Assistive technology helps to provide people with disabilities enhanced learning, working, and daily living skills. The Apple store is loaded with an amazing selection of apps but what about other platforms? Android devices are rarely mentioned yet there are several apps out there that can be very helpful! Apps for an Android tablet can be hard to find for children beyond the preschool/Kindergarten level so this post focuses on apps that are used for children at the elementary school level (K to 5). The following apps can be helpful for children with disabilities who own an Android device.

I Can Communicate! AAC

I Can Communicate! is a FREE app for individuals who have augmentative and alternative communication needs. Users have the option of typing their messages as well as utilize buttons for pre-programmed messages. English and Spanish text-to-speech output is currently available.

Rating: 4.7 Stars from 15 Reviews

Price: FREE

Commboards is an AAC Speech Assistance app that enables children and people of all ages with limited verbal abilities to express themselves and more easily communicate with the world around them, by utilizing a proved system of communication boards.

 

Rating: 4.6 Stars from 42 Reviews

Price:
$9.99

CommBoards - AAC Speech Assistant

A free AAC talker app which supports communication in all areas of life and therefore providing a voice to everyone. LetMeTalk is donation financed.

 

Rating: 4.4 Stars from 1005 reviews

Price
Free (Requests a donation)
Jellow Communicator is a friendly Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system that uses icons/images to enable speech. This freely downloadable Android app can be used for communication by those learning to speak or those having difficulty with speech. Jellow can also be used by toddlers and early learners to learn words and categories frequently used in their daily lives. Jellow’s colorful and friendly icons can help children develop an association between pictures and their corresponding word labels.

Rating:
 4.5 Stars from 31 Reviews

Price
Free

CardTalk

Card Talk supports communication with cards for children who have difficulties in verbal communication. You can indicate your emotion/intention, and learn vocabularies and grammar at the same time. This program is like an electronic version of PECS.

Rating: 4.6 Stars from 392 Reviews

Price
Free

The “I’m On It!” timer app for Android is designed specifically for people who struggle to stay focused on the task at hand. These may be children or adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD, or ADD) as well as people working through the unique challenges of High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD (Asperger’s Syndrome), and, of course, anyone who struggles to stay focused.

 

Rating: 4.6 Stars from 17 Reviews

PriceFree and has in-app purchases

Cause and Effect Sensory Light Box was created for a group of teenagers with complex needs including visual impairment, autism, and varied developmental disabilities. Light Box has since proven a popular choice for parents of much younger children without special needs who are exploring tablets and phones for the first time.

 

Rating: 4.7 Stars from 59 Reviews

Price
$2.49
Magic Fluids is a relaxing, colorful drawing app that will help you calm down and relieve stress, or be creative and make aesthetic digital art. It is based on algorithms of fluid flow simulation and features fluid (pun intended!), beautiful graphics. It is the best time waster! To launch the live wallpaper mode on the latest Android devices, please use the official Google “Wallpapers” app. Magic Fluids will show up in the Live Wallpapers category.

Rating:
 4.4 Stars from 49,083 Reviews

Price
There are a FREE version and a Pro version for $1.99

Happy Kids Timer is simple to use back to school app for children which helps them complete their morning or evening routine easily and on time. This is a chores app for kids and a visual timer that can serve also as a tooth brushing timer. This app is totally operated by your child, who carries the mobile device with him/her to each area/room where the task needs to be carried out/completed. It utilizes a smart incentive program with an award and printable certificate.

 

Rating: 4.5 Stars from 13501 Reviews

Price: FREE version with in-app purchases

Children and young adults with additional needs often need visual instructions and guidance with social skills. Special Stories allows you to lessen the stress by using familiar images and your own words and voice to ensure they are prepared for social situations.

 

Special Stories is widely used for:
• Making photo albums about vacations, trips, and other events • Improving reading skills • Encouraging the development of spoken language skills • Creating talking books • Helping with social skills • Explaining step-by-step tasks • Practicing foreign language skills • Sharing information between home and school • Sharing news with distant family and friends • Organizing stories into collections to create a personal library
The possibilities are endless. You can easily add photos of places, people, objects or even your child’s artwork, to create unique and wonderful books to keep and share.

