited by only having or using PECs or baby-ish pictures.

While the $99 price tag seems steep for an app, consider the cost of a similar device – which could run anywhere from a few hundred to a few THOUSAND dollars – and this one has been tested  by well over 13,000 users with all range of speech issues, including professionals. It’s an amazing tool for that $99 price tag.

How else could you give someone their voice back for Christmas?

Unsure how to give the gift of an app using your iOS device? Read for instructions here: http://ipad.about.com/od/iPad_Guide/ss/How-To-Gift-An-Ipad-App.htm

Now for the Chance to Win Talk Rocket Go!

One very special Kat’s Cafe reader (or reader of the helpful blogs promoting this!) will be able to WIN their own copy of Talk Rocket Go. The only caveat is that you also meet with Tony Gross, Community Director MyVoice and TalkRocket Go, via Skype (or phone?) so that he can give you a personal introduction to Talk Rocket Go! Talk about an amazing opportunity to start using this app’s amazing features!

Wanna Win? Just Enter the Rafflecopter below! And Don’t forget to SHARE this post so an amazing family who really needs this app could win!

 

I am going to use the R word.

Mental Health Awareness Ribbon

Mental Health Awareness Ribbon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

[kc_background_pac_3_underline_3 size=”35″ color=”#000000″ ]Reprehensible[/kc_background_pac_3_underline_3].

I can define reprehensible, or you can look it up over at Dictionary.com.

Talk of gun control legislation without talk of Mental Health service expenditures is reprehensible.

We can not have one conversation without the other.  It would be irresponsible of our society to assume that guns are solely to blame, just like it is irresponsible to automatically assume that Autism is what caused the horrible tragedy in Newtown.  I think that in time, the killer will show through records that he had severe mental health issues above and beyond an autism diagnosis.   Autism is not the cause here.

I am certain that I will receive hate mail for this.  I seriously doubt that there will be significant legislation that with-stands constitutionality tests by the Supreme Court.  Whatever law our congress comes up with will be debated for years.  Now, I am not saying that gun control legislation is not a good move, nor am I saying that it is.  I am an advocate for responsible gun ownership.

We need to remember a couple of things regarding Newtown.  The killer, didn’t own the guns.  According to news reports he stole them from his mother.

Before we can talk successfully about anything, we need to let the Newtown community mourn the loss of the innocent.  The heroism of the teachers and the heroic efforts of the first responders in their attempts to save the survivors.

[kc_background_pac_2_highlight_3 size=”36″ color=”#000000″]I know this – [/kc_background_pac_2_highlight_3]

My son has Autism.  Largely he is bashful in most social situations.  It is through the efforts of his classmates in our school district that he is as socially aware as he is.  Being the father of kids on the spectrum, and kids with severe mental health issues, I hold the mental health industry to a higher standard, as I believe we all should.  We need to advocate for better services for those with mental illness.  We need to advocate for better access to those services.

Like everyone I have talked with about Newtown, I am both shocked and deeply horrified by the situation.  As a parent of a kid with autism, I am also horrified that people would assume that a child with autism is a violent child.

[kc_background_pac_1_background_10][kc_background_pac_1_heading_10]Wait!!![/kc_background_pac_1_heading_10][kc_background_pac_1_sub_heading_10]One other thing to note[/kc_background_pac_1_sub_heading_10][/kc_background_pac_1_background_10]

In today’s technological age, the media, (any news organization) are very quick to jump on the bandwagon with experts and pundits who try to articulate meaning where none can be found with a lot of study and investigation.  The media was for the most part irresponsible in the way they handle some aspects of this incident.  Releasing the name of the gunman, on the day of the incident was premature.  Saying that the gunman was autistic was premature.  Saying that the gunman killed his mother at the school was premature.  Saying anything, beyond “There was a shooting at a school in Newtown, CT.”  is premature.  Speculation is causing a lot of issues right now for people on the spectrum as well as those who work with them.

As citizens of the world, we need to hold our news organizations to a higher standard.  We should not be sensationalizing the Adam Laska’s of the world.  The conduct of the media in this matter can also be deemed reprehensible.

The opinions stated are my own.  I have a brain and am not afraid to think for myself.

 

Newtown

Newtown (Photo credit: jdolan)

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David is getting verbally aggressive

received a report today about David.  He is becoming more aggressive with staff both in the residence and at school.

He has in-school suspension on Monday.  There will be a staffing for the cottage on Monday as well, and they will plan what the next course is.

I told them that I would be happy to come up for the meeting.

I also told them that David doesn’t like school, so if he sees this as a way to get out of going to school, he will use it.

so if he becomes verbally or physically aggressive toward staff, he will be in a half hour time out in his room in the residence hall.

David has been in placement for a month now.

Not a day goes by without our thinking about him.  Most days he calls us.

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Our thoughts and prayers are with those on the coast who were hit by Hurricane Sandy.  It is too bad election politics are playing a role in the relief that you so desperately need.

 

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