Thief steals special iPad belonging to child with Down syndrome

from WPXI:
Several precious items were stolen from a Washington County family, but one thing in particular will be very difficult to replace.
Among the stolen items was a special iPad belonging to a boy with Down syndrome who has a tough time communicating, Channel 11's Cara Sapida reported.
The thief broke into the Miller family's home just a few days before Christmas and took a laptop, the iPad and even little Elijah's backpack that had in it his folders from school. It's not having the iPad, however, that concerns the family most.
"I thought, 'Oh my god, Elijah's iPad,'" the child's mother, Michele Miller, recalled. "I run in the living room, (and) it's gone. I started crying. I didn't know what to do."
The iPad was specially given to Elijah by the Charleroi School District to help him communicate. The family said they believe the thief would only need a quick look to realize that it belonged to a special boy.
"(It has) bright blue bumper foam pad with a handle," Michele Miller pointed out. "Whenever you turn it on, you can see his pictures, all the sign language apps and other things for a child to learn and communicate."
Elijah's big brother Samuel had a message for the thief.
"Whoever took it, I hope they return it," the 9-year-old said. "Because that isn't just right. It isn't right."
The laptop is missing an F5 key. If you recognize any of those items, you are encouraged to contact Charleroi Police.

Boy with Down syndrome uses iPad to help him communicate

by Courtney Smith from WTVM 9:
AUBURN, AL (WTVM) -
Like many best friends, 7-year-old Hal Bradshaw and Sophie Snyder don't need a lot of words, their bond is rock solid.
Hal has Down syndrome. He began signing as a baby, but verbal words remain a challenge.
"You want the best for your children, you want them to be able to output to the world, not just input," said Hal's mom Samantha Bradshaw.
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Hal began lessons with Kelly Cadden, a speech pathologist at All for Children in Auburn. His family bought an expensive language output device, but it was complicated and Hal didn't like it.
"We knew how much he loved playing games on the iPad, and so we started using it as a way of communication and he liked it and picked it up immediately," said Cadden. "He likes to carry it with him, doesn't like others to touch it, it is his voice, one he didn't have before."

Buddy House dream to become reality for Down syndrome organization

by Alyssa Harvey from The Daily News:

Down Syndrome of South Central Kentucky will see a vision become reality with the opening of its Buddy House for Down Syndrome.

”Five years ago, it was just a dream. It’s like it developed so quickly and came together. We can’t believe we’re starting out with such an incredible facility. The community donated money, time and resources,” said house director Jane Tichenor. “On our own, we couldn’t have done it. We had people who don’t have Down syndrome and just wanted to help. I am humbled and speechless at the generosity of people.”

An open house will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday at 522 State St., with an official ribbon-cutting at 4 p.m. The BG Rockerz will perform during the ribbon-cutting. Official Buddy House T-shirts, including special shirts for infants and toddlers, will be sold for $10.

The date of the open house has significance – Thursday is World Down Syndrome Day, observed every March 21 to symbolize a third copy of the 21st chromosome in people with the genetic condition.

The house will have education and activities for infants, children and adults with Down syndrome and their families, as well as parents who have learned their child will have the genetic condition before birth.

”We want to reach out to people who just received a diagnosis, or gave birth to a child with Down syndrome. We have a welcome area where they can feel comfortable,” Tichenor said. “It’s a place where we can actually help our children, infants and adults, to support them in education and supplement what they learn in school to help them be more successful in life.”

The 3,000-square-foot building will house a Western Kentucky University-themed Big Red Room that will feature computers to help continue adult literacy and math and a Big Bright Room for school-aged children to help them develop speech, adaptive play and gross motor skills. There will be a lending library, meeting room, a kitchen to teach independent living skill and space for the BG Rockerz and ADAM group for younger children to dance.

”They learn so much. It even helps their speech,” Tichenor said. “They’re following directions and learning to have body control and balance.”

Because of its downtown location, Tichenor is “excited for opportunities of being out in the community.”