Rating:
 5.0 Stars from 7 Reviews

Price: $19.99

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Free Math Games for everyone from kids to adults. Best maths practice game to train your brain & is designed for all ages including kids, girls, and boys, adults including parents and grandparents. Smallest in size Maths App on Google Play! Easiest multiplication and division games with Addition and Subtraction games all in one app. Increase your brain power with an excellent educational game for learning mathematics for kids and adults of all ages

Rating:
 4.5 Stars from 23,571 Reviews

Price
FREE version with in-app purchases
Magic Land ADHD – focus your attention – an education learning game – helps you to become better in:

– Math (algebra – addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, geometry, logic) – Spelling and reading (in English and other languages) – School subjects: Knowledge in typical school-related fields, such as science, geography, music, art, physics, history) – Learning languages (German, Spain and more coming soon, like French, Chinese, etc.) – Play through 30 levels of an exciting magic world by solving quests and learn at the same time.

Rating: 5.0 Stars from 29 Reviews

Price
FREE with in-app purchases

Spend an afternoon brushing up on statistics. Discover how the Krebs cycle works. Learn about the fundamentals of music notation. Or, if you’re feeling particularly adventurous, learn how fire stick farming changed the landscape of Australia. It doesn’t matter if you are a student, teacher, homeschooler, principal, adult returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to get a leg up in earthly biology—Khan Academy’s materials and resources are available to you completely free of charge.

Thousands of videos and articles at your fingertips in math, science, economics, computing, finance, grammar, history, government, politics, and much, much more – Practice questions with instant feedback and step-by-step hints – Bookmarks for easy navigation to your favorite content – Offline access to keep you learning even when you’re not connected to the internet – Device syncing between the app and khanacademy.org, so your progress is always up to date

Rating:
 4.5 Stars from 97,541 Reviews

Price:
 FREE
HiPER Scientific Calculator is a popular calculator. The calculator has 15 digits of significand and 3 digits of exponents in its free version and up to 100 digits of significant and 9 digits of exponent in HiPER Calc Pro. It detects repeating decimals and numbers can be also entered as fractions or converted to fractions.

The Pro version has the “expression” mode in which you can write expressions in a natural way and watch your calculations. The result is displayed as a number, simplified expression, etc.

 

The calculator has several layouts suitable for various screen sizes: – “pocket” for small devices – “compact” for smartphones (in portrait and landscape orientation) – “expanded” for tablets

Rating:
 4.6 Stars from 108,890 Reviews

Price
FREE version along with a Pro version available for $3.49

For all ages: games for kids, for parents and for everybody! Increase your brain power and compete against players from around the world! Experience the heated battle that will keep you on your toes!

Brain games is based on principles of cognitive psychology to help you practice different mental skill: memory, attention, speed, reaction, concentration, logic and more.

Fight with other people in math game in multiplayer Arena in real time!
“Quick Brain” – it is a Puzzle game with many levels and multiplayer: – Multiplication table – Training game with flexible settings for math (Multiply, Plus, Minus, Divide), time for questions, complexity, and type of game like Test, True/False or input the answer with a keyboard. – 2048 – puzzle with many sizes, 4×4, 5×5, 6×6, 7×7, 8×8 and speed level – True / False mathematics game – Mathematics Balance – Shulte table – Multiplayer Arena with leader boards. You can fight with your friends in real time!

Rating:
 4.7 Stars from 41,979 Reviews

Price
FREE with in-app purchases
Smart Kidz Club simplifies reading for parents and children. The read-aloud option with word highlighting helps early language learners and struggling readers. All our content is original and exclusive with 85% of our books being non-fiction.

Rating:
 4.7 Stars from 176 Reviews

Price
There is a free trial for 14 days then by a monthly subscription of $15/month.
Kids Spelling 500 Words is a self-paced educational learning app that teaches children how to spell more than 500 common English words. The learning process is accomplished in three stages: learning, practice, and checking.

