Children with Down syndrome generally have slower learning than their peers. It takes them much longer to learn to talk and take care of themselves. However, they also tend to have better visual perception. Therefore, if pictograms, signs or signals support learning, it will be easier for them.
Here is a selection of apps for children with Down syndrome that will help them develop their full potential.
Speech Blubs
Google Play – App Store: Free, Age: 1 to 8:
Speech Blubs is a voice-controlled speech and language application. It is designed for children to learn new words and sounds and practise speaking in a stimulating educational environment.
It has more than 1,500 exercises and activities to help generate children’s first sounds and words. It is specially designed for children with speech delay, apraxia, autism, Down syndrome, ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder.
Recent research on mirror neurons has shown how children learn best by mimicking the behaviour of their peers. Therefore, the application uses the scientifically proven method of «video modelling» for proper speech development. Children will have real playmates! Also, at the end of each activity, you will find fun educational videos designed for children to engage in conversation.
The app starts with a 7-day free trial period. You will get a report with personalized advice and unlimited access to all exercises. After this time, you will have to continue with the paid version.
PictoBoard
Google Play – App Store: Free, Age: +3:
PictoBoard is an application to improve speaking skills in people who are receiving speech therapy. It is especially indicated for children with aphasia, apraxia, autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and phonological disorders.
It is a highly customizable application that allows you to record your audios, create your animations from videos, pictograms and photos. It also has a good, intuitive interface with various functionalities for the child to keep their attention.
PictoTEA
Google Play: Free, Age: +3:
A 100% free application, specially designed to help people with ASD, PDD or any condition that affects social and communication skills to communicate. It seeks to facilitate communication with its environment through the use of digital pictograms.
It allows you to customize the application in 5 stages with different degrees of difficulty. In this way, as the child progresses in learning, he will use more pictograms, categories or even make sentences. The functionality to add your pictograms is also available.
Sensory learning of children
Google Play: Free, Age: +3:
A fun, entertaining and stimulating underwater sensory learning app. Sensory play is ideal for the continuous development of your children’s motor skills and hand-eye coordination. This helps fine-tune motor skills and movements. It has also shown significant benefits in the learning and stimulation of children with autism, Down syndrome, and special educational needs.
With it, your child will experiment and educate himself using cause and effect techniques. As you touch the screen, you get instant feedback from vibration, sound effects, and bubbles. Over time, you will begin to understand that your touch also causes fish to swim to where you touch the screen. The child learns and adapts to his findings within the game.
Otsimo
Google Play – App Store: Free, Age: +3:
An award-winning, certified educational game app. It is specially developed for people diagnosed with learning disabilities and disorders, attention deficit, autism, Down syndrome, Asperger’s syndrome, dyslexia and other special needs.
Otsimo’s special education allows children to use their motor and cognitive skills through help games to match, draw, choose, order, and games that use sounds. It includes AAC, Augmented and Alternative Communication, which allows the child to communicate their thoughts and emotions to their friends and family. The games are developed according to ABA therapy, which is the best known and most trusted early behavioural therapy technique to help people who have learning disorders and attention deficit problems.
Jade
Google Play: Free, Age: +3:
Jade is an application to stimulate the development of autistic and Down syndrome children. The game, created by the father of an autistic child and computer science student, had the collaboration and approval of the APAE speech therapist, Adriana Malini.
The application has association games where the child must find the answers in the following categories: animals, food, colours, numbers, letters and shapes. In this way, reason and cognitive and logical development are stimulated.
The app was the winner in the Facilities category of the USP Campus Mobile 2018 Award in São Paulo.
MITA
Google Play – App Store: Free, Age: +4
MITA is a one-of-a-kind early intervention app for children with autism, developmental delay, and learning difficulties. It includes engaging, interactive activities designed to help children learn how to integrate multiple objects mentally. This ability has been shown to enhance a child’s learning process significantly.
Consistent use of MITA can make significant improvements in your child’s overall development. Especially in language, attention, and visual skills, each game is adaptable and provides exercises with the appropriate level of difficulty for the child, depending on their stage. Also, it has a simple and intuitive interface with beautiful illustrations that children will love.
I read too
Google Play – App Store: Free, Age: +4:
An application for children from 3 to 6 years old or 4 to 12 years old with Down syndrome, autism or other types of intellectual disability to learn to read. It is based on the global reading method. It has been designed to adapt to the needs of children with cognitive disabilities or maturational delay to enhance their abilities.
Children with Down syndrome, autism, or other intellectual disabilities do not understand abstract concepts, such as letters and syllables. For this reason, and for its ease of visual perception, the global reading method is perfect for them. It is a natural method that facilitates reading comprehension from the beginning and is based on the word’s worldwide perception, accompanied by an image that shows its meaning. Part of the larger units, complete phrases and words, associated with a visual concept. And it continues with decoding these into smaller companies like syllables and finally letters.
The app is free to download and can integrate purchases to develop a complete global reading method.
Visual Reading
Google Play: Free, Age: +4
Visual reading is a new generation educational platform specially designed for special education teachers and speech therapists. It is based on scientifically approved methods of applied behaviour analysis. It is especially indicated for children with pervasive developmental disorders, autism, mental retardation, dysphasia, dyslexia, aphasia, speech disorders, Asperger’s, Down syndrome and specific learning disorders.
The application helps to develop reading and writing and understanding of speech. Also, it is indicated to enrich the vocabulary and increase speech production and develop phonological awareness and verbal skills.
Picasa
Google Play App Store: Free, Age: +4:
This mobile learning platform is designed to create educational activities adapted for students with special educational needs. It is a project of the GEDES research group of the University of Granada. The system has been designed to meet users’ functional diversity with special needs, mainly at the cognitive, visual and auditory levels. Also, it is a handy support tool for users with ASD, PDD or Down syndrome, among others.
Picasa incorporates five types of exercises: exploration, association, puzzle, order/selection and memory. These exercises are focused on developing memory, perception and discrimination, both visual and auditory, communication with the environment, acquisition and understanding of vocabulary, improvement of phonetics, eye-hand coordination and cause-effect learning.
