Hope: It's Not Just an iPad or an iPod for Many.

The iPod has changed the way we listen to music.  The iPad has changed the way we look at mobile computing.  The iPhone has changed the way we communicate with others.  But no one ever talks about how it is helping people with memory loss and other disabilities.  Children that are affected by cognitive disabilities have the chance to learn and communicate. With applications for learning, communicating, behavior monitor, and therapeutic device, children and and elderly individuals have the opportunity to improve and maintain their health.

The founder of non-profit Music & Memory, Dan Cohen, studies elderly patients that suffer from dementia.  He began by playing music for patients in nursing homes and encouraging individuals to donate their iPods to nursing homes.  He observed that patients that listened to music from their childhood were increasingly more active, happy, and social.  Cohen would like to collect 1 million iPods through its website and donation boxes at Broadway theaters that his foundation can donate to nursing homes.

Children that are born with disabilities or are diagnosed with a learning disability later on in life can only benefit from the use of iPads.  Touch-to-Speak technology is incredibly expensive, but an iPad at around $499 and a single Touch-to-Speak application available for the iPad at the price of $189 gives children opportunities that they may have otherwise not had.  It allows them to communicate with others and be social.  It can also be a tool to assist in learning and therapy- whether it's the ABC's, how to read and write, or to gain motor skills, iPads are opening up doors for children.  Parents and therapists can use it as a medication reminder or as a way to record behaviors and progress.

The iPad is not just a means of computing and the iPod may just offer reassurance and hope.  Let us know your thoughts in the comments.