Sloan Brickey, 11, was a fourth grade pupil in an elementary school in Powell, Tennessee. She has Down syndrome and already sticks out enough in her school, according to her mother, Mrs. Kelly J. Brickey. So Ms. Brickey did some research and found a different solution: a list of applications for the Apple iPad that works well helping children with autism communicate.
Mrs, Bricky happened upon a tool that has made its way into schools in big numbers less than a year after its debut. But iPads and other tablet computers are more than a novelty for many students with disabilities, including Sloan with Down syndrome.They are tools that pave a fresh path to learning.A combination of Down syndrome and apraxia — a sort of disconnect between the brain and the mouth that results in slow or jumbled speech — makes it difficult for Sloan to form words that others can easily understand.
In the past, after a few unsuccessful attempts at making someone understand what she was saying, her mother said, Sloan was likely to stomp her foot and leave the room.
Now, Sloan is using a tool that attracts other students, has boosted her self-confidence, and offers a means of communicating in greater depth with peers, her mother said.
Using an application on the iPad called Proloquo2Go, Sloan can scroll through pictures or choose from phrases and sentences she uses often, and the computer speaks for her.
“She’s able to tell them about things she’s done on the weekend, like ‘I went sledding and I liked it’ or ‘I went out on the lake,’ ” said Ms. Brickey. “She’s never been able to do that.”
Tablet computers are useful for students with disabilities because some of the applications available for them easily and cheaply replace bulky, expensive older forms of assistive technology.
For children with poor fine-motor skills, the touch-screen design is easier to use than a desktop computer with a mouse or a laptop with a touchpad. The screen’s size makes the gadget user-friendly for students with vision problems.
“For a child who may be a little slower learner, struggling with reading, has an arm that doesn’t work, the [tablet-style] computer has all these modalities, sound and touch. The technology can compensate for the special-needs kids in a way that traditional media cannot compensate,” said Elliot M. Soloway, a University of Michigan professor of education as well as of electrical engineering and computer science.
The machines offer a sense of independence many children, especially those with disabilities, may never have experienced before.
“When you find something, you tend to remember it. That’s exactly what will happen: When the kids find it as opposed to being told it, everything changes,” Mr. Soloway said. “The technology makes it possible to shift the control, easily.”
Other advantages of tablets are their simplicity and the ease with which they can be customized, important for all students, but especially those with special needs, he added. The touch screens offer instant gratification for students with limited patience or those who can’t understand the connection between a mouse and computer screen.
With information from Manila Bulletin Online