Rating:
 4.5 Stars from 760 Reviews

Price
FREE

KettleMind is a brain training program developed to give your mind routine exercise and training to improve your cognitive skills and confidence.

The games are designed to improve your focus, memory, problem solving and reasoning skills. Divided across categories, you will find interesting challenges that will test your speed and strategy, challenge your logic, and ensure that you have fun along the way!

Rating:
 4.9 Stars from 205 Reviews

Price
FREE

MentalUP Brain Games For Kids offers scientific & entertaining brain games. Develop your cognitive abilities and intelligence with ? brain booster exercises.

 

KEY FEATURES OF MENTALUP BRAIN TEASERS FOR KIDS
• Gamified & Scientific Brain Training Exercises: Challenge with 60+ entertaining brain booster exercises developed by scientists and game designers. • Personalized Daily Workouts: Automatically generated 20 minutes daily workout fulfills your needs. • Advanced Performance Reports: Track your mental development and compare your performance with friends and same age groups.

Rating:
 4.7 Stars from 45,540 Reviews

Price:
 FREE
Tap and Color is an interactive coloring book designed for toddlers, preschoolers, and young children, including those with special needs and autism. In this coloring book, children don’t need to choose colors! Even young toddlers will learn how to use this coloring book without parental assistance. Six themes – Park, Circus, Zoo, Store, Sports, and Playground.

Rating:
 4.5 Stars from 48 Reviews

Price
FREE
Tasks is a beautifully simple, free todo list, task list and reminder app that will help keep your busy life organized every day. No matter who you are or what you do Tasks can help! Tasks is a simple todo list app that emphasizes simplicity and ease of use. Whether you want a shopping list, grocery list or you just have lots of things to remember Tasks is built for you. With Tasks you can build powerful lists, color code them and then manage them with intuitive gestures like drag and drop to re-prioritizes or swiping to delete.

Rating:
 4.8 Stars from 26,896 Reviews

Price
FREE

Sectograph – A time planner (time tracker) that visually displays a list of cases, events, and tasks for the day in the form of a twelve-hour circular chart – the dial. The application will help you sharpen the sense of time and visualize the day.
WHY IT IS USEFUL TO YOU
✔ Daily planning and timekeeping time. Add in Sectograph your daily affairs, agendas, meetings, events and at any time know how much is left to wait until the end of the current event and before the next one. Do not be late. ✔ Accounting and Monitoring of working hours. Keep the phone in the docking station in the workplace and the business will be completely under control. Best Timekeeper. ✔ Class timetable. Keep the phone close at hand and watch how much time is left before the end of a tiring lecture at the university and never be late for laboratory work. ✔ Schedule the day. Your daily routine is now more comfortable than ever. Follow it and improve, just use the application as an organizer of cases and diary tasks. ✔ Timer trips and the duration of air travel. Because of the endless trips and flights, you lose track of time? Control the time of registration, landing and the duration of the flight. Keep everything under control. ✔ Schedule meals, medicines, and sports activities and other important activities. Lead the right way of life and be healthy! ✔ Convenient countdown to planned events. The plan of the day will be fulfilled exactly. ✔ Monitor everyday affairs on the go and in your car. Achieve the implementation of the goals, for this, keep the application on the device. ✔ Time management using GTD (Getting Things Done) technology. The routine creates a lot of confusion, but are you trying not to forget anything? Work orders require control and constant punctuality!

Day planning is what you need. To do this, use the daily scheduler Sectograph as your personal manager. ✔ Your Timesheet. You can easily visualize time, and your timesheet will become very visual. Line up your schedule of cases in a visual form. ✔ Tracking time. Easily track working hours to take rest breaks on time (the principle of the “Pomodoro” timer). ✔ My goals. To note: timing in the application can be used to achieve goals. The time timer will always help to allocate time, to organize the day and to fulfill the task on time.