”We want everyone to know this will be a place to come gather and grow together and want to see all our loved ones with Down syndrome be all they can be and reach their full potential,” she said. “The more I meet these wonderful people, the more I love them.”

Apple’s Accessibility Options Improve Lives

by Juli from Pad Gadget:
Apple is known for having some of the most robust and advanced accessibility options on its iDevices, allowing people with vision, motor, and hearing impairments to have full access to the iPad and the iPhone.
For example, with VoiceOver options people with vision impairments can have everything on the screen read aloud, which lets them access a range of different apps and features on iDevices.

One man, David Woodbridge, uses Apple’s accessibility options with great success. Woodbridge, who has been blind since he was a teenager, owns several different Apple devices, including iPads, iPhones, and MacBooks. Woodbridge was interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald, where he detailed his life with Apple’s products.
VoiceOver is the main feature that allows Woodbridge to use his iDevices to run a successful business and to interact with his wife and children. Here’s what Woodbridge has to say about the feature:

“With VoiceOver I can support not only myself but also my boys and my wife. I press the Home button on the iPhone three times to turn VoiceOver on or off when I need to help them. For example, if my wife gets an SMS when she is driving I can call up VoiceOver on her iPhone to read the message to her and we can reply using Siri, which is one of the great iOS developments, getting better all the time.
Or, say an app on one of the iPads is not working properly. I use VoiceOver to shut the app down from App Switcher, relaunch it and triple-click to hand the iPad back with the app running as good as new.’’

He goes on to describe how he operates his Apple TV with VoiceOver and Apple’s Remote app, and explains that one of his favorite apps is Light Detector, which tells him if all of the lights in the house are off.
There are actually hundreds of apps designed for people with disabilities in the App Store, which is yet another reason why Apple has a leg up on the competition when it comes to accessibility.
Woodbridge is certainly not alone. Just a look at a few of his favorite apps, including the aforementioned Light Detector, Fleksy, a typing assistant, and the Looktel Money Reader, used for identifying money, reveal quite a few positive reviews from other folks with visual impairments.
Even I had the chance to explore Apple’s accessibility options when I had eye surgery two months ago. I couldn’t read my phone or my iPad for several days, but both devices were able to read to me, which was a total lifesaver.
Kudos to Apple for its continued dedication to accessibility – the company rarely gets enough recognition for all that it does to help disabled users – and kudos to Woodbridge, a man who makes the most out of the technology at his fingertips.

Creativity breaking down barriers

from the Fraser Coast Chronicle by Lauren Grounsell:
For 30 years, Peter Rowe was trapped by silence.
Down syndrome held his active mind captive while family and all who knew him watched on, believing he simply didn't understand.
But when Mr Rowe was introduced to Facilitated Communication, a lifetime of thoughts, dreams and hopes came flooding out as he communicated with his family for the first time.
He was so relieved, he cried all the way home.
The Coast man details the experience on his website and his words are enough to change any misconceptions people have about the disabled.
"I was the guy sitting in the corner who supposedly had nothing to say and no understanding of what was going on," he said
"I was bursting with thoughts but had no way of getting them out.
"You can't imagine how frustrating that was."
Local author Glen Sheppard has a similar story.
Facilitate Communication has allowed him to write books which tell what it's like to live in the world of autism.
Both men communicate via a "QWERTY" board.
Similar to a computer keyboard, it enables them to tap out their messages letter-by-letter.
Watching them tap-chat away is a humbling experience.
The delight they feel at finally being able to communicate is clear to see.
"Many people didn't really know me, but they thought they knew what I should not be able to do because of the way I look," Mr Rowe said.
"Many people misinterpret us based on appearances. Please don't judge me by a label."
Creative outlets give both men freedom to express themselves and examples of their creativity will go on display at Maroochydore Library this Thursday during Disability Action Week.
They said they wanted to show that behind their physical barrier was a person whose achievements and abilities positively contributed to society.
The double launch will feature artwork from Mr Rowe's latest collection and Mr Sheppard's new novel Solved in Silence.
Mr Sheppard wrote some of the novel as part of his Creative Writing degree at the University of The Sunshine Coast.
"It's a murder mystery fiction," he said. "It's been a marathon. It's taken me six years to write."
The story follows the life of Sarah who has Down syndrome, autism and can't speak.
"I would like to educate people about disability and also show people what can be achieved with hard work."
Mr Rowe was introduced to art as a form of therapy but was now an established artist in his own right.
"I love the creativity of art and the freedom it brings me," he said.

