Sarah-Hope gets given an iPad!

We decided that an iPad would be a good investment for Sarah-Hope. We know that she is physically limited, and fortunately there is so much that technology will be able to help her with given the time that she has been born into. Many toys for babies require a fair bit of strength in order to push a button in order to generate some kind of response. While Sarah-Hope’s hands are much weaker than those who have the benefit of having the full structure of upper and fore arm bones and all the muscles and joints inbetween, the one action she can easily do is swipe - so the touch screen of the iPhone or the iPad is totally accessible for her. Another bonus regarding the iPad is that many children with physical disabilities require specialised equipment to help them – however, the use of this equipment adds to the barriers between them and other kids. The iPad, however, is used and enjoyed by everyone which really helps to mainstream and integrate children with disabilities.

I put the word out that we were looking to get Sarah-Hope an iPad to see if anyone might have a second-hand one to sell us. Amazingly, we had about 4 people offering to give her iPads within a couple of days! The first person who responded, however, was a lady from the UK who used to live and work in Cape Town. She had recently been blessed financially and said she would love to get Sarah-Hope a new iPad 2 from the UK! We were totally blown away. She bought the iPad and sent it to SA, just in time for Christmas. What an amazing gift!

After making sure it had a really good cover on it (has to survive a teething toddler!), we've had such fun introducing Sarah-Hope to her iPad! We are really looking forward to a lot of fun with this in the future...