Must Have Books for Parenting Special Needs

Don't get me wrong, I love the Internet. But sometimes, you just need a little more depth when you're trying to find important answers.  Even with this vast web of knowledge, I still look to books to help me in my practice and to give me resources for the families I serve.  I LOVE that many of the resource books that tackle common difficulties in parenting children with special needs come in electronic book format too!  Check out these great books and eBooks on a variety of topics, from dealing with the stress of parenting a special needs child to feeding a picky eater.  

Find Great Books for Special Needs Here

What books are you reading?

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App List for Kids With Hearing Loss

App Advice recently shared a concise app list focused on helping children and adults with hearing loss.  Definitely not a comprehensive list but a good start!  Here are a few that I like to use, specifically targeted to younger kids.  Let's grow this list with your input!  Be sure you suggest your favorite apps in the comments below :)



Old MacDonald  by The Royal Institute for  Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC)

This app is the first in a planned series of apps (Songs for Listening and language) from the RIDBC developed to encourage listening and language skills in children with hearing impairment.  The RIDBC also has a signing app (RIDBC Auslan Tutor-Key Signs for iPad).

Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy (iStorytime)  by zuuka incorporated

Is the first (and only, to my knowledge) children's eBook app that includes a "sign to me" function that will display the language of the book in ASL next to the pictures.  It is pretty cool and I hope they come up with more just like it soon!

Interactive Touch Books

A great web resource with a free companion app that allows ANYONE to create and publish interactive children's books that can be read on the iPad.  Included in the Interactive Touch Books Bookstore are stories from Rosemary Sanford with embedded ASL videos that sign along with each story.  Check out her titles on Technology in (Spl) Education (a great blog post outlining her path to developing signing stories and details on her stories)  Note:  The Interactive Touch Books app is free from the App Store,  Once you have the App, you can purchase books form the Interactive Touch Books Bookstore

What apps are you using with your hearing impaired child?

SNEAK's Peeks #1: " I Like Books" by Grasshopper Apps

 

I Like Books

I Like Books (developed by Grasshopper Apps)includes 37 picture books for kids (in 1App!) with high quality, colorful photos, simple embedded text, and voice output!  Many elements of the stories are also fully customizable so you can change the voice output, change the story text, and even create photo "hot spots" that speak when they are touched! 

Check out our SNEAK's Peeks video demo below (or click here to view on YouTube) for a quick introduction to this really cool storybook App!

I really like the simplicity of this App and the photos are great!  I would like to see the ability to use your own photos added to future upgrades.  This feature would expand this App's potential as a platform for creating adapted stories and social stories for children with special needs.  For children with higher level language skills, I think this App is a great way to elicit simple narratives based on the pictures provided in each story.  The kids can even record their story retell or spontaneous narrative as they look at the pictures and then have the App read their own story back to them!