My 10 Favorite Apps for Children with CVI

I have been asked by numerous people to post my personal favorite lists and it is very difficult for me to pick my favorites because each child is different and I use different apps for different kids but I have narrowed down 10 that use the most with infants and toddlers with cortical vision impairment. I work in WV Birth to Three as a developmental specialist and vision specialist for infants and toddlers with CVI. So this list is in no particular order:

1.      Sparkabilities Babies 1 HD for iPad - Bottle Rocket

2.      Tap-n-See Zoo - Little Bear Sees

3.      BrightStart Baby: A Bright Start for Smart Babies - Eieio Software

4.      Baby Rattle Toy - SelenaSoft, Inc.

5.      Peekaboo: Ladybird Baby Touch - Penguin Books

6.      iLoveFireworks - Fireworks Games

7.      Hatch! Plus - Phodder

8.      Baby Screen - Planet Sloth

9.      ShapeShifter HD - Transform Games

10.  Bloom HD - Opal Limited

These are probably the apps I go to most for infants and toddlers in late phase 1 and phase 2.  I have other suggestions for children in phase 3.  For infants and toddlers in early phase 1 I typically only use the free lightbox type apps along with the free flashlights.  Hope this helps and would love your suggestions.

Bridget Bailey
Developmental Specialist/Vision Specialist for CVI

Guest Blogger ... Krista tells us about Leah and her favorite apps

My daughter, Leah will be 6 in March. She is non-verbal. She has a history of infantile spasms. She has cortical visual impairment, global developmental delays, and complex partial seizures.

Leah has had her iPad for about 6 weeks. At first she needed hand over hand assistance to point and use the apps. She now points on her own and can do some of the apps independently.

Our ultimate goal for the iPad is for Leah to use it as a communication device, but we've found that it is also helping her in other areas. It's helped her with her receptive language, vision, cognition, and fine motor skills.

Leah takes her iPad to preschool with her every day. They use it in circle when they talk about the weather. She uses it at lunch and snack to request food. Her therapists also use it with her in various ways.

One of the neatest things that I've seen Leah do with the iPad is transfer skills from school to home. I was working with her one day on a number app. There were numbers 1-10 randomly arranged on balloons. The objective was to "pop" the balloons in numeric order. I planned on helping Leah by doing hand over hand. Before I could do that, she touched the number one. She continued the whole way up to and including number six. I was amazed! I talked to her teacher and asked her if she had been working with Leah on her numbers and she said that she has her put them in order every daynat school. It was really neat to see that she could transfer that skill that she learned at school to that app on the iPad at home.

Our top ten apps are:

Tap Tap Baby - MoonFry Labs

Baby Rattle Toy: Christmas Edition - SelenaSoft

Discover Musical Instruments - Mathieu Brassard

Baby Finger HD - DJ International

Virtuoso Piano Free 2 HD - Peterb

Itsy Bitsy Spider HD - by Duck Duck Moose - Duck Duck Moose

Wheels on the Bus HD - Duck Duck Moose

Old MacDonald - by Duck Duck Moose - Duck Duck Moose

TapToTalk™ - Assistyx LLC

Adam's Game - Toddler Voice Flash Cards - Sol Robots

 Thanks Krista ... Looking forward to hearing more about Leah and her iPad.

E uses beginning AAC/icomm on the iPad

This is E using the AAC app iComm.  I have it programed with a single picture of her favorite toy a lady bug and beside her to the right I have her actual lady bug toy.  E has CVI and this is the first time I have seen her look at a picture and then look at the object.  Sorry my video did not capture the objects but you can see her look at each item and the reflection of the screen in her glasses.  Her sister is helping her touch the screen but my goal was for her to fixate on a picture.  iComm is probably the easiest of all the AAC apps I have tried.  They have a lite version to try without audio and with audio is $7.99. 

Bubby plays the iPad

L is 2 years old and a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome.  He has difficulty using his left side and has CVI.  Our goal introducing L to the iPad was to get him to use his left side more.  I guess he showed us.

A's First Impression of the iPad