iWriteWords iPad App

In my last blog post, I discussed different communication apps that a teacher or parent could put on their iPad to help an Autistic child or a nonverbal child be able to communicate. In this blog I am going to talk about the iPad app, iWriteWords and how it helps children with Autism.

The purpose of using this app is that it helps students with Autism and with communication disorders be able to begin to identify letters and work on letter formation! It also helps the students learn animal names! 

How Does iWritewords Work?:

iWriteWords is an app that helps children learn letter names and letter formation. In the video, a seven-year-old boy, named, Jake used iWriteWords. As he played a letter appeared on the screen. When the letter appeared on the screen, the computer said the name of the letter. Then on the letter, numbers appeared (showing the child which direction their finger should go to form the letter). As Jake moved his finger along the letter, whenever he moved his finger in the wrong direction, the game would make an "error" sound and have Jake start over. This process would continue until Jake's finger followed the correct path to form the letter. The procession of letters was no coincidence. After a group of letters were successfully formed, they made a name of an animal. The computer would read each letter Jake had formed, and then say the word he had made, for example, bunny. Then a bunny would appear on-screen.

iWriteWords and Students With a Communication Disorder:

    From watching this video and learning about the iWriteWords app, I learned that even though students with a communication disorder may not be able to verbal identify his or her letters for me, they can show me in a different way that they know them! Through using iWriteWords, a student with a communication disorder is learning the names of the letters in a fun way! After using this app multiple times, I could easily enforce a student with a communication disorders letter identification skills by providing them with the alphabet and asking them to point to specific letters!

Parent Perspective:

I think that any parent would be thrilled with their child being able to successfully use iWriteWords! After playing iWriteWords, the child may be able to start small by forming the letters in his or her name and as he or she plays the game more, they may be able to form more challenging words!

Child Perspective:

    I think that any child, whether they have Autism or a communication disorder, would love playing iWriteWords! Since iWriteWords involves so much finger movement and has fun sounds and noises, the child would be so busy having fun playing this game that they would not even realize that they are learning at the same time!

Teacher Perspective:

    With the help of iWriteWords, a teacher may be able to have the student begin to create some words since they have had so much practice with letter formation. Additionally, since the students have also seen pictures of animals and heard the animals name along with the picture, the student may now be able to also identify some animals!

To learn more about Jake or the iWriteWords ipad app, watch this video!!!