boy with Down syndrome able to communicate like never before, thanks to iPad apps

by Meg Baker from Fox News:
Communication is an essential part of everyday life—but for those who are non-verbal, to be given the ability to speak is life changing. Breakthrough technology like touch screen apps are now giving stroke victims, individuals with autism and children like Enrique Mendez who has Down syndrome, a voice.
Enrique, 9, of New Jersey, primarily uses the app Proloquo2Go app to create speech by clicking on text and symbols.
“He definitely has a personality and we never knew it until this app, that he actually can have full conversations and dominate a conversation as well,” Diana Mendez, Enrique’s mother, told Foxnews.com.
The app’s developer, David Niemeijer, said he did not fully realize the impact the app would have on lives when he first came up with the idea, but meeting Enrique and his family exceeded his expectations.
“He [Enrique] is able to have more control of his life, is able to do more things that other kids do and get his message across and so he is much more empowered in a way,” Niemeijer said.
Proloquo2Go provides endless text-to-speech voices with a customizable library of more than 14,000 pictures and symbols, which users can configure from 9 to 36 buttons per page. The app comes with two pre-programmed vocabs to choose from, Core Word—most frequently used words in English, and Basic Communication—for new communicators depending on the personal needs and preferences of different users.
Enrique’s mom previously used other methods like sign language to communicate with her son, but said that limited the number of people he could communicate with.
“Now he can communicate with everyone,” she added.
“I want a pretzel,” Enrique said during the interview.
Another app that can be used as a  communication device and teaching tool is See.Touch.Learn, which replaces traditional picture cards that have been used for years in educating children with special needs, with speech delays, pre-schoolers, individuals who suffered a stroke and more.
“It allows the teacher to create lessons using those pictures, the same way they used to do with traditional picture books, or  index cards,”  Jim McClafferty, developer and President of Brain Parade, LLC told Foxnews.com.
An example of what an interactive lesson might look like is a grouping of pictures that show faces both happy and sad. The exercise asks the user to choose the “happy” face.
“This would traditionally be done with the cards and the child would pick the card,” McClafferty said. A bell sounds when the user has chosen the correct answer.
See.Touch.Learn is used to not only teach new words and concepts, but to foster self-expression. McClafferty said the power of the app is in the community using it.
He added, “we’ve got over 200,000 users, in 104 countries right now that use the application, and we are going to let them share images,” creating an unlimited library.
Mendez said she is thankful that now Enrique is able to be a "normal" kid and interact with friends.
“I want a pretzel,” Enrique repeated.
Mendez smiled at her son and said, “Just like a typical child that will not stop asking you for what he wants until he gets what he wants . . . like a typical 9-year-old.”
“Thank you, gracias,” Enrique replied.
“I’m so glad you said that because I was just about to say your manners are unbelievable,” Mendez told her son.
Another highlight of incorporating the technology into their lives is that the family has learned so much about Enrique, like his favorite color and that he has a very silly side.
“Thank you, David for giving me a voice,” the iPad sounded, and the Mendez family cheered.
Download Proloquo2Go: Apple iTunes. 
Mobilewalla score: out of 100.
Download See.Touch.Learn.: Apple iTunes.
Mobilewalla score: out of 100.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/08/16/down-syndrome-boy-able-to-communicate-like-never-before-thanks-to-ipad-apps/#ixzz23oYZvT2U

"Go Talk" communication board helps student participate

from Otago Daily Times by Lucy Ibbotson:

Eight-year-old Caleb Smith is discovering a whole new world at his fingertips thanks to a simple piece of adaptive IT equipment which is breaking down the communication barriers associated with his Down Syndrome.

