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Technology Breakthrough in Communicating with Autistic ChildrenAuthor: mom_to_one, 05 16th, 2008 CALIFORNIA – New technologies are helping autistic children communicate like never before. At the Pacific Autism Center for Education in Santa Clara, each morning begins with a Power Point presentation, launching a day filled with technology and a new type of autism therapy. Two out of every three students at the center are non-verbal, but thanks to a voice output device 12-year-old Alex is able to get the snacks he craves. Malique also uses the device to “talk” for him. “The largest benefit is the ability to give them a voice, gives them a voice that offers a breadth of options and the third benefit is the social interactions that come from having the ability to speak,” explained the center’s Kurt Ohlfs. Technology also makes communicating less cumbersome. Imagine trying to carry around a book with pictures of everything you wanted to convey in a day. Now the students have all that information at their fingertips; 21-year-old Daniel is using a more advanced, hand held device that offers him a menu with hundreds of icon options. He selects the ones he wants and the computer talks in sentences, conveying his thoughts. “It’s amazing when we’ve given some of this technology to our students and it’s opened up that door and now the students are surprisingly prolific when it comes to expressing their thoughts,” said Ohlfs.

Emerging technologies hold great promise for teaching and learning

Whether it be researching and creating spreadsheets with data, generating graphs or charts, or creating Web scavenger hunts, ideas abound for using technology in your social studies class today

Teachers giving computerized tests were unaware that students were instant-messaging one another across the room.

the school district chose to start an educational campaign. High school drama students created public service announcements that aired during morning announcements emphasizing the dangers of sharing private information online and the permanency of this information for college admissions counselors and future employers. Classes were offered for staff, parents, and the community, educating them on how kids are using technology and how they can talk to them. They saw immediate results; student postings online were suddenly more appropriate, teachers proactively worked to prevent misuse of technology, and parents and adults from the community attended classes and began discussing technology use with their children.

www.MediaWise.org (Dr. David Walsh)  www.WiredSafety.org -Parent Guide and contract www.NetSmartz.org- great student scenario videos www.InternetSuperHeros.org www.ConnectWithKids.com DVDs available www.Cyberbully.org www.TeenAngels.org   www.McGruff.org/ProblemSolver/webSafety.htm www.iKeepSafe.org  (Adventures of Faux Paw the Cat- good for younger kids)

Improvements in users have included greater levels of engagement with other people, for example, improved communication with their peers. Teachers and parents have also noted that the children develop a better relationship with their school routine and improve their performance in mixed ability classes.

Education 2.0

Other programs for children already offer that "walled garden" approach to the Web. But LeSieur's browser aims to go further: It essentially takes over the computer and reduces the controls available for children like Zackary, who finds too many choices overwhelming. For example, the Zac Browser disables extraneous keyboard buttons like "Print Screen" and turns off the right button on the mouse. That eliminates commands most children don't need anyway, and it reduces the chance an autistic child will lose confidence after making a counterproductive click. Children using the Zac Browser select activities by clicking on bigger-than-normal icons, like a soccer ball for games and a stack of books for "stories." The Zac Browser also configures the view so no advertisements or other flashing distractions appear.

As students observe their world in creative ways, they can utilize technology to record their explorations. They publish what they have seen and learned so that others can collaborate with them and share experiences.

they