Rating: 4.7 Stars from 33,680 Reviews

Price
FREE
Treat your life like a game to stay motivated and organized! Habitica makes it simple to have fun while accomplishing goals. Input your Habits, your Daily goals, and your To-Do list, and then create a custom avatar. Check off tasks to level up your avatar and unlock features such as armor, pets, skills, and even quests! Fight monsters with friends to keep each other accountable, and use your gold on in-game rewards, like equipment, or custom awards, like watching an episode of your favorite TV show. Flexible, social, and fun, Habitica is the perfect way to motivate yourself to accomplish anything.

Rating:
 4.3 Stars from 12,225 Reviews

Price
FREE

Blind or visually impaired users can request help from a sighted volunteer, who will be notified on their phone. As soon as the first sighted user accepts the request for help, a live audio-video connection will be set up between the two parts. The sighted helper can now assist the blind or visually impaired, through the video connection from the blind or visually impaired user’s rear-facing camera.

As a sighted user, you are part of the big Be My Eyes volunteer-network, so don’t worry about leaving a blind person hanging, if you are not able to answer a request. We will simply forward the request and find the next available volunteer. The blind or visually impaired person can need help with anything from knowing the expiry date on the milk, to make sure that their clothes match.

Note: We encourage blind or visually impaired users to be patient when making a request because we rely on real people to help you. Most calls are answered within 60 seconds.

Rating:
 4.9 Stars from 10,984 Reviews

Price
FREE
Lazarillo App the GPS for the blind and visually impaired, lets you explore the world around you and set up routes. Lazarillo is a specialized GPS app that brings mobility tools for blind people. Using audio messages, Lazarillo will tell you about nearby places, the street you are walking on, street intersections in your way and more! Like a radio, Lazarillo will announce the places around you while you move. This app was designed and implemented with active feedback from blind people.

The GPS resource is used even if the App is in the background. This allows the user to keep using the app without active usage of the screen, so that they can still enjoy the features of Lazarillo even when their phone is in their pocket or when using other relevant apps.

Rating:
 4.6 Stars from 572 Reviews

Price
FREE

Audio Game Hub is a set of experimental arcade audio games that use audio as their primary interface – making them accessible for both sighted and non-sighted users. Audio Game Hub provides a medium to develop and improve motoric, auditory and memory skills by training them in a fun and stimulating way

Audiogames: ★ Animal Escape ★ Bomb Disarmer (up to 10 player) ★ Super Simon (up to 10 player) ★ Blackjack (Casino) ★ Slot Machines (Casino) ★ Archery ★ Hunt ★ Samurai Tournament (up to 4 player) ★ Samurai Dojo (up to 4 player) ★ Labyrinth ★ Animal Farm (Memory) ★ Blocks (Bejeweled)

Rating:
 4.7 Stars from 1,207 Reviews

Price
FREE

I hope this post has helped answer some questions on the apps available for Android for elementary age children with disabilities. As always, you are welcome to join us for more discussion on assistive technology in our FB group, IEP/504 Assistance, for parents of public school students from all over the United States. You can also join us in the Homeschooling Special (Needs) Kids group if you are considering homeschooling, or are currently homeschooling, children with special needs. We also have a group for all parents and caregivers of special needs children called Special Needs Parenting Advice and Support where we discuss ALL things related to special needs care and Educating Gifted Children is where we discuss topics concerning gifted children and those that are twice exceptional (2e).

Michelle Reed-Harris

Michelle Reed-Harris

CEO and Advocate

Michelle Reed-Harris is the mother of six children including surviving quadruplets. Her frustration with doctors and educators led her on a quest to learn about all the facets that touch the quads lives as children with disabilities. In the process, she gained a lot of useful information she could share with others so she started a Facebook group focusing on special education advocacy. The group quickly grew to over 6,000+ members. Recognizing the overwhelming need for assistance, she founded a nonprofit, AESA, allowing her to provide support, advice, and advocacy to parents with children who are outside the (Bell) curve.

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