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The Wanaka Primary School pupil is among the many children who have received support from the Upper Clutha Children's Medical Trust since it was formed in November 2009.

Speech and language skills are an area of particular difficulty for most young people with Down Syndrome. However, after receiving a "Go Talk" communication board last year with funding from the trust, the transformation in Caleb had been remarkable, his teachers said.

"It just immediately broadened his options for communicating," the school's special education needs co-ordinator, Leanne Little, said.

"He's trying to verbalise more, it's encouraging him to talk." Special needs teacher Julie Fitzgerald has also been amazed at Caleb's progress since he started using the board, which plays simple pre-programmed words and phrases at the touch of a button.

"It's just given him a voice really," Mrs Fitzgerald said.

"More than anything it also changes people's attitudes to him because people realise that he's actually got something to say. It's not only changed Caleb's life, but it's given people around him a new perspective of him.

"It just showed we'd been underestimating him." The new communication tool had also revealed Caleb's "cracking sense of humour", she said.

Caleb's mother, Philippa Smith, had noticed an obvious change in her son at home, too.

"He's a bit more confident that we understand what he's saying," she said.

Members of the trust were thrilled the support they had given Caleb's family was making such a positive difference.

"It seems to have opened a new world for him and that's really what we hoped would happen," trust chairman Peter Wilson said.

"It really encourages us with our fundraising as well when you see results like this," trust member Yvonne Gale added.

The trust provides financial support to Upper Clutha families who are finding it difficult to meet the costs of medical treatment for their children. It has received a steady flow of applications for a diverse range of medical requirements since it was established. It has supported 36 families to date by giving funding for specialist treatment, transport and accommodation costs and other activities which can help manage medical problems such as physiotherapy and modified wheelchairs.

new tool to support students with genetic conditions

from fosters.com:

Students across the country with genetic conditions like Down syndrome or sickle cell anemia will now be better supported in their educational, medical and physical development, thanks to a new website developed in part by the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability.

The website, Genetics Education Materials for School Success (GEMSS, www.gemssforschools.org), provides educators, other school personnel, and parents with a "one-stop shop" of useful tools and tips for support of students with genetic conditions throughout the school day. It was developed by the New England Genetics Collaborative (NEGC), a partnership of the Institute on Disability (IOD), the Institute for Health Policy and Practice, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Approximately one in every 20 children nationwide has a genetic or metabolic condition like Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, sickle cell disease, or phenylketonuria (PKU). They most often are taught in general education classrooms, where teams of classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, service providers, and school nurses are charged with meeting their educational and health-related needs. Frequently, however, these school-based teams are ill-equipped to provide the best education or meet other needs of this population in the most meaningful ways, because of a lack of information on the rare conditions affecting these students.

"It was clear that a user-friendly resource on genetic conditions was much needed for those who work in education settings," said Monica McClain, NEGC project manager. "We were fortunate to be able to take advantage of expertise from our broad network to create a tool that will help support student success."

GEMSS provides practical guidance for educational teams in an easily-accessible online format. Each condition and its symptoms is introduced through a brief description in plain language. From there, site visitors can review strategies for addressing dietary and/or medical needs; special education supports; behavior and sensory supports; physical activity, athletics, school field trips, and other events; school absences and fatigue; and emergency planning.

"The GEMSS site is a wealth of information and a valuable asset to teachers and parents in helping them to develop comprehensive educational programs for children who have genetic disorders," said Laurie Lambert, a former New Hampshire general classroom teacher and special educator and inclusion facilitator. "This new tool fills the void of information that was previously available to schools."

New GEMSS content will be added over time and will depend upon readers' input through an online survey.

GEMSS was developed by the New England Genetics Collaborative, which is funded by Cooperative Agreement No. U22MC10980 with the Health Resources and Services Administration/Maternal and Child Health Bureau/Genetic Services Branch. For more information on GEMSS, visit www.gemssforschools.org.