DISCUSSION - People with Special Needs and Webkinz

[Teamplaya2]

Yeah, That would be awesome! It would be good for kids with disabilities. Great Idea!

[kinzcrazy]

I think they should make webkinz usable for hearing-impaired/deaf or even blind! The technology is out there!

[happyhotel09]

i think if they had a chance to they would and they would love it because webkinz makes me happy no matter what i am going through..

[deblynn]

It is so funny, as I have an autistic son (high functioning) and he has the opposite problem. He wants so save all his KC and won't evn spend it on food to feed his Webbies. I often go on and feed them. LOL. He doesn't like to do the gardening, decorating, or jobs, but he loves the games. And on those, he is better than me at a lot of them. Of course, I'd rather decorate than play the games. In real life, though, he isn't very good at saving money. Wants to spend it as soon as he has it. Wish it was the opposite. LOL. He loves the webkinz plush. In fact, I think after a year and a half on the site, he likes the plush more than going on WW. (and he isn't young)

[Electrabuzz1]

Originally Posted by deblynn

It is so funny, as I have an autistic son (high functioning) and he has the opposite problem. He wants so save all his KC and won't evn spend it on food to feed his Webbies. I often go on and feed them. LOL. He doesn't like to do the gardening, decorating, or jobs, but he loves the games. And on those, he is better than me at a lot of them. Of course, I'd rather decorate than play the games. In real life, though, he isn't very good at saving money. Wants to spend it as soon as he has it. Wish it was the opposite. LOL. He loves the webkinz plush. In fact, I think after a year and a half on the site, he likes the plush more than going on WW. (and he isn't young)

That is funny. My son is completely opposite. He never has money in Webkinz World. He spends it as soon as he gets it. He has rooms that have multiples of the same object. In real life he does not spend money at all. He is always grateful when he gets something, but he never asks for anything, just puts his money in his piggy bank and leaves it there.

He also loves to sell everything in WW. He will buy something and then sell it right away. I have explained to him (many times) that things sell for less than he paid for them but that is not a concept he understands.

I hope that everyone had a great Halloween!

[lovehorses]

I made a list below of some games that special needs kids may be able to play and what they teach for some of them:

Colors:
Fence Painting job
painting class at kinzville academy
coloring in wshop coloring book

Numbers:
line webkinz up in a row and have kids count them or make a pattern with objects and see if they can finish it or tell you what it is.

Matching:
where's wacky
shoe store clerk game

Keyboarding:
lunch letters

Life Skills:
Cooking on ww
being able to buy food from certain food group when told, Example: I want a fruit, Child buys strawberries.
Identifying needs and wants (print out pictures of some of the wshop items and make a T chart and label one side Needs and other side Wants and help them catagorize it, example: you need food, water, etc. you want: toys, books, etc.
brushing their pets teeth
bathing their pet
putting their pet to sleep
taking their pet to the bathroom on the toilet
identifying what clothes are appropriate for the pet for a season, ex. it is cold today should Fluffy wear a swiming suit? No Silly, that is silly! Should Fluffy wear pants and a long sleeve shirt and boots? Yes, yeah you did it!

being able to realize that when pet is sick it needs to go to doctor
simple questions in quizzy's

learning the names of rooms in a house
learning names of items that go in certain rooms
relating that when a bed is in a room it is a bedroom
when a stove is in a room it is a kitchen
when a car is in a room it is a garage, etc.
gardening and that plants can die if you don't take care of them
making a simple crafty critters craft
send a simple craft into crafty critters
draw a pic for ganz telling them how much they like webkinz

[Blackie_Lab2003]

YES. I have two brothers, one with autism and one with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), and they both own 20+ Webkinz. I'd really love to see some seriously simple games, and I'd wish Ganz would fix the glitches faster, because these are the reasons why the one with PDD throws tantrums over Webkinz.

Also, I wish Quizzy's was a little slower for the one with PDD, because I usually yell the answers behind him.

Also, the one with PDD is really good at Dr. Quack's Assitant, with my assitance of course. I yell "Bandage", "Ice pack", or "Medicine" behind him and he snaps right on it. He also "helps me" . I also hate to see him upset when he doesn't win Hamburger Cook.

Also, the one with autism, has communication problems, but at times he can express himself through Webkinz. He decorates his room and has his Webkinz walk around the rooms, and you can here him through his mumbling, making them "talk" to each other. He also brings either his Dalmation, German Shepard or Schnauzer or all 3 wherever he goes. The Wish List is also good for him, for he checks off what he wants and such.

I'm also going to use KinzChat PLUS to help the one with PDD be more social, and the Tournament Arena to help him be more of a good sport, and I'm going to PRAY that Webkinz will TALK more, because whenever the one with autism hear talking, he talks!

Also, the one with PDD LOVES the movie studio, or whatever that thing is that makes the movies. He really loves to make videos, but the only problem is that this movie studio restricts him.

Also, the one with autism can't log in at all, but the one with PDD can, but it takes him too long and this frustrates him.

