Every single day—and I mean every—I am grateful for the technology that enables Max to communicate what's in his head (hello, iPad and speech app). I'm also awed by the ways cutting-edge technology is benefitting early detection and early intervention for kids with special needs, enabling them to reach their potential.
I'm a blogger ambassador for CVS Caremark All Kids Can, and recently found out that a chunk of the $2.6 million in grants awarded to 66 non-profits by The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust went to some stellar tech initiatives. Read about them, then enter to win an iPad 2 for your child!
• The grant for Marcus Autism Center in Atlanta will support an innovative eye-tracking technology that is helping to diagnose children with autism earlier on in life. It's truly amazing; in research, scientists showed film clips of social interactions (like kids chatting) to children. Then they tracked where on screen their eyes went—kids with autism tend to focus on people's mouths, while typically-developing kids look at the eyes, reports this Wall Street Journal article.
• Family Service of Rhode Island is using their grant for, among other things, assistive technology equipment to be used for children with communication challenges.
• The New England Center for Children, a school for children with autism in Southborough, Massachusetts, has created the Autism Curriculum Encyclopedia (ACE). It's a web-based, interactive toolkit for special education teachers, with more than 1300 critical skills for kids with autism. (All together now: wow!) The CVS grant will support ACE's technical development.
I'm a blogger ambassador for CVS Caremark All Kids Can, and recently found out that a chunk of the $2.6 million in grants awarded to 66 non-profits by The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust went to some stellar tech initiatives. Read about them, then enter to win an iPad 2 for your child!
• The grant for Marcus Autism Center in Atlanta will support an innovative eye-tracking technology that is helping to diagnose children with autism earlier on in life. It's truly amazing; in research, scientists showed film clips of social interactions (like kids chatting) to children. Then they tracked where on screen their eyes went—kids with autism tend to focus on people's mouths, while typically-developing kids look at the eyes, reports this Wall Street Journal article.
• Family Service of Rhode Island is using their grant for, among other things, assistive technology equipment to be used for children with communication challenges.
• The New England Center for Children, a school for children with autism in Southborough, Massachusetts, has created the Autism Curriculum Encyclopedia (ACE). It's a web-based, interactive toolkit for special education teachers, with more than 1300 critical skills for kids with autism. (All together now: wow!) The CVS grant will support ACE's technical development.
ENTER TO WIN AN iPAD 2!
Since CVS Caremark truly believes in helping all kids on their path to better health, one winner will receive an iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G worth $529. The giveaway ends on August 21 at 12:00 a.m.
How to enter
To enter you must enter via Rafflecopter and leave a comment below about how an iPad will benefit your child. No need to get into detail, share what you want. Additional entries can be gained daily by tweeting about the giveaway.
Winner determination
Winner determination
• One winner will be randomly selected 48 hours after the giveaway is closed. I will email the winner at that time.
• If I do not hear back from the winner within five days, another winner will be chosen.
• The winner will be asked to provide a letter of need from a speech therapist or doctor in their child's life, explaining how an iPad could benefit the child. The letter from the therapist or doctor must include her qualifications and contact information so that he or she can be called for verification.
• If I do not hear back from the winner within five days, another winner will be chosen.
• The winner will be asked to provide a letter of need from a speech therapist or doctor in their child's life, explaining how an iPad could benefit the child. The letter from the therapist or doctor must include her qualifications and contact information so that he or she can be called for verification.
• If the winner does not produce a letter from their child's speech therapist or doctor within two weeks of being informed of the win, another winner will be chosen.
Getting the iPad 2
• The winner's iPad 2 will be ordered within five business days after I confirm information with the child's therapist or doctor. The iPad 2 will be shipped directly to the winner. The arrival date will be based on Apple's estimated arrival time.
For more rules, see "Terms and Conditions" below. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
For more rules, see "Terms and Conditions" below. Good luck!
UPDATE: THE WINNER IS....
This is one of a series of posts sponsored by CVS Caremark All Kids Can, a commitment to helping children of all abilities be the best they can be. Like them on Facebook!
My son would benefit from an iPad since it would really help him with his communication and organizational needs. The school has mentioned a few times how helpful one could be, but we don't have the money to buy him one for school.
ReplyDeleteMy little one has CP and will be starting kindergarten next month. An iPad 2 would help him greatly with speech and cognitive learning! Thanks for the chance to enter!
