[blparent] Technology with toddlers

[Erin Rumer]

Hello Michael,

My 2.5 old son is absolutely amazing on our iPad and has benefited
tremendously from the educational programs available these days, especially
the interactive ones.  With this said, my husband and I spend special
attention to monitor his viewing very closely and carefully as our son can
find things at times that have a cute Elmo picture or something of that
nature while it turns out to be something pure evil put out by a creep with
nothing better to do than try and warp kids.  We spend quite a bit of time
down-loading things for our son ahead of time but occasionally he likes to
browse on UTube so we watch close and erase the history any-time something
inappropriate comes on.  We also make sure to let our son know that
something is good or bad rather than just reacting to it when it pops-up on
the screen.  This has helped a ton because in the rare case that something
bad pops-up I've seen my son choose to turn something off right away and
then say that it was "not good".  I praise him hugely for this and tell him
how proud I am of him for making the right decision.  Additionally, I make
sure to limit his iPad time or iPhone time with friend's devices and have a
variety of activities going on in his day that have nothing to do with
technology.  Such activities for us include but are not limited to going for
hikes, going to the park, preschool, going to church at least twice a week,
playing games, going to Sea World and the zoo regularly, playing with the
dog, learning a foreign language with classes, playing with toys, reading
together, going to the library , singing together and playing make-believe.
I feel that by focusing on a variety of activities we are stretching all
parts of the brain.  Technology is a very real part of our lives and kids
today are needing to be at the top of their game with it more than ever just
to keep-up with their peers and have a competitive edge for their future.  I
have truly seen how technology when used properly has benefited kids and
stretched their minds and advanced their skills.  Likewise, this is a two
edged sword that we as parents need to be careful of and make sure that our
children are getting a large variety of learning methods in their everyday
lives.  As we all know, exercise alone is one of those things that hold
significance as kids can fall into a whole of sitting on the couch way more
than they should in a day.

Take care,

Erin.

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Michael
Babcock
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 4:01 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: [blparent] Technology with toddlers

Good day,
I know that I probably have a set a few of you on list with my parenting
styles, however, it has made me think that I would really like to get the
opinion of some of you other individuals. And, I kind of liked the ring of
"technology, and toddlers", with the subject line.
My three-year-old son can pick up an iOS device and use it finding games on
it, moving applications around, and even deleting applications. Obviously,
the one thing is unable to do is install new applications, since he hasn't
figured out how to enter a password. I would like to know what you guys have
for an opinion of a three-year-old child using an iOS device such as an
iPhone, or iPad. Do you guys allow your children at such ages to use your
iOS devices? Or, do you guys wait until a little bit older? I would be very
interested to find out what exactly you guys are doing at such young age. In
addition, one thing I wanted to let you all know is if the phone dies, he
puts it on the charger. And, he is also able to turn voiceover off whenever
I use the device last. Finally, is charging the device when it dies, and
knowing how to put the charger in the hole at the bottom, tells me that his
mother allowed him to use iOS devices all a lot, when he was living with her
up in Alaska. Thoughts?

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