I am very excited to let you know that Off We Go! Going on a Plane and Going to the Dentist books are now available as iPhone and iPad Applications (Apps) in English and Spanish. So now if you are going on a plane or visiting the dentist, you can use your iPhone or iPad to help prepare your child and make the experience easier for everyone!

The Off We Go hardcopy series of books are a very successful visual step by step guide to everyday experiences, particularly for children with special needs. Sometimes you might not have the hardcopy to hand so by having them as Apps, they are not only practical, but also they have some great new features such narration (you can even record your own narration) and colour in the pictures yourself. Any word you touch will ‘jump up’ and be spelt out to you, a fun way to learn spellings!

From what we have seen with our own son Stephen who has special needs, the iPhone and iPad touch screen technology is going to revolutionise how children with disabilities can access all sorts of stuff, from games to learning and entertainment. Up to now a lot of the assistive technology (technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible) is so expensive that it makes it difficult to buy/justify. Stephen loves the Apps on my iPhone, in fact it can be a bit of a challenge to explain that it is my iPhone, not his! Given his reaction we know what he wants for Christmas! He is particularly enjoying the Going on a Plane iPhone App, repeating the word ‘Legoland’ as this was the last time he was on a plane and he would like to go again!

I worked with Kiwa Media to produce my Apps. They specialise in making iPhone and iPad book apps. They are based in New Zealand and have lots of other interesting book Apps available.

The iPad apps have some really cool features! Some of the screens are animated e.g. in the Going on a Plane App, the user can touch the screen and see the bags moving at check in. The best feature is hearing the sounds. We know from working with Stephen, it really helps if you can give him an idea of the sounds he is going to hear. (Keep in mind that kids with sensory issues like Stephen are likely to hear things 4 times louder than we do, so can you imagine how extra scary it is to go to the dentist?) So for example on the iPad Going to the Dentist App, you can hear the sounds of the drill and suction and help your child to know that despite the scary noises, it is going to be ok. The sounds and animation features will be available on the iPhone Apps in a few months time.

Please check out these new Apps, I would be delighted if you would leave a review!

Below are links to each of the apps on the iTunes App Store or you can access all 4 of them here :

Off We Go! Going on a Plane iPad App 

Off We Go! Going to the Dentist iPad App

Off We Go! Going on a Plane iPhone App

Off We Go! Going to the Dentist iPhone App

Best wishes as always,
Avril