ReplyDeleteMy son would benefit from an iPad due to sever speech delays. His last testing showed that his language skills fall in the 1 year 11 month range- and he just turned 5 years old in May. We would love the chance to broaden his communication skills with such an amazing device!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win!
mindy411@hotmail.com
my son would be so into it he loves music and with his adhd learning apps that helps him in any way would be helpful the case would be a lifesaver be easy to grip
ReplyDeleteMy son has a tracheostomy and a disease that will probably never allow him to verbally communicate. He also has a cortical visual impairment and using the iPad would help with his vision learning to track things and focus. Plus, the easy-to-activate touch screen would be great for his lack of motor skills.
ReplyDeleteDevyn, communication is a broad umbrella word which covers body language,gestures, eye contact, facial expressions etc. And, talking and communication are 2 different things. Your son CAN communicate as its very rare for someone to not be able to communicate in any way.
DeleteMy son would really benefit from an iPad. He could use it not only to communicate verbally, but also improve on his fine motor skills so his writing would improve. Right now it is VERY hard to understand him.
ReplyDeleteI have two children with special needs -- one with Asperger's and one with Down syndrome. They could both benefit extensively from the variety of apps available -- everything from speech to social skills. Thank you for the opportunity!!
ReplyDeleteMy three year old is at a point in her speech therapy to start with an acc to assist her communication. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteMy son is two and I'm hopeful that in the near future we can work with him and he can learn to express himself via iPad/speech apps when he is unable to verbally.We have tried some simple apps on our phones with him and are encouraged by the small steps we are seeing! :)
ReplyDeleteMy son would definitely benifit from this! He is 16, and has been dealing with severe ADHD, severe Bipolar and Oppositional Defiant Disorder since he was around 2 1/2. He has always had trouble with socialization and was taunted unmercifully in Middle school so badly that the stress caused Ulcerative Colitis. There were a few school years that he had to have Home and Hospital come in with a tutor becaause he could not be very far from a bathroom. He is in a special school and we are trying to find a way to see if we can home school him. This would help tremendously!!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see you made it over, Wendy! Don't forget to come back each day to enter. I would love for Chris to be able to win this, then we can talk in real time! Love you, and hope you're well!
DeleteMy daughter would benefit from this so she can read books and get a head start on school!
ReplyDeletefreebiegoddess03@aol.com
My son would definitely benefit from this. His school has finally adapted this year to let kids work off of tablet devices. He has Autism but his fine motor skills are not up to par but he works so much better on electronic devices. Right now he is mainstreamed into his classes I think this would definitely allow him to keep up easier without the stress and struggles of traditional textbooks and handwriting. He would love blue or black. Thank you for the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteMy son is a 7 year old with a newly confirmed diagnosis of developmental dyspraxia. Writing has always been extremely difficult for him, even after years of OT. Per his most recent test results his fine motor abilities are less than 1/2 his IQ score. The opportunity for an ipad would open huge windows for him since typing is much easier for him and would allow him to express his ideas in ways that writing cannot. There is a long waitlist to even have an assistive technology evaluation through our school district and we would love for him to start working with something now before the writing expectations greatly increase by the end of second grade/start of third grade so he is ahead of the technology learning curve. This is an opportunity for technology that my finances currently don't allow for me to supply. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteCan I enter as a teacher? I have 9 students in my kindergarten/first grade self-contained special education classroom. I teach in a very low-income school district and most of the families speak English as a second (or fourth...) language and have a really hard time navigating the special education/insurance/disability worlds. One of the kiddos has his own talker, but the other 8 (who have autism, CP, DD, CVI, Down syndrome, 2 wheelchair users...a little bit of everything!)could all benefit from additional communication supports, academic activities, and reinforcement that the iPad provides! Having an iPad to use with them in class would be amazing, but as a recent grad with lots of student debt and a teacher's salary, I'm not at a place where I can purchase one myself. I love my kids, and I love seeing them grow and learn and surpass everyone else's expectations of what they can do!
ReplyDeleteI only entered this to show how easy two of my favourite moms with kids with special needs how easy it was; please don't count my entries, and thanks so much for having this giveaway; it's totally going to help a lot of people! ♥
ReplyDeleteWe have been petitioning our school district for an iPad for our son who has Sotos Syndrome. But, the district reserves their iPad's for those in the district whose IQ scores are very low. Our sons scores are not "low enough." An iPad would benefit him because he cannot write legibly or quickly, therefore making written work very difficult and time-consuming when other learning could be happening. It would also function as an organizational tool, as he struggles with ADHD. We would feel very blessed to win an iPad.
