Goally--has anyone seen/tried this?

[PeterPan]

I can see where it would work for a family that uses school, but what about the all day of homeschooling? It looks really good overall and like it might interest a number of us here...

https://goally.co/pages/user-videos  

And right now they have a flat price, no subscription fees deal going. I think later that will change.

https://goally.co/products/189-goally-lifetime-plan-spring-break-special

[mamashark]

I took a look but I'm not sure it's better than the solution we came up with. We bought an ipod for our son this winter and use the choice works app for it. I realize that with this choice he has "competing" options for his device, as the goally website discussed, but I was also able to put music on that is calming, give him the white noise app for sounds that he can choose from to listen to, ibreathe app for calming, the time timer app, and Breathe kids for some other calming strategies. I minimize what is allowed on the ipod and he doesn't get games, no matter how educational they may be. It's purely a therapy tool.

We did spend some money on all of that, but I feel like it can grow with him better than the goally app. And I really like the flexibility of the choice works app. I modify it all the time for things we need to get accomplished and it gives him some say in the order he does things in, we will work together to get his school subjects and breaks in as he would like them, which helps with compliance. It also has the schedule change lightening bolt, which in a few situations has helped in a big way when we had big shifts in our schedule unexpectedly. AND I like that I can take pictures of his work and use pictures that have more meaning for him. (Like a picture of his bag that he needs to pack, or the book we will read together on any given day)

 

[PeterPan]

Ok, I'm off to look at that choice works app! The Goally has a 45 day return, so I guess we'll just see what it's like. I *think* maybe they developed it with cognitive impairments + ASD in mind, and it could be, like you're saying, that it's not open-ended enough to go as far as we need to. That's an interesting point about timers and working with timers. We'll see how far the Goally goes. They're saying they want to make a version for education as well, so I would think they'd have to bring in some of those features. But what you've done sounds great, definitely!! 

Calming music is a good point too. I need to think through that. I'm not sure we've found something for that yet. The people who work with him will use music sometimes. I'm sorta behind on all the ideas. When my dd was this age she did kind of a taster with an OT, found out what was calming for her, and she just took it over. Ds is the same age and I'm having to drive everything. Does your ds drive it for himself or he doesn't understand all that? My ds has been much later on EVERYTHING. Like just using a dvd player, several years later, using a remote, everything. So doing it for himself isn't on his radar yet.

I think that's why I wanted to try this, because I need something that is more in the thought process of that ASD2-3. Ds is total mental entropy. Even having separate apps won't work, because then it's still back to me. This developer is claiming it will just whizbang let him do things for himself, and at that point that would be really nice, sigh. But I'll go look at choice works. Hadn't heard of that.

Edited May 13, 2019 by PeterPan

[mamashark]

30 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

Does your ds drive it for himself or he doesn't understand all that?

Great question - I let him play with the apps a LOT when we got them. Like I broke all my screen time rules so he could just mess with it and he thought it was awesome. My theory was that he could then learn what he liked and what he didn't. And no - he doesn't drive it often for himself when he needs to. And when I tried to use sound the last time he was throwing a big fit it backfired on me big time, so I'm still figuring out how to use it myself. But, I want him to know that these are options that people use, all the time. I point out people wearing headphones in public every time I see someone, so he realizes it's totally normal to put music on and walk around daily life. He uses it some, not as much as he could benefit from it. 

I like the time timer app because we have time timers at home and we use them for transitions all the time so I wanted to have that with us when we are out too. And this way it's the same exact look.

Right now, the choice works app is really the most beneficial thing on it. He can and does use it independently once the schedule is set up. The visual of what will happen is very helpful, and it is motivating. There are days when all I need is the app in front of him to get everything finished for school. Other days I have to bring out the marshmallows or something else, but we all have off days.

[PeterPan]

ChoiceWorks is good stuff! I think I want something a little more, so I'm still feeling good about at least trying the Goally. Ds was really buying into the idea of a personal assistant, and I think that's where Goally is going. It has timers built in and I think maybe stops for interoception checks. We'll see. Their return policy is pretty strong and the look is appropriate for him. We used the boardmaker type visual schedules when he was younger. He doesn't really want to be told what to do, but tech that helps him be *independent* in doing things would be a big deal to him. He really latched on right away, so I guess we'll see if Goally lives up to what it's saying it can do. Goally is saying they can build in the reinforcements, motivators, etc. and remove the parent from the process. We'll see. That's where we're at now. I can create structures and he can do things. It just needs to be between him and himself whether he brushes his teeth or takes his vitamins, not between him and me, if that makes sense.

[kbutton]

Update us if you are going to use it for a while. My younger kiddo could really use something like that maybe. The Choice Works looks good too, but it appears to be only on the ipad if you want the calendar version. 

[mamashark]

yes, let us know what you think after you've used it! It might be something that I look into later when I'm ready to build more independence in routines... right now it's wholly appropriate for me to be the intermediary between my 6 year old and him taking his vitamins and brushing his teeth. 😉 

[PeterPan]

59 minutes ago, kbutton said:

Update us if you are going to use it for a while. My younger kiddo could really use something like that maybe. The Choice Works looks good too, but it appears to be only on the ipad if you want the calendar version. 

I don't know when they'll change prices, but I think they've set it up to be a subscription model. This was in kickstarted last fall, beta tested, so I think they're keeping it low just to get more people in, more word out, like Mighteor did. So right now they're waiving subscription permanently, but I suspect in the future that will change. And with the 45 day, it could be easier/cheaper just to buy for yourself. 

I'm not sure if it's *flexible* yet. I think MS's point about taking your own pics was a good one. For me, getting locations and orders of things into the schedule is important. But he can also work with language, sure, doesn't have to be pictures.

Well we'll see. I'm working on the office and it's making me sneeze. I think I finally, finally figured out how to get him to use a break room, haha. I'm gonna put all the legos in there! Bwhahahahaha. I'm so bad. But seriously, I'm so tired of the way my living room floor looks. I think it will work great.

[mamashark]

if you haven't purchased it yet, I saw today that it's 40% off for a summer sale.