A Boy and his iPad

On his birthday and on Christmas, we always struggle with finding The Perfect Gift for Clayton.  And we're not the only ones--family members are always asking what to get him for special occassions.  He is so limited physically that we're often stumped.  There's no denying he loves technology.  Loves our desktop and loves his therapists' laptops.  We've tried different modifications for a mouse, but they never seem to work quite right and we're always scared to death he'll do something crazy and the computer will go crashing. 

But when the iPad came on the market, it got our attention.  Here was a piece of technology that didn't use a mouse--you just needed your finger to work it.  Perfect for Clayton!  We decided to take the plunge and get him one for his birthday last August, and we haven't regretted one single dollar we spent on it.  We put all of his music from his iPod on it, we add apps as we find them, and he even has a couple of videos on it.  He absolutely LOVES it.  He is completely spastic with it, and it doesn't crash and burn.  He listens to the first verse of a song, stops that, moves to an app, stays on that app for maybe 10 seconds, then exits out of that and moves to another app, then it's back to another song.  You know why it's great?  It's Something He Can Do on His Own.  Most toys he needs help with, most games he needs help with, the computer he needs help with.  With the iPad he just starts tapping and stays busy forever.  Let me rephrase.  He stays busy forever as long as Jackson isn't around.  Jackson's got a taste for technology as well and harasses Clayton to no end when he has the iPad out.  They are getting better at taking turns, but I'm determined to teach Jackson that in the end it belongs to Clayton.   (**Sidenote:  Yes, Jackson is a climber.  I'm hoping it won't be the death of me)

Clayton is really craving independence these days.  Wants to do many things without the help of Momma and Daddy, without us even around.  And who can blame him?  He's dependent on us for 99% of his tasks--it has to get old.  I'm so glad this nifty technology gives him that feeling of going out on his own.