Jun 07 2008
Kidzui and ZACbrowser
The other day I posted about the ZACbrowser after I had tested it out and mentioned that my kids had enjoyed another ‘kid browser’ called Kidzui. My reasoning for not sticking with Kidzui was that there was a monthly fee, which, although not high, I was unable to afford at the time. Well, I just received an email that Kidzui is now being offered for free! My kids will be thrilled! The basic version (they’ve introduced a paid members version) doesn’t have some bells and whistles, but as far as the browsing part is concerned, everything is there.
Zacbrowser was designed with autistic kids in mind to remove some of the more distracting elements, ads and visual ‘noise’ from the screen. I found it to be a pleasant experience and Gus would certainly enjoy it, but I think it may be more appropriate for kids who are younger and perhaps less computer savvy.
The feature of creating a Kidzui icon is lots of fun for them as well, but I admit, my daughter is much more interested in constantly changing her character’s clothes than Gus is. But he did enjoy it at least initially.
Gus likes being able to navigate to different pages within one site and Kidzui still allows that freedom without the content that I’d want to keep him away from. It also has a bit more in the way of actual browsing for content and images. Sometimes Gus needs to gather information, not just to play games. And I periodically get reports of what exactly they’re pulling up, so I don’t need to micromanage them at the computer, which is kind of the point. When Gus is old enough, he may even enjoy some online correspondence within the Kidzui community. (I’m not going to encourage this any time soon - one more computer addict in the house is not the goal here.)
ZACbrowser is very new and I fully expect it to grow, so I’m not writing it off. But for the moment, now that we can afford it, Kidzui is back on our desktop.
I read about the zacbrowser and poseted a link on my resourse page. Anything that can be done to simplify computers for us with autism is exciting.
I remember how hard it was for me at first to grasp the concept of computers. When I gained access to the internet I was basically lost.
Another more challenging aspect of the internet is weeding out the harmful content, in 1999 when I got my first computer at home and access to the internet I was completely overwhelmed by the constant pop ups and adult websites.
I had to learn on my own how to navigate and it has taken me years to perfect. It is comforting to know that others will not find it so difficult as I know how computers have changed my life. With out them I may very well have stayed a hermit content to be a bump on a log with no knowledge of my own autism.
Computers and the internet are my best source of bettering myself. It is here that I not only found my own difference from other people, but have been getting a college education via online courses, am able to keep track of my banking, can communicate effectively without completely annoying people, and have made leaps and bounds towards becoming completely independant.
Without the benefit of being able to type, my poor verbal communication skills and difficulties with writting would have severly limited my abilty to continue my education or to tell my story.
Hi! I’m having a blog carnival and would love for you to submit a post! You can read more about it here:
http://icdisease.today.com/2008/06/07/join-the-ic-disease-health-blog-carnival/
Jessie: I can understand how the internet would be overwhelming, especially if you were learning it on your own. I still find it overwhelming some days! One reason we wanted to make sure that Gus could use the computer was just as you said - he had such a hard time writing, I didn’t really believe he’d ever write legibly. I can read his writing now, but it’s a fight to get him to do it because it’s so frustrating. I think it has helped him, too, that we are a very computer dependent family so even before he learned to use the PC himself, it was always a part of life & I think he picked up some basics just from observation. (He sees and hears absolutely everything!) At any given time there can be 2-3 computers running at once around here. (Jeez, we need to get out more!)
It’s so great that you are able to go to college and still remain in a relative comfort zone! Best wishes!
ff: Thanks for the invite! I’ve submitted a post!