Finding an electronic device that he can work is horrible. He is not really coordinated and has trouble with motor skills. He is always fumbling and dropping things. It cannot be complicated, or he cannot do it. It cannot be really small, or he cannot do it. He does not like anything on his head, so nothing with earphones.
My son is 16, in a wheelchair, and delayed a bit, but loves music and looking at pictures. Last year we bought him for Christmas, an MP3 player made by fisher price for toddlers. We took off all the little kids songs and loaded it with his type of music. It plays through a speaker. It is durable and easy for him to push the buttons. He carries it everywhere at home, if he drops it, it doesn't break, and the buttons are very simple.
This year we are trying the Fisher Price IXL. It is for kids too little for a portable game player. It is durable, has a couple simple stories, a game to play, and you can load pictures and songs. You can increase the memory to 15 gb with an SD card. I have loaded some pictures and a few songs to get him started. He can draw on the pictures and add hats and things and erase it to the original picture again. He can listen to his music, and play very simple games. It gives him directions of what to do to get him where he wants to be. I hope it will be a hit.
We also collect VCR's because he can run that by himself. The DVD players are too hard, he breaks CD's and DVD's. We are always looking for movies for him and music videos. He loves to watch them, also he loves to watch Larry the Cable guy. He laughs so hard. It is getting hard to find movies and tapes for the VCR's though.
If anyone has any other ideas, I would love to hear them. It is so challenging to find things to keep his attention, and also that he can do independently.
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Comments: 14
Do you think he would like trying to TAKE pictures of his own? They make digital cameras for toddlers now, that dont look like baby cameras but are larger, easy to hold on to and durable.
I'm horrible at gift ideas though.
First, I too am impressed with your creative abilities in caring for your son's entertainment. We have a young man with CP who we've cared for since the age of 16. He is now 30 and we still care for him when he's not insisting on using his independence. :) We'd be happy to help! We can check at our local video store on VCR tapes, the owner is a friend of ours and if he has some we'll send them to you.
A question regarding the movies. Does your son watch movies at 2nd or 3rd grade level because he wants to? This is a nonjudgmental question. I ask because Dan, our friend, has developed skills over time because we've continued to challenge him mentally and physically, even when he wanted to quit. We know he can go beyond his limitations but he has to want it bad enough to work for it. So I was just wondering if your son thought he was capable only at a certain level or if with encouragement he could be stretched more.
You've found some great supporters and if you haven't met this couple yet and their Exceptional Family site you really ought to get connected. Here is their website: http://www.eftv.com and their facebook you can search "exceptional family tv" and pull them up. Wonderful people who have a son that is challenged and they uplift families all over the world.
Will get back to you on the videos if you let me know of some titles you already have so I don't duplicate them. Thank you and many blessings!
Kellie
http://www.livingbeyondlimitations.com
Thanks so much for responding and I will check out the site.
Bryan wants so much to be independent. We are working on cooking now. Mostly microwave things. He is nonverbal and uses a comminication device to communicate. He does not write. He is into cleaning and runs the vacuum, puching it with his power chair every night. He wipes the tables an helps with the dishwasher.
We are always looking for things to make him more independent, but seem to struggle with it.
There are times when we don't want to move out of our comfort zones because that is what we're use to. Then there are times when we try and fail. What might be helpful for Bryan to see is that it is out of those failures that we grow the most.
No matter how many times something doesn't work out for his independence, he (probably more than most) can dig deeper inside the next time and stay with the learning process of it until he makes it. Time doesn't matter. It's not even the 'how', it's his 'why' behind learning something new. If he wants independence, he can obtain it just like Danny did if he works at it because of that why, with endurance.
For us mom's it can be a challenge to let them fail. We want to step in and do it so they don't feel the discomfort in failing. But failing is how he'll learn the most. He sounds like a very bright young man and my guess is his brain works overtime just like most young men, only in a different way.
Thank you for the list of vids. I'll check with my friend to see if he has anything like Bill Nye the Science Guy, and any inspiring biographical videos like Ghandi (which was an amazing movie), and the Christopher Reeves story, and other people who could inspire him. Sometimes it just takes the right person to say the right things at the right time to help us create the right moves for the right purpose. :) Was that enough "rights"?
Take care and I'll let you know if I find anything.
Kellie
http://www.livingbeyondlimitations.com