from Special iApps:
Special iApps is a non-profit social enterprise, dedicated to helping children learn. We develop apps for the Apple® iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®. All our apps are developed in close co-operation with education professionals, parents and children, and are designed to be suitable for typically developing children and those with learning difficulties or poor fine motor control.
Modern smartphones and touchpads have the potential to transform children's education, because almost all children are attracted to them, and their interface is inherently more usable than that of a traditional desktop computer. However, apps to teach children only succeed if they are designed with an understanding of how children learn.
We recognize that many children are easily distracted, and don't have the mental agility or manual dexterity of a typical adult. We carefully trial our apps with children of varying abilities, and incorporate feedback into our design and testing process.
We work closely with other organizations that support children with disabilities, including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, and hearing impairment.
Create your own stories with text, pictures and sound. You can read and listen to your stories, print them to any AirPrint-enabled printer, and share them with friends and family. A universal app for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, Special Stories has many uses including:
- Making photo albums about vacations, trips, and other events
- Improving reading skills
- Encouraging development of spoken language skills
- Creating talking books
- Helping with social skills
- Explaining step-by-step tasks
- Practicing foreign language skills
- Sharing information between home and school
- Sharing news with distant family and friends
from Down Syndrome Education International:
Down Syndrome Education International is working with developers to create new learning opportunities for children with Down syndrome using portable devices including iPads and iPods. Recently released apps support language, memory and number skills development.
Computerised educational activities have the potential to offer significant benefits for young people with Down syndrome, with an emphasis on the visual presentation of information and opportunities to encourage lots of practice. DSE is working with partners in the UK, Europe and the US to create apps that target the developmental needs and learning styles of young people with Down syndrome. Some of the first of these apps are now available.
Special Words from Special iApps
Special Words teaches children to recognise written words, using pictures and sounds, on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. The app has 3 games with increasing difficulty, Match Pictures, Match Words and Match Both.
Special Words comes with the vocabulary and pictures from the early steps of DSE’s See and Learn Language and Reading program, comprising of 96 written words children use in their early vocabulary.
It includes matching pictures, written and spoken words, in 8 languages: American and British English, Spanish, Catalan, French, German, Italian and Swedish. Users can easily replace the words and re-record the audio in any other language their child uses. Users can add more words, pictures and sounds for family members, friends, and familiar objects, to increase their child’s interest, and further develop their vocabulary.
Special Words was developed by Special iApps, a social enterprise founded by parents of a child with Down syndrome who have many years of experience in both education and software. Special iApps is donating a proportion of the global sales of Special Words to Down Syndrome Education International.
Memory Fun and Counting Fun from Felix Education Apps
Memory Fun is a memory game where the user has to remember the position of picture cards in order to recall the location of two matching cards. Starting with just four cards to choose from, up to 18 cards can be displayed with a vocabulary of over 100 words.
Counting Fun is a simple counting game designed to encourage practising counting from 1 to 10. Sound effects and animation engage the child’s attention while they tap each item displayed on the screen to hear and see each digit.
Felix Education Apps is a family run business based in Oslo, Norway, designing educational apps. Felix Education Apps is donating a proportion of the global sales of their apps to Down Syndrome Education International.
