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Thursday, April 11, 2013

iLS Pillow Insert

iLS Pillow Insert by Intergrated Listening Systems (iLS) has been wonderful for my home. We have been using it now for a while and it is defiantly helping out with sleep in my home. My children have been alternating with the pillow each night and I can say for sure whoever has the pillow that night gets a wonderful nights sleep and wake up more regulated then without the pillow. My son who was in the last review about the iLS system has since ended O.T. for now but is continuing with the pillow and it has been helping some during the day as well. When he needs a break and seems out of sorts I now have him lay on the pillow to try to get him back on track. My other son is now in O.T. and using the Total Focus program there once a week like my other son was along with the pillow insert on his days and I believe it is starting to work on him as well. He's a little tougher of a case sensory wise so it's taking a bit longer lol. He loves the pillow but isn't a big fan of the headphones yet ;). The pillow insert is easy to use. You place it inside a pillow case with your child's regular pillow or alone depending on how they like it. The music player (Sony mp3) is placed in a zipper pocket on the side. There is prerecorded music on there with different selections and will play for a set amount of time before turning itself off. There is bone conduction inside the pillow insert which makes this insert unique to any other music pillow device I have seen on the market. The insert can help children with Autism, SPD, ADHD, ect that need help with sleep issues, regulating their bodies, and more. The insert is what I would suggest to start with if your child is having a hard time with headphones. The insert helps them get used to the bone conduction first and calm them before introducing the headphones on them. The more we use the pillow at home the more my youngest gets adjusted to using the headphones at therapy from what I can tell. I like the pillow insert better then the pillow (which I had the opportunity to try from my O.T.) since they are able to use their own pillow underneath the insert.
Here's the music programs included straight from their website:
Music Programs: iLs Pillow music is selected based on harmonic content, gentle rhythmic structure and soothing melodic contours, and modified via proprietary techniques developed by iLs. All programs stop automatically after 2 hours.
  • Classical: relaxing, andante (slow tempo) classical pieces popular with all ages
  • Classical Mix: andante classical pieces interwoven with female Gregorian Chant; ideal as preparation for an iLs clinical program (as the music is similar), or for relaxing and drifting off to sleep
  • Relaxation 1: calming ambient music; less engaging than classical music; popular with all ages
  • Relaxation 2: harmonic overtones which bring about a calming response, ideal for reducing stress and combining with relaxation techniques
  • Relaxation 3: beautiful female and male Gregorian Chant recordings; excellent for stress reduction, sleep or just quiet listening 
iLs also offers a 30 trial period so you can make sure this system will work for your home. For more info go to their website. (link posted below)

 http://www.integratedlistening.com/pillow/
http://www.facebook.com/IntegratedListening


 High scores on both graphs indicate difficulty, low scores indicate improved sleep and behavior.
 Clinical Testing: All participants showed a decrease in sleep problems (Graph A) and improvement with daytime behaviors (Graph B: physical, emotional, social and school functioning).
(to learn more about this clinical testing please see iLs website)

Thursday, April 4, 2013

My Video Schedule

My Video Schedule by Acceptional Possibilities, LLC. is a wonderful scheduler for children and adults with special needs especially Autism. This app is absolutely amazing with over 100 different videos included and many many different pictures to choose from. The videos include anything from opening a milk carton to shaving even. You can add pictures and videos of your own if they are not included in the app. The videos have step by step instruction and also include audio. I believe these videos help the user become much more independent especially older users that may want to try to figure things out on their own but need a little help with learning how to do some of the things. You can set up a schedule in this app of the days events so it shows the user what is to be done at that time of the day along with a choice board for a reward system. This app is defiantly unique as I've seen others try to compare and they just haven't matched up to this one. They either have just the videos and are defiantly not as extensive or just the schedule/rewards. This app defiantly grows with the user from toddler to adult. The app is user friendly and so simple to use that you can have it ready for the user in no time at all. The separation of user and admin mode is wonderful so that the user can not go in and change things around which usually happens for me here at least without this option. If you want a scheduler, learning, reward system that will grow with your child into adulthood or need an a scheduler for an older child/adult I would highly highly highly recommend this app :)

https://itunes.apple.com/ng/app/my-video-schedule/id463787252?mt=8
http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Video-Schedule/217762994933668
http://www.myvideoschedule.com/index.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hC2oIzy1VUc


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Adjective Remix

Adjective Remix by Smarty Ears is a wonderful app for building on adjectives. This app can be used with one or more children at a time. There is 8 major categories included and they are: Appearance, colors, feelings, quantity, shape, size, time, and touch&taste. There is almost 200 targets and 400 images included in this app. The settings in the app allow you to choose what you want the user to work on, the response given if the answer is wrong, and the presentation of the items. You can also turn text on or off in the settings as well. The users photo is shown in the app which I really like not only when doing multi-player but also when working one on one as it seems to make them feel really in the app. I love the responses given when the user gets it correct. Every time it's like a party for them telling them they got it right. I would like to see auto advance to the next question added in instead of having to push the arrow. I have always liked that feature since otherwise my kids stare at the app thinking it's broken lol. There is little report cards that show the results of the players in the app that can be shared as needed. This app is also now compatible with Therapy Report Center! This app has been helping my children come along very nicely on their adjectives. By using apps I seem to get them more engaged and willing to work then with just plain pieces of paper. I would highly highly highly recommend this app and all other smarty ears apps :)

http://www.facebook.com/SmartyEars?ref=ts&fref=ts
http://smartyearsapps.com/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adjective-remix/id533921131?mt=8
http://vimeo.com/44406662