Toontastic App for Writing, Communication, Emotions and ...FUN!

I saw the Toontastic App for the iPad yesterday. The SPED teacher showing it to me was very excited about it . This teacher has her students working on animated stories using this app. Here are the elements that made it popular with her and her students:

1. The "Story board" goes through the different stages of a story, they call a "Story Arc",  from setup, conflict, challenge, climax and resolution. Kids can create a scene that represents each element of a story. They can also reduce or expand the number of scenes representing these elements.

2. Students can select a setting background or draw their own background and save/catalog it.

3. They can pick "toys" which are the characters in the story to animate. They remind me of movable Play-mobile figures.There are several free ones and more can be purchased in themes of castle, sports, town, space, monsters, Halloween, pirates, etc. They can also draw their own characters, color them and catalog them in the character library.

3. Students start "rolling the camera" and move the characters, re-pose movable parts and read their script to create the scene.

4. Mood matching to Music: This was a HUGE plus to the teacher I visited with because she has students who cannot read emotion real well. The music step in the app has different emotions to select and then slide up or down for different music intensity/style that matches, i.e. friendly moves to loving to passionate. Each level has different classical music matching it and a cartoon icon with a cartoon face showing that emotion.

5. Once the scene is done they repeat the steps for the next element in their "Story Arc". It then packages it all together and asks them to name their movie and categorize it. They can either save locally on the iPad or post to an online account area for view by others.

The World:
Toontastic has a share feature on "Toontube"  that shows the globe and places all over where movies have been posted. I selected Madagascar and got an adventure movie  drawn and created by a student there. He did speak in English so you could understand it. Very cool. No one can contact the creators and no personal information is posted - just the nickname, name of movie and number of "likes". You can Share the video too so there is a social network aspect to it on a limited basis.

The teacher that shared this app with me says that her students are learning about cultures so they have been viewing videos created by kids from places they talk about. She is also excited to see students who are quiet and reserved verbally, using the app to talk and record their stories.
Initial download is free which includes the animator/player with limited scenes and characters to play with. More can be purchased in sets or the complete package can be added for $9.99. 
Check it out!

All the best,
Lon






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Autism Funding Resources for iPads

I received a letter today from some parents discouraged because their insurance denied an iPad with an AAC app for their son. We did trials with him using it last spring and over the summer they collected the pieces needed to submit a request. I have found it dis-heartening that insurance companies will cover an $8000 AAC device that is durable medical equipment but won't fund an iPad with a communication app that will provide the same support. I know this doesn't hold true in all cases and I know too that every child is different and the $8000 devices can be what is needed, but when it isn't and insurance won't cover it, where can parents look?
In response to this dilemma, a friend, and parent of a special needs boy, sent me a link, "Funding for  iPads" a list of resources developed by The Autism Society contact center. They have had many parents contact them with questions on where to look for funding help to purchase an iPad.

Other Resources and Articles:
If you are interested in more information about iPad funding resources and the issues surrounding it, documentation needed, etc. go to this link "How to Get an iPad Funded" by TACA (Talk About Curing Autism)
Also, "Five Steps to Getting an iPad Covered by Insurance" contains some great tips and sample documents you can use for greater success in filing a claim with your medical insurance for an iPad.

I hope you can find a source to fund an iPad for your child!

All the best,
Lon

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Summary of Accessibility Features for iPad in iOS 6

Here is quick summary of the accessibility features for the new iOS 6 on the iPad for those of us who need a short simple summary to have as a reference. Go down the list with the iPad and play with each feature - if you have been putting this off, now is the time!

Accessibility Features on the iPad (iOS 6)
Under settings, scroll down near bottom and tap Accessibility. There are accommodations under Vision, Hearing, Learning, Physical & Motor, and triple click settings with Guided access, Voice-over, etc. Below are descriptions of the features within Accessibility.

VISION:

• Voice Over – allows you to touch areas of the screen and hear what is under your fingertips. Allows you to double-tap after hearing to open. 3 finger swipes move to different screens left, right, up and down. Experiment: Try turning on Voice Over and navigate around the iPad, iTunes, web, email, etc. with a blindfold or your eyes closed. Makes for an interesting experience! Under the Voice Over settings there is Typing Feedback which speaks each symbol on the keyboard when you tap it. It also speaks the words in your text you are typing when you tap the sentence.
• Zoom – Allows you to use a three-fingered tap and drag to access and use zoom feature. Note: If you use zoom feature and try to type with the keyboard you have to slide the keyboard around to see all the keys and you can’t see what you are typing while you type.
• Large Text – you can set the size of font for your notebook, email and some other features. It does not change the text size within apps like word processing apps, games, etc. It only interfaces with the basic apps that came with the iPad.
• Invert Colors – Inverts and brightens in certain colors to make it more visible to folks with vision-related issues.
• Speak Selection – adds a speak function to the copy/paste/select text/select all bar. There are settings within it for speed, dialect (get an Irish, British, Aussie woman’s voice). Has a highlight word feature as well.
• Speak Auto Text - Here suggested corrections related to the auto-text feature are spoken.

Hearing

• Mono Audio – turns off stereo channels

Learning

• Guided Access – a triple-click of the home button opens Guided Access where you can circle areas of the screen to lock out access. Sets with a password so students can get in and turn it off. Note: if you lose password, just hold home and sleep button together for 10 seconds and the iPad will turn off. You can then re-open the iPad and Guided Access and then re-set the password.

Physical and Motor

· Assistive Touch – record and set custom gestures that can be activated from Favorites that allow you to activate/use the iPad. Just for fun...The video above shows how to make a gesture to play Angry Birds which helps in getting down the feature and how it works.

· Home-click Speed – Set speed to default or slow or slowest

Triple Click
· set what the triple-click is used for i.e. Guided Access, Voice Over, Inverting colors, Zoom or assistive touch.

For a full description of the iPad Accessibilty features, go to the Apple Website:

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