Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Switch Apps: EIEIO

 
 Above is a video of the EIEIO App in the "Sing" activity section (see below for my perspective and favorite key features)


It has been a real pleasure working the RJ Cooper Super Switch over the last few weeks several of my students.  The iOS Switch Accessibility options really opens the world of communication and play up to students with motor impairments, visual impairments and mild hearing losses.  The accessible apps that I have selected to review were found my perusing Jane Farrell's switch accessible app list from her website.   What I love the most about switch accessibility for iOS is that it gives students with gross motor challenges and additional disabilities options to access apps that are cognitively engaging to them using a variety of a switch setting options that can be found in the Settings options of each app.

The app of the video above presents "Eieio" a switch accessible app for 2-5 year olds that increases the child's understanding of animal sounds. EIEIO is an impressive app because of the variety of activity levels found within the app.  For the child young child who is just learning about cause and effect, I would recommend that the therapist, parent or teacher focus on the "Read" activity first then move to "Explore" or "Sing" activities. After the child has a handle on auditory and/or visual scanning as well as the opportunity to explore the different animals sound independently within this app, I would the recommend that the therapist, teacher or parent move them to the highest developmental level and that is "Learn."

Here is a break down of the switch task and developmental tasks being asked of the user in each level:



Below is also a screen shot of the switch settings options.  I love that you can decipher between direct touch activation and switch activation.  Another key feature that I love is the ability to choose between auditory and visual scanning presentation options (see below):


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