I’ve had so much fun creating stories that I’ve neglected writing my review of these handy apps, Stories2Learn and Social Skills.* The website states:
Look 2 Learn is dedicated to the support of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders through the development of new and affordable applications for the Apple® iPhone© and iPad©. As school districts and parents are increasingly becoming interested in the idea that such devices can be used as alternate forms of communication and education for students who are non-verbal, Look 2 Learn has to date released three titles focused on supporting many of the core issues related to their special needs.
Social Skills ($6.99) comes pre-loaded with several stories appropriate for use with students who have difficulty with specific social abilities, such as turn-taking, task avoidance, school rules, etc. Each story is presented at a simple and a more advanced level, for a total of twelve stories. The stories can be edited to use your own pictures, text, and audio.
Stories2Learn ($13.99) is a separate app that allows you to create new stories, for situations not addressed in Social Skills. The first step is entering a story name and choosing an icon for the story (optional). Next, start creating the story. Select a picture (so easy to do from my stored photos on the iPad). Add some text. Record the text. Save the page and add another! That’s it.
To read a story, choose from the saved stories on the main menu page. Tap the screen and listen to the recording. Tap the arrow to advance to the next page. You can also read the story without the audio if you want to. My grandson really enjoys listening to the stories I wrote about him!
My next step is going to be using ASketch with a young adult client who likes to draw comics, and importing those drawings into Stories2Learn so he can add text and record himself reading his comics.
Look2Learn ($14.99), which I have not used, is a third app from this company, that allows a non-verbal child to access pictures to express their needs and wants.
You can always visit the developer’s website for an on-screen video tutorial if you need help. In addition, the developer is responsive to questions and suggestions. The photos on the iPad are very slightly distorted in the landscape view; the developer told me that due to some OS changes with Apple, they are working on creating a universal app so that photos will look much better on the iPad.
Wishes for future versions
- email feature so teachers could send stories home or so parents could send stories to distant family members
- ability to project the stories on a large screen for whole class viewing
*disclaimer: I taught with the developer’s wife several years ago. However, I first learned about these apps on Squidalicious (you can see a video of the author’s son listening to a story she wrote), and requested a review copy from the developer, as I was impressed with their usefulness and simplicity.
Barth Educational Consultants 