I bought an iPad a few months ago. I have been wanting one for a LONG time. I waited until the 3rd Generation came out and bought the 2nd Generation for cheaper! haha Some people thought I was crazy because why buy the 2nd generation when there is a new and improved one? Well, for one, we don’t exactly have a big budget and for another I knew the kids would probably use it often! I’ll admit I got it mostly for me. I have an Android phone that is supposed to be excellent, and it has some really neat 3D effects, but when it comes to apps, well, they crash my phone – A LOT. I needed something portable where I could still do almost as much as my computer, and the iPad has been that – AND MORE!
When I said our kids would use it I didn’t truly understand how beneficial it would really be! Our youngest still has a significant speech delay, but he has been talking so much more now, and most of that is thanks to apps on the iPad like ABA apps, flash card apps, etc. They play games of course (which was what I anticipated), but there are SO many of them that have educational benefits as well, so the kids are having fun and learning at the same time! Recently one of my blog friends at Life with Liss asked me to share a little bit of my story, and she wrote a beautiful blog detailing the benefits of iPads for Special Needs Children. I encourage you to check out her post HERE! It has great information as well as resources!

Another great benefit of the iPad? Well, I’m currently working out our schedule for the upcoming homeschooling year, and there are great apps for that as well! Organization is so important – or I’d surely go crazy! Our little guy had his Occupational Therapy evaluation today, and we got his OT schedule in addition to his Speech schedule, so we’ll be taking them to therapy 3 times per week, so calendar/organizer style apps are a great way for me to look at everything hour by hour to get a good idea of what our days will be like! I hope in the future to get an additional iPad, though, so I can have a separate one for myself! hehe 😉