Use your iPad to control switch toys: Switchamajig!

Wouldn't it be great if your child or students could control switch-operated toys with the iPad?

Phil at PAW Solutions has come up with a very clever switch interface that works with your iPad. It allows children to control up to SIX switches or actions through one screen. Can you imagine the possibilities for fun play? It even lets your child steer...how cool is that!

Since so many of you have children who use iPads, I thought Phil's amazing app would have real interest. Be sure to check out the video he has provided. Here's his story...and a special discount for Adapting Creatively readers at the end!

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Thanks to Rose-Marie for inviting me to tell you how my own creative adapting turned into a new business.

I used to adapt toys back in college, so it was a bit surreal when I starting doing it for my own son, Jackson [editor's note: you will adore the clip of Jackson at the end of the video. Don't miss it!]. I wasn't trying to do a good deed or show off (although my wife was far more impressed than anyone in college ever was.) All that really mattered was that my little guy needed to have fun.

Having fun. Isn't that what being a kid is all about? My childhood memories are of running with the dog, building with Legos, and kicking a soccer ball around. My medical appointments were mercifully rare and tinged with anxiety and terror over the inevitable vaccination. But Jackson's childhood revolves around the medical profession: PT, OT, SLP, and flavors of MD I wish I'd never learned about. More interventions, assessments, and adaptations than I'd like, but letting nature take its course just isn't going to work, not for Jackson.

Once we did find time to play, we needed something to play with. I didn't like most switch-adapted toys; pressing one button was great for cause-and-effect, but Jackson needed more imaginative play. So we bought two switches and adapted a two-button RC truck. Jackson liked it. With two switches, he could drive it all over the living room. He took special delight in crashing it into the couch.

We also looked for creative solutions to help Jackson communicate. We convinced relatives to give him an iPad for his second birthday. Now you may think that a two year-old with disabilities would have trouble using such an advanced piece of technology, and you'd be right. He loved that it made fun noises and showed cool pictures as he rubbed his food-encrusted fingers over the touch screen, but he didn't seem to understand that he was in control of it. His frustration would build. And build. And build until we declared “no more iPad.” Then he would scream as only a two year-old can.

I decided to make the iPad control his truck, and built a box that received commands from the iPad and worked like four switches. The iPad shows buttons that, when touched, activate a toy. Suddenly all sorts of new toys were available to Jackson, from RC construction vehicles to flying fish balloons (I like remote controlled toys because they are designed to be fun when pressing buttons.) I showed it to Jackson's therapists and teachers, and from their reactions decided I was on to something. I decided to turn my project into a product, and recently started selling it as the Switchamajig Controller.


Along the way, I found new uses for Switchamajig. There's an RC car that needs someone to hold down two buttons to turn, and the RC fish balloon's tail control requires toggling between two switches. Even with the iPad, Jackson couldn't control either one, so I added special buttons that he can press to steer the car
The Switchamajig includes a free iPad app for operating up to 6 switches
from a single iPad. This allows kids to determine a lot of movement for their toys.

 
I've spent my career in silicon valley working on cool technology. But there's nothing cooler than unlocking some of the joy of childhood for my son and other children with disabilities. Nothing prepared me for a product demo with a giggling child and a mother choking back tears. Now I'm looking for ways to make Switchamajig push aside more obstacles for more people. Have any ideas? Let me know with a comment or email me at info@switchamajig.com.

Play on!

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Phil has generously offered a $50 discount if you order using the coupon code "adaptingcreatively." Thanks Phil!

Note:  We don't own an iPad or a Switchamajig, so I have no personal experience with either. I thought this switch interface and Phil's story of how he came to create it might be of interest to many of you.
                                        --Rose-Marie

Liebster-Blog-Award Joy!

Yippee!! Yesterday was such an exciting day for me, as Adapting Creatively was awarded the Liebster Blog Award. Thanks so much Jennifer for this wonderful honor!


What is the Liebster Blog Award, some of you ask? I'll admit, I had to look it up myself. You see, life at our house has been more eventful lately than I prefer, and there hasn't been time to hang out on blogs much in the past little while.


It turns out the award recognizes small blogs (under 200 subscribers) who are admired and nominated by other bloggers in the same "small blog" boat. I really like that idea...

I'm thrilled that Jennifer thought highly enough of our little online home here to nominate it. Thank you so much!

If you haven't checked out Jennifer's blog, Mrs. Virdell's Blog, you'll be in for a treat. She teaches a transition program for young adults (ages 18+). It sounds like a wonderful place to learn... I'm excited to follow her class and her thinking, especially since those years are just around the corner at our house.



Here are the rules of the Liebster Blog Award:
  1. Show you appreciate the blogger who nominated you with a thank you shout out! (check)
  2. Nominate 5 other blogs, who have 200 followers or less, by leaving them a comment (this I am excited to do! The hard part is that many of the ones I love have a bazillion followers and wouldn't be eligible)
  3. Post the award on your blog (check)
  4. Keep up with the blogs you've given the award to...you never know when they are going to hit the blog world, big time! (I'm sharing 5 blogs I wouldn't miss...even when life gets a bit, er, hectic)

Check out these truly awesome blogs...

Adaptions4Kidz 
Junior's mom is one of the most creative, innovative parents on the Internet. I would love to meet her someday! This lady will amaze you with her creative solutions that allow her son to play and learn and enjoy life. I always leave her blog feeling encouraged to go forth and adapt!

The Simple Life
Kimberly blogs about how her Christian faith impacts her parenting, particularly that of her daughter with special needs. She is honest and upbeat and makes me think. And laugh. Her words about her daughter have endeared her to me. She's the sort of kid I would love to have in my class.

You start with a tube...
This blog is a must-read for folks with g-tubes, whether their own or their children's. Eric is all about blending healthy food for that alternative route to the stomach, the g-tube. I love his incredible sense of humor...oh my! He'll leave you doubled over with laughter or pondering some important issue. You never know what gems you might take away from his each of his posts.


Mito Life Window
Clara-Leigh is the mom to three great kids and a delightful story teller, I must say! She has been an encouraging supporter of my blog, and that inspired me to hop over to her blog awhile back and learn about her wonderful children. Two of her kids deal with mitochondrial issues, so I am learning from her. After all, pending tests may show that we have more in common than just blogging...possibly (probably?) mitochondrial issues as well.

bungalow gals studio
Okay, so this one is actually a crafting blog, but it's very clever and Patti is, well, so amazing! She and I are actual, real-life, share-a-cup-of-coffee friends, not just names that connect on the Internet (although that is how we originally met). Patti is an amazing mom to a daughter with challenges very much like my girl's. She is brilliant in so, so many things. What inspires me about her blog is that she has wisely found a refuge that is not related to disabilities. How incredibly healthy is that? Whenever I read her bungalow gals blog, I am reminded that the world is bigger than special needs...

Enjoy your reading! Please congratulate these nominees for there excellent blogs and tell 'em Rose-Marie sent you.