ReplyDeleteMy precious son would benefit from this ipad as he can't write yet. Can't grip a pencil strong enough it also could replace his go talk for communication needs. What a blessing.
ReplyDeleteMy son is nearly four and non-verbal. He also has global developmental delays. I'm hoping an ipad would help him communicate as well as work on fine motor skills.
ReplyDeleteMy son would LOVE the green!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHe'd benefit because he is ASD, non-verbal but PUSHES himself!
My son is 3 and non verbal. We are at a point where he is showing some extreme frustration with not being able to communicate. I think working in an Ipad to help him do that, versus the PECS that are very hard for him to use/handle, would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteI have two kids with special needs who are non-verbal. We are trying to find ways that they can communicate with us. We'd love to win the iPad and try out some of the great communication apps that are out there.
ReplyDeleteMy 3 years old boy will benefit from all the applications on an iPad that help him communicate better. Thanks for the giveaway even if we didn't win, but we will be happy that someone with a special need kid won and he/she definitely needs it.
ReplyDeleteMy son would benefit from winning this Ipad because he has been struggling to talk and this Ipad would help.He has CP, developmental delays,non verbal and is tube fed.Winning this Ipad would help him reach his full potential.
ReplyDeleteMy son is deaf and has a cochlear implant. We use apps to help him communicate in therapy and at school. The Ipad will help with those apps at home.
ReplyDeleteMy son would benefit from an iPad because right now he has no way of communicating with us. He is non-verbal with spastic quad CP. We have high hopes that he could possibly use a communication app with an ipad to learn to communicate with us! Also with a diagnosis of CVI we hope to use apps meant for this diagnosis to help improve his vision.
ReplyDeleteMy five-year-old son Benjamin would benefit greatly from an iPad. He has Down syndrome and is non-verbal.
ReplyDeleteI would love for my daughter, Bethany to win a new iPad! She has a first generation one, but it's IOS can't be upgraded so we can't add anything that requires IOS 5 or higher, which is what just about all new apps require. There is also no camera for Face Timing her brothers and sisters!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter could really use an iPad to help with her fine motor delays and speech delays
ReplyDeleteMy daughter Eve is non-verbal. We would love to try an iPad for communication purposes.
ReplyDeleteEllen,
ReplyDeleteI just want to say that I think it's wonderful that you're helping to get iPads to special needs kids. This past spring, the other families in my son's PAC class got together and had a community sale/fundraiser. We were able to get a couple of corporate sponsors - Whole Foods even gave us $200 which was amazing. Anyway, we raised enough money to get two iPads and some apps for the PAC and non-cat sped classrooms. It's been really wonderful because the teachers can use them as rewards and also as alternatives to using PECS cards. Anyway. I just wanted to say YAY, you! for helping more children who need them to be able to get them. You, my friend, totally rock. Seriously rock.
PS please don't enter me - or, if I win, please go to the next winner as Tucker has an iPad already and YES to the speech aps. They're wonderful (he also really likes the shapes-matching one where, when you guess it right, the shapes take a train ride and then balloons somehow appear).
This is such a great opportunity.
ReplyDeleteMy Josie is 4. She has been diagnosed with Dyspraxia, Hypontonia, and she has a terminal 18q deletion. She attends a special needs preschool and she benefits from using an iPad in the classroom and with her therapists. An iPad would help Josie, not only with speech, but with her fine motor skills.
Linus is 2 and he receives services as well. He was born at 24 weeks and continues to amaze us each and every day. He loves when his speech therapist comes over and lets him work with her on the iPad.
An iPad would be the best gift for my two hardworking little ones.
My daughter would use an ipad for speech therapy and school. She has apraxia and ipads are used weekly in her therapy sessions.
ReplyDeleteMy son who is 4 non verbal can benefit and communicate with me his wants and needs. Would love to try as we have already tried everything else.
ReplyDeleteMy son already has an iPad, so it is not needed, but I wanted to say thanks and offer my support as the father of a Special Needs 15 year old son.
ReplyDeleteWould be awesome to win for my son who has started to stutter. Thanks
ReplyDeleteEric Risner
Hi Ellen! I was so stoked to read about the giveaway bc these kids benifit so much from the technology! But I was extra excited bc I read about the Marcus Institute in Atl, which Faith spent 2 months @ back in 2007 @ their feeding program! Its a small world! They do wonderful work down there and I have known a bunch of kids who have been helped thru them!