So for Webkinz to be better for them, Webkinz needs...

Simplier Games
Longer Time to Answer Quizzy's Questions
And They Need to HEAR Webkinz Characters Actually TALKING to You More.

[LittleDog]

Originally Posted by lovehorses

I made a list below of some games that special needs kids may be able to play and what they teach for some of them:

Colors:
Fence Painting job
painting class at kinzville academy
coloring in wshop coloring book

Numbers:
line webkinz up in a row and have kids count them or make a pattern with objects and see if they can finish it or tell you what it is.

Matching:
where's wacky
shoe store clerk game

Keyboarding:
lunch letters

Life Skills:
Cooking on ww
being able to buy food from certain food group when told, Example: I want a fruit, Child buys strawberries.
Identifying needs and wants (print out pictures of some of the wshop items and make a T chart and label one side Needs and other side Wants and help them catagorize it, example: you need food, water, etc. you want: toys, books, etc.
brushing their pets teeth
bathing their pet
putting their pet to sleep
taking their pet to the bathroom on the toilet
identifying what clothes are appropriate for the pet for a season, ex. it is cold today should Fluffy wear a swiming suit? No Silly, that is silly! Should Fluffy wear pants and a long sleeve shirt and boots? Yes, yeah you did it!

being able to realize that when pet is sick it needs to go to doctor
simple questions in quizzy's

learning the names of rooms in a house
learning names of items that go in certain rooms
relating that when a bed is in a room it is a bedroom
when a stove is in a room it is a kitchen
when a car is in a room it is a garage, etc.
gardening and that plants can die if you don't take care of them
making a simple crafty critters craft
send a simple craft into crafty critters
draw a pic for ganz telling them how much they like webkinz

That is so awesome that you took the time and effort to list these activities. You are really kind!

---------- LittleDog added 6 Minutes and 27 Seconds later ----------

Originally Posted by Blackie_Lab2003

YES. I have two brothers, one with autism and one with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), and they both own 20+ Webkinz. I'd really love to see some seriously simple games, and I'd wish Ganz would fix the glitches faster, because these are the reasons why the one with PDD throws tantrums over Webkinz.

Also, I wish Quizzy's was a little slower for the one with PDD, because I usually yell the answers behind him.

Also, the one with PDD is really good at Dr. Quack's Assitant, with my assitance of course. I yell "Bandage", "Ice pack", or "Medicine" behind him and he snaps right on it. He also "helps me" . I also hate to see him upset when he doesn't win Hamburger Cook.

Also, the one with autism, has communication problems, but at times he can express himself through Webkinz. He decorates his room and has his Webkinz walk around the rooms, and you can here him through his mumbling, making them "talk" to each other. He also brings either his Dalmation, German Shepard or Schnauzer or all 3 wherever he goes. The Wish List is also good for him, for he checks off what he wants and such.

I'm also going to use KinzChat PLUS to help the one with PDD be more social, and the Tournament Arena to help him be more of a good sport, and I'm going to PRAY that Webkinz will TALK more, because whenever the one with autism hear talking, he talks!

Also, the one with PDD LOVES the movie studio, or whatever that thing is that makes the movies. He really loves to make videos, but the only problem is that this movie studio restricts him.

Also, the one with autism can't log in at all, but the one with PDD can, but it takes him too long and this frustrates him.

So for Webkinz to be better for them, Webkinz needs...

Simplier Games
Longer Time to Answer Quizzy's Questions
And They Need to HEAR Webkinz Characters Actually TALKING to You More.

You are an EXCEPTIONAL sister. There are not many like you that actually see what someone is experiencing, and try to help them get where they want to go. If you were my neighbor, I would make you something tastier than the snuggle muffin fantasy cupcake! You are absolutely right on about the games. I hate it when someone is trying so hard to play...and gets shut off because of time.

[Kinz Queen]

I find that Wacky Zingos is by far the easiest to do. You only have to click the left mouse button and you can click it anywhere on the screen. When my daughter was about age 3 and first started on Webkinz, she couldn't do much else.

Someone mentioned accessibility options. There are options on the computer to turn on voice. It will, I believe, read the lines of input and some of these programs will read aloud the hi lited text. If anybody needs help setting this up or finding it, give me a PM and I'll help. I also remember reading about such a program that will read the words on a website for the sight impaired. I'll go have a look and see if I can find that link.

Webkinz is a very useful tool for teaching kids all sorts of concepts. And I believe that the internet should be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. Perhaps we can ask for more accessibility options from Ganz if we find we need them.

[bennysmommy1]

A Friend of my daughters has a learning need and when they had 2 plyr games bfore they used 2 play rock paper scis. he likes wheres wacky. i agree the games need 2 b offered dif. levels. he loves to garden. what a great thread idea. congrats!

---------- bennysmommy1 added 7 Minutes and 18 Seconds later ----------

Love horses you really need to send your ideas in! that was really something. especially life skills and putting app. clothes for weather.would make a good game!