My daughter had a friend over to play yesterday. She's only 5 and was little nervous as she'd never been here before and the tears came. Her mum was invited too to help the nerves. Along with my daughter's friend came her lovely eight year old brother. He is autistic and has no speech but communicates through sounds, gestures and Macaton sign language and above all, has an amazing memory. Everywhere he goes he takes his iPad. It is his, and his families', lifeline. The iPad is full of his favourite films and cartoons, Toy Story, Ice Age, Tom and Jerry, Peppa Pig and the like. He knows exactly where his favourite parts are, can fast forward to the precise moment and the watch and rewatch and rewatch until he is ready to move on. It was fascinating to watch him. He was so fast.
He not only uses the iPad for distraction and enjoyment, he seems to be able to communicate through it too. Just last week he was watching Tom and Jerry while they were in the car. The car came to an abrupt stop and just for conversation's sake, mum said to the children, "Oh no, we're in a traffic jam." Within a flash she heard the narrator say, "Oh dear, Daddy Pig is stuck in a traffic jam." He had seemed to have closed down Tom and Jerry and found the exact episode of Peppa Pig and the exact frame he needed within a few seconds. Was this just a coincidence or was that his way of communicating with mum to say, "Oh dear, yes, we are in a traffic jam"?
Mum is absolutely convinced that her 8 year old has a photographic memory. The Autistic Society have realised what fantastic resources iGadgets are. So, as he gets older, I wonder how the iPad will help the family tap into his amazing mind? No-one knows how his speech will develop as he grows, but are there or will there be apps to help him use more complex speech rather than relying on Macaton? How can the family use the iPad to get inside his mind and help him develop, grow intellectually and communicate? I suppose, as he and the technology grow and he and his family find things, perhaps inadvertently, they will come to see what helps him. Afterall, who knew a year ago that he would have been able to acknowledge a traffic jam with Daddy Pig's help?