ReplyDeleteCandace
Our 10-year-old son has autism snd apraxia and struggles with communication . After having four years in a dismal school, we have fought snd won a battle to get him into an awesome school where they use ptoloque2go. Can't wZit for him to get started --we just need an iPad for home.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has been using a DynaVox, but it is just too cumbersome for her. An IPad would open a new world for her and she would be able to communicate in places other than sitting in her wheelchair!
ReplyDeleteI'm a special ed teacher for high school aged students with significant disabilities. I have a number of students in mind who would benefit from the use of one so I'm not sure I could choose just one. If I had to, I would most likely choose a young woman in my class who comes from a Spanish speaking home, has severe seizures and intellectual disabilities. I would love to find some ways for her to communicate about her day between home and school (in both languages) as well as increase her communication skills as a whole. We have seen progress in language acquisition and use when she is provided with models that present both visually and verbally. If possible though, I would love to have one for use with my entire class. Our classroom was recently outfitted with a benq system which is not as user friendly for students in wheelchairs or with motor difficulties and thereare certain programs that work with ipads to increase access for all. Also, all of my students could use it in conjunction with communication, literacy, and other academic and therapy related activities as well as leisure ones!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter with special needs would so love an iPad...we had an iPad 1 which is no longer functional and haven't had the funds to replace it for over a year. She loves to "read-along" books and playing sight word games. She often ask for it (in her own way), but it is simply out of reach right now. It would be a real bleesing!
ReplyDeleteI so want it for my grand kids. It would help with his cognitive development.
ReplyDeleteMariam
mariamt38@yahoo.fr
My cousin has autism and I know he does a lot of different speech therapy activities on here so I just think this would be wonderful for him for when he's at home.
ReplyDeleteMy son has adhd and high functioning autism and I had to take him out of public school because they could not handle him. He spent more time locked in there glorified closet called the "time out room" than in class because they couldn't get him to sit still. Teaching him in the manor his brain learns is rewarding but challenging to find ways to keep him interested and engaged so I really think it would be a great learning tool for him and he can use it on the go! I also have an older son with tourettes adhd ocd and pdd who struggled with the public school system for 7 years that we have now got him out of and I know he would greatly appreciate a resource like that in his learning as well.
ReplyDeleteMy five year old is non-verbal and this would help her learn to communicate at level she is capable of right now. I would give anything to hear her say "mommy" for the first time in whatever way is possible for her.
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting post. I never read such kind of post. It impressed me. Thanks for sharing…
ReplyDeleteMy twins both have cleft lip and plates. Both are very behind in speech. I would love an Ipad to get the same apps that their speech therapist use.
ReplyDeleteI have five children (9,8,7,4, and 3) and three of them are deaf/hard of hearing. An Ipad would be a great tool to use communication apps, learning more sign language, and speech apps as well! We have been involved with speech therapy for over 7 years now with no end in sight just yet!
ReplyDeleteMy son with Down syndrome would benefit greatly from the educational apps available for the ipad. -Mari
ReplyDeleteMy baby girl loves pink
ReplyDeleteI'm not entering, but have a son with high-functioning autism and work with special needs kids at a public middle school. Just wanted to tell you how awesome you are for offering the giveaway to a special needs boy or girl! These devices can be an amazing tool for sped kids. There are so many amazing apps out there! Good luck to everyone who is entering!
ReplyDeleteMy son is non verbal, I would love to see him learn and be able to communicate his wants and needs.
ReplyDeleteMy son is non-verbal and he desperately wants to communicate with the world. This would be an incredible tool.
ReplyDeletenathanandjessie at gmail dot com
My kiddo is eager for one - she sees other special needs kids using them at school, and has access to one at school at certain times, but it would help her at home with homework, educational games and also help her learn responsibility and independence.
ReplyDeleteWe have been trying to save for an iPad!! This would be a great tool to help not only with cognitive development but also with finger dexterity and strength as our daughter Brenna learns to open her hands, extend and use her fingers. We also think she has a harder time hearing because of skin build-up in her ear canal, so this would be great for communication and language development!
ReplyDeleteMy grandson is autistic and doesn't communicate verbally. Although he is only 4, he can use my daughter's phone very well for his apps, and an IPAD is on our list for him, when we can afford one.
ReplyDeleteMy son who has a severe speech delay could use an IPad to improve his communication skills. His favorite color is blue.
