How did we manage before iPads?

Oh those iPads.  How did we ever live without them?

We got our first iPad about 15 months ago now.  Between the boys, their sister and their mom all wanting iPad time, sharing one amongst our whole family wasn't working out terribly well.  And the newness did NOT wear off.  I may have been the most obsessed.  I may have uttered the words "you can have the iPad when you pry it from my cold, dead hands" once or twice.  So we picked up a second one about 8 months ago.

That one is supposedly "mine."  But AJ logs a lot more hours on it than I do.

However, it did solve most of our iPad sharing problems.  The boys could each have one.  Aliza got an iPod for her birthday last year, so she's a little bit better with not getting much iPad time.  Mark, who never got much iPad time to begin with, got an iPod through a promotion at work.  This past summer I lost my cell phone, and after a couple of months of using a borrowed one, I upgraded to an iPhone in October.

It is now possible for all five of us to be in the same room and on separate iDevices.

You're welcome, Apple.  Happy to keep you in business.

So just how did we get along without the iPads before?  Hm.  Did we watch more TV?  Not any more than we do now.  Did we play outside or interact with each other more?  A little, maybe.

In the first few months, several of us would crowd onto the couch and use the iPad together.  At least once in awhile.  The screen isn't really big enough for multiple people to view at the same time, but at least we looked at it together.

We don't do that much anymore.  Now it's much more common to find the boys in the living room, each tuned in to his individual iPad, with one eye on the TV.

I've read about how much screen time is recommended for kids of varying ages.  I don't know specifically what the numbers are for eight year olds, but I'm pretty sure it's less than eight or nine hours a day.

Of course that's not on school days.  That's only weekends.  And summers.  Holidays.  Sick days.  Car trips.  Doctor visits.


When we run errands about town, I leave the iPads at home as much as possible, to get a little away-from-the-screen time.  The problem with that plan is, we are a family of five, and we all have needs and desires, and we cannot cater to the boys' needs and wants 100% of the time.  Sometimes I need to keep the boys entertained in Target, so Aliza can shop for a friend's birthday present.  Sometimes I want to have a conversation with some other Fragile X families at a coffee shop.  Maybe we just want to get through the mall without Zack deciding to take a break and sprawl out on the floor between the Pillow Pet and the Rosetta Stone kiosks.  Sometimes I really need to have those iPads along.

What the boys mostly use the iPads for is watching videos on You Tube.  Stimming.  Feeding their OCD tendencies.

So at home, anyway, I'm trying a new strategy.  I'll restrict the iPads' access, so that You Tube and Safari are not available.  Then I try to add a few, new, fun counting or animal or reading apps every few days.  PBS, Super Why, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Team Umizoomi apps are popular with the boys because they feature their favorite TV characters.  They haven't yet caught on to the Dora or the Diego apps.  I wish there was a Wonder Pets app.  Zack would be all over that.

If I really need those iPads to distract and/or entertain, though, Safari and You Tube come right back into view.  They are a great educational tool, but they are also a pacifier.  A crutch.

So we lean on those iPads a lot, to get us through the days, and they are a lifesaver.  It's why we constantly ask ourselves that question - However did we get along before iPads?  And how do you keep your iPad from just becoming another way to watch videos?

AppSmitten!

I'm not really one of those bloggers who blogs to promote products. I've had a couple of offers, but this blog is about autism and Fragile X Syndrome, and issues that families with children with special needs deal with.  It's not about laundry detergent.  Or dog treats. 

If there isn't a specific autism-Fragile X tie-in, I'm just not going to do it.

Then I heard from AppSmitten.  AppSmitten is a website with lists of great apps.  Apps!

You know how we love our iPad!  You know how much the iPad has highlighted the boys' blossoming (or maybe I should say exploding) communication skills.  Twice now I've blogged about our favorite apps.  And I'm always looking for more app ideas. I devour blog posts, articles, online lists and personal suggestions.

Did you know there are over a million apps available for all the smartphones, iPhones, iPods, and iPads in the world?

AppSmitten is working hard to keep up, creating new lists and adding to their website all the time.  They welcomed me to send them my app suggestions.  I'm going to suggest Letter School and Injini for sure, as well as some of the Dora apps.


Yep.  I didn't have any trouble finding an autism-Fragile X tie-in to AppSmitten.



3-year-old Jocelyn found something hilarious!

If you click here you can sign up for their newsletter, and as I'm participating in this affiliate program, I do get a small payment for each person who signs up using this link.  But don't do it for me.  Do it because you have an iPad or iPod or smartphone, and you want to see lists of the best apps for it.  Do it because you like discovering new ways to keep yourselves and your kids busy and interactive.

And don't be shy -- if you know of a great app they should list, either comment here or email them yourself!

More iPad Apps

Awhile back, I reviewed some iPad apps that the kids enjoy.  We still love those, and we are discovering new ones all the time.  Here's a few more that the boys are loving right now:

Mr. Turkey is a really fun book that we downloaded around last Thanksgiving, but AJ still loves looking at it.  Everyone in this book is looking for Mr. Turkey, and on the last page you can upload a picture of your child and HE finds Mr. Turkey!  So cute!

Very cute, interactive book.  AJ sort of stims on the first couple of pages, over and over, but if I sit with him, I can make him sit through the rest of it.

Elephants Bath is another interactive book.  You can "play" with the toys on each page, including throwing a ball around and making sticks bang on a drum, there's a little butterfly on each page that you touch and it flies around, and on the page with the elephant in the bath, you can pop the bubbles!

Color Dots is so easy, and so fun.  When you start it, there's one dot, and it moves around the screen until you touch it.  Then there are two dots that move around, until you touch them.  Then three.  And so on.  At Christmastime, the dots became Christmas tree ornaments, which no one was as excited about as me.  But you know - it's the little things!

Somewhere I read something that recommended Letter School, and I wish I could remember where, so I could go back and thank them.  It encourages kids to draw the letters, which is something both my boys have such a hard time with - purposeful writing/drawing.  There are lots of apps to help with drawing/writing skills, but most of them move too slowly, or are too hard, or are just boring.  This one moves along quickly and rewards the child with fun little actions.  This was $2.99, I think, and totally worth it.

This feeds into our love of Dora and Diego - anything with recognizable characters and music is going to be a hit with my boys.  This is also an interactive book.  Each page has puzzle pieces to put in place. 

Buzzle is a great, free puzzle app.  Four detailed, bright pictures with specific items missing.  Those items appear one at a time in the upper right corner, and you just drag it down to the correct spot in the picture.  AJ loves it.

Little Puzzles Preschool Games is a great puzzle app too.  Simple photos of toys, vehicles, animals, and other things broken into just four pieces.  Drag the pieces together to form the picture.  AJ loves this one too. 

Oh, Injini.  Injini is so great, I am tempted to give it it's own post, all by itself.  It includes a variety of great activities; puzzles, matching cards, and line tracing.  There's a section with farm animals and when you select the sheep, a razor appears and you have to rub it all over the sheep, shearing it.  There's a bunch of eggs that you touch a few times to crack them, making little chicks appear.  There's a game called "Find It" where a drawer opens and you have to find an object.  It starts with just one and works up to 3 objects to choose from.  The puzzle starts out with one piece, and works up to 4 or 5.

Here's my one (minor) complaint with Injini - I want the full version BADLY, because both boys have had such a great experience with the free one, but the full version is $49.99!  I could get it for them for their birthday coming up next month.  But it makes me ill, to think of paying that much for an app.  I keep hoping it'll go on sale, or something.  If you ever see a sale on this one, PLEASE email me immediately!