AACs, and Social Skills, and Organization, oh my!

I've been attending an assistive technology conference this week, and man, I am so excited about the new technologies that can help our kids learn SO much and in such a variety of ways.

Wednesday's focus was the iPad, which all of you know, I am obsessed with (sorry, "with which I am obsessed").  I was really encouraged by the speaker, who had years of experience using an iPad with kids with language disorders and autism - and by the audience, largely comprised of school administrators, OTs, PTs, and SLPs.  How great would it be if schools got behind the iPad phenomenon?

Again, not to be a broken record, but what I love about the iPad is how customizable it is - and how affordable.  I want to run through some of the categories of apps that you might not have thought of as helpful to kids with special needs, as well as some of those that are specifically designed for speech, literacy, learning, and other difficulties.

And just as an FYI, I am a cheapskate, so I don't like to spend much money, if any, on apps.  A lot of the ones I've tried are free, but then again, some of the coolest ones require $3 or $4.  Pretty manageable (heck, that's 1/16th of one of Siobhan's speech therapy sessions!)