Months ago, I said I'd give away an iPad here, paid for with a fee I'd received for attending a salon on social media for social good. This seems like a fine time to give away an iPad 2 to a kid with special needs, along with a Proloquo2Go speech app. The folks at Care.com—a place for finding caregivers for kids, parents, pets—have generously donated another iPad and Proloquo2Go app (I've done work for them). So we will have two iPad winners.
The iPad and Proloquo2Go have opened up Max's world; he's been able to communicate in ways that he never could before. Right now, I'm working with his speech therapist at school to add sentences. Here's Max using the app for his favorite topic of conversation, spaghetti (what else?), and what his best bud likes to eat:
Each winner will receive:
• One iPad 2 16GB with Wi-Fi in your choice of black or white (valued at $499).
• One Proloquo2Go speech app (valued at $189.99).
• One iPad Smart Cover in a color of your child's choice, based on available colors ($39).
To enter to win an iPad, leave a comment below about how you believe an iPad and Proloquo2Go speech app could benefit your child. No need to get into detail, just share what you want.
Each winner will be asked to provide a letter of need from a speech therapist or doctor in their child's life. The letter from the therapist or doctor must include her qualifications and contact information so that he or she can be called to verify that, indeed, the recipient is a child in need of an iPad and speech app.
This giveaway is open until Tuesday, Aug 9, 2011 at 11:59 ET. It is open to U.S. and Canadian residents 18 and older.
RULES OF ENTRY
• Valid email address required. I need that so I can reach you if you win, as my ESP is not up to speed. So if your email is not visible on your blog, you will need to leave it wth your comment. If there is no email, your entry is disqualified.
• One entry per family, please.
• No entries accepted past the deadline.
• Other blogs and sites are doing iPad giveaways for children with special needs, including a4cwsn and Mission iPossible. If you happen to win an iPad both here and elsewhere, I respectfully request that you voluntarily bow out of one so another child in need can get an iPad. Think: karma.
WINNER DETERMINATION
• I will choose two winners via the website random.org within 24 hours after the giveaway is closed, and this post will be updated to include screenshots from random.org of the winning comment numbers. I will email the winners at that time.
• If I do not hear back from a winner within seven days, another winner will be chosen.
• If a winner does not produce a letter from their child's speech therapist or doctor within two weeks of being informed of the win, another winner will be selected.
GETTING THE IPAD/APP/SMART COVER
• Each winner's iPad and Smart Cover will be ordered within one business day after I confirm information with the child's therapist or doctor. The iPad and Smart Cover will be shipped directly to the winner. The arrival dates will be based on Apple's estimated arrival time.
• I will email the iTunes code for the Proloquo2Go app directly to the winners.
Word, the IRS requires that you report winnings from sweepstakes.
Good iLuck!
UPDATE: THE WINNERS
After narrowing down the qualified entries and counting them, I selected the winning comment numbers via random.org. The winners of an iPad, Proloquo2Go and Smart Cover are Sandra (#117) and Kristine (#41).
The winners have been notified by email, and have two weeks to send in a letter of need from a doctor or therapist.
This couldn't have been a merit-based give away because all of our children deserve iPads and speech apps. The comments here are so moving; I've read and reread them. I wish I were Oprah and I could say, "Everyone, look beneath your seats!" For now, I hope you will enter the iPad giveaways on other sites, and encourage your school districts (if your child is school-age) to consider getting your child an iPad and speech app. I also hope that others who read this blog now understand just how much of a need there is for iPads for kids with special needs—and can find ways to help. I will be thinking on more ways to get iPads into the hands of kids who could use them. Thanks again to Care.com for their generous donation.
Photos/foguenne and frecklesandpurls
