Monday, May 28, 2012

Overcome


 
My good friend, Shawn, was born with a disability. If you ever met him though, it would be hard to tell. His personality and spirit for life far surpass his disability. In recognition of his upcoming birthday, rather than ask for gifts, he has set up a fund for Easter Seals Capper Foundation. His goal is to raise enough money to purchase 2 iPads with special software that is used to help treat individuals with autism. Please consider contributing to this very worthy cause. I'm honored to call Shawn my friend and I look forward to what he'll achieve next! Here is his story:


Shawn Bryant's 25th Birthday Giving Celebration

About Shawn
Diagnosed with cerebral palsy after being born 3 months early, my parents were told that I would live a very limited life if I lived throughout the night. However, with all of the prayers and resources that were available, I was able to break free from those limitations and challenge myself on levels that were originally seen as impossible.

The kid who was once deemed to be a human vegetable - is now a international speaker, college graduate, and intern for the Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 112th Congress.

I believe because of the work of Easter Seals Capper Foundation, and those alike, many others can achieve great things.

Please help me celebrate a birthday that many believed would never come by making sure others like me have a chance to reach it themselves.

What am I giving money to?
The money raised in honor of my birthday would buy at least 2 iPads which have been monumental in the therapy of those with cognitive disabilities such as autism.

To see how awesome this gadget is, watch this video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_8b7PgnNQQ

If that doesn't convince you, here are 10 reasons why iPads are so helpful in comparison to traditional materials:
10) Developers are constantly improving apps, so the apps can evolve with your client.

9) Regardless of the child’s age or ability level, the iPad can be accessible through voice or touch.

8) Apps can easily be incorporated into playing, reading, writing, spelling, grammar, songs and video.

7) Many apps offer free or ‘lite’ versions, so before a therapist makes a big purchase they can sample the program’s features then determine if it’s worth the money.

6 ) There are many apps that offer the ability to record a child’s productions to save for later comparison. With this option, this allows a person to do self-rating and go back to double-check their speech.

5) Parents can help their child participate in school lessons to reinforce education at home, and games and activities can draw in friends and classmates, eliminating isolation.

4) Apps that are skill-focused often make great tools for quick criterion-referenced assessments or dynamic assessments of a given skill, without needing to prepare lots of supplies ahead of time.

3) The data-tracking capabilities of app-compatible devices allow therapists to focus on the task at hand. You can then email the session data to the client’s caregivers or yourself to include in SOAP notes.

2) Apps can target apraxia, articulation, language, play skills, pragmatic skills, functional communication and more all in one device. No more lugging around 12 different sets of flashcards.

1) iPads are cool! Many people, children with autism, could care less to use scissors, paper and crayons and most of the time these end up on the floor. Children are simply more motivated by interacting with the iPad than paperandpencil activities

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Super Moon

Well, as many of you know, last night (May 5, 2012) the moon was the closest to the Earth as it will be all year. A few months ago I bought myself a nice, new DSLR (Canon Rebel T2i) and took it for a spin last night. Here's my contribution to the "Super Moon" pictures... Not to toot my own horn but... toot tooot!