ReplyDeleteMy son has a speech delay and my daughter has severe ocd with autistic tendency she uses one at school and it helps but can not afford one for her at home and my son is not in school yet so I hope this will help him. Thank you
ReplyDeleteSuch wonderful iPad apps have been created for children with autism in recent years! My son uses one in school and so having one at home would be a tremendous help. This is the perfect back-to-school giveaway!
ReplyDeleteMy son is 3 and a half years old and has Angelman Syndrome. Many children with Angelman Syndrome are able to communication using devices such as an iPad or Dynovox. Otherwise, they have very few words, if any at all. An iPad has the ability to give my child a voice and to be able to tell us what he wants.
ReplyDeleteI didn't proof ready...."able to communicate"
ReplyDeleteMy daughter would benefit from the iPad because she in addition to Autism, she has a learning disorder in Written Expression, even now as a 7th grader, she has worse hand writing than her 5yr old sister. Writing is very difficult and painful for her. She does not have access to a computer for her notes and written work while at school and as we all know, the older kids get, the more written work they have
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has Down syndrome and uses an iPad at school for educational and social reasons. Mostly reading and handwriting apps, or as a reward in that she'll get to play with a friend if she stays on task.
ReplyDeleteAn iPad would be an amazing tool for my son for school for both reading and for written assignments which are a struggle for aspergers students! I couldn't even imagine how much he would benefit from having an iPad at his disposal. I remember reading that we had to specify color - definitely blue! I have been buying blue folders, rulers, scissors, pencils, binders, stickies, etc. for years!
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be awesome if My Harley had one to use at home....She uses them a school, but we just can't afford one for home....:0
ReplyDeleteMy 4 yo son would really benefit from an IPAD. He is autistic, has dyspraxia, hyptonia and a host of health issues. He struggles with communication and there are apps for speech that he could really benefit from too. We spend a lot of time at hospitals and it would be great if he had a way to keep occupied during these hospital stays and tests.
ReplyDeleteMy younger guy 8 has spastic quad cp. There are many things he struggles with and then gets frustrated. The ipad enables him to succeed in playing educational games. It also owns up his world for communication as he is non verbal. I think it would be great to have during his 1 St year at public school to be one of the cool kids and have something all kids can use and try out.
ReplyDeleteThe communication tools the iPad provides would be a great help to my daughter and son, both with Down syndrome. Thank you for hosting this giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI have a 3 year old son with nonverbal classic autism. Early intervention is key, and he is enamoured with touch screens. Apps that include his abc's and 123's are his favorite. We've had several therapists and teachers tell us we should invest in an iPad because they felt he would benefit from the communication apps you can download, but we aren't able to afford one. I know many families are in need, and I wish the best to whoever is chosen. :)
ReplyDeleteMy 3 1/2 year old son has CP- right hemiplegia. His speech therapist uses an Ipad with him to work on articulation, and his OT has also mentioned some apps that would be helpful. He gets so excited when he sees an Ipad come out, so I know how motivating doing therapy on one would be for him!
ReplyDeleteI have tried and tried and tried and come to dead ends at all avenues. We have applied for numerous programs and still can never seem to get one. I have heard so often from this therapists about how beneficial an iPad would be to him at home but unfortunately we just can't afford one right now. My son is 4 and he has some severe speech delays. He is currently attending speech services 3 times a week where he uses an iPad and certain apps to help him open up and start speaking. After his speech sessions my little boy is so talkative and tries so hard to get across what he needs to say. The further away we get from his speech appointments the less he talks. I would love to have an iPad at home to carry on his learning and speech work so that he will continue speaking at home for longer periods of time. Thank you for the chance!
ReplyDeletethis would help my grandson have a voice
ReplyDeleteJAVIER has cp. And a severe speech delay. He is 7 and has used other adc devises that have not worked. He is using an ipad at therapy and is doing great with it!
ReplyDeleteMy son Kyle is 11 and has CP. He communicates with a Dynavox, but there are things it just can't do. On his Dynavox he has a button that says "I want to use your iPad". He uses my iPad for games. One of his favorites is the Disney Cars App. He also loves to listen to music on Pandora, and on you tube I set it on RC Adventures (remote control cars), and when one is done he can select the next one all by himself. It is huge for him to be able to choose something by himself. Thanks, Julie Cowan
ReplyDeleteMy son has numerous disabilities. This would be awesome. Thank you and CVS.
ReplyDelete