LearningAlly
Special Needs
Special Needs
Special Needs App of the Day: I Hear Ewe
The I Hear Ewe app has 36 pictures of animals and vehicles paired with sounds for your child to click on. Children can use their palm or several fingers to click on an image. When they do, the app verbally describes the animal or vehicle and then...
Dealing with Staring and Special Needs
No doubt about it, when people stare at our children (or us), they make us squirm. Let's face it, people rarely stare at us because they're mesmerized by our great beauty. More likely, they are sizing up our glaring imperfections. For kids with...
When Your Child Grows Up & Out of Special Ed
It is all well and good to be told, as a parent, you must be ready for when your child with a developmental disability is no longer in special ed full time.  Yet, to me that time crept up in 2000. When my son with autism, now 31, was...
App of the Day: Is That Gluten Free?
Many people with special needs benefit from a gluten free diet. For parents who are carefully watching their children’s diets, the Is That Gluten Free? app is an excellent tool. It is the number one gluten free app in the App Store.  Users can...
Successful Transitions: Teachable Moments
Last time we talked about making sure a child has enough information to make good choices and learn responsibility. This week we will focus on taking advantage of teachable moments with your child.Every day, we have a new...
Protecting Marriage When Your Child Has ASD
For years, parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have mistakenly passed along the erroneous statistic that 80% of marriages of such parents will end in divorce. This myth also has been perpetuated by professionals and the media....
Bridging the Healthcare Gap
As a parent and a doctor, I have plenty of experience with our fragmented and confusing healthcare system. I have seen firsthand the challenges faced by patients who navigate it. From the first sign of illness to the last medical bill, our...
App of the Day: Motion Math Hungry Fish
Motion Math: Hungry Fish makes learning math a fun game for children and even adults! It is a highly visual app in which a hungry goldfish must be fed with numbers. There are up to 18 levels of increasing difficulty, from matching numbers, to adding...
Activities for Kids: Coffee Filter Fun
Parents who are looking for something fun to do with their kids away from electronic devices this spring may want to consider the things that can be done with a coffee filter. This versatile item that is common to most households can be used to...
A Day in the Life of a Special Ed Teacher
A typical day for a special education teacher is hard to define because the job description varies widely, unlike that of a classroom teacher. What all special education teachers do have in common, though, include a case load of students who have an...
I Was Diagnosed with Diabetes as a Teen
When the doctor came back into the room and told me I was a diabetic, my reaction was similar to being told I had a sinus infection. I expected the doctor to just write me a prescription, and send me on my way, but instead I was on my way to the...
App of the Day: Comprehension TherAppy
Comprehension TherAppy is designed to help people with aphasia and alexia (acquired reading disorder). It comes with three modes: Listen, Read, or Listen and Read. The 500 + photographs of nouns in the Listen section were selected by speech-language...
YogAbility for People with Disabilities
Jerry is a tall, lanky 19-year-old with autism and gastro-intestinal issues. He began coming to YogAbility, a nonprofit organization, 10 years ago. He used to have frequent tantrums, screaming fits, and wore a protective helmet. Since he began yoga...
BPA Contributes to Learning Difficulties
A study reported in Science Daily confirms that the active form of Bisphenol A (BPA) is absorbed more rapidly into the body than previously thought. BPA is a toxic chemical found in paper and plastic used to store food and beverages. As an...