PDA for 17 yo Aspie?
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PDA for 17 yo Aspie?
| Mon, 11-13-2006 - 7:40am |
My 17 yo is extremely disorganized. He also hates to manually write- preferring to use a keyboard even to jot down a shopping list. I am wondering is it would be helpful for him to have a PDA. We are not in a situation to give such a gift lightly, and my son is the type who leaves many gifts unread, unworn, unused. He simply has a narrow range of things he likes, and those things he tends to be VERY passionate about, while everything else falls by the wayside. Does anyone have expereince with a teen with AS or NVLD and personal digital assistants?
thank you-
Lys

I don't have direct experience with a 17 y/o aspie, but I do know A LOT of adult aspies who couldn't survive without their PDA's! In fact, even the ones who forget "everything else" cling to these devices because they truly become their best means of staying on task, etc. It's one of the few obsessions I've seen last for multiple years.
My advice, discuss it with your son. Pardon the assumption, but at 17 he's probably able to help decide if this would be a good choice for him. No doubt he wants to be able to keep himself organized, he probably just hasn't found the right tool to be successful. Perhaps take him to a store to "try one out" and see what he thinks?
Just my 2 cents. Good Luck with whatever you decide.
Amy
It depends on the primary function, and it the kids is prone to losing things.:
If a PDA is likely to get lost or forgotten, it may not be the optimal choice.
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I had been considering it as well. I had read about the use of PDA's for kids with executive dysfunction and traumatic brain injury. Most of our kids have executive dysfunction (basically poor organization, etc) as well. My fear was the losing prospect of it.
I was looking at them and instead of a PDA I was thinking Laptop computer. Really, there are some that aren't that much more than a PDA, especially if you get one refurbished or something. That way they have a real keyboard to workwith and it is more versatile. Most PDA's don't have keyboards but instead you have to use the stylus which is a problem in 2 areas. 1) too easy to lose and 2) not that much different than writing. To buy one with a keyboard is alot more money and the keyboard is tiny. You can buy a keyboard to go with it but then it is as much to carry around as a laptop, etc.
How does your son like computers? Will he prefer to do most of his work on a computer? Does he buy into his need to be organized? Is he motivated? Those are the things in this case that I think would determine if he would use it.
Would this be for school? You can ask for an assitive tech evaluation for this and get thier input on what would work. They also could likely provide one for school and he could use it this year or until he graduates and then you will have a good idea by the time he is done with school what works for him.
Renee
Hey paula, is the watch comfortable? Our problem with Cait is that she is forever taking those kinds of things off because they annoy her. If it had like a rubberized band (like those awareness bracelets) she may do it but otherwise, no.
Renee
You can get different straps. I wore one for awhile with a webbed velcro strap, which is adjustable any way.
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
I thank you all; you've given me a lot of things to consider. It may be a bad idea to invest in a PDA, at least at this point. J has an old laptop that was passed down to him, but he doesn't use it for organization. Someone on another list mentioned a package called backpack which might be useful to him, but I'll have to show it to him and get an opinion.
The Ironman is intriguing. We'll be looking that over carefully, as well.
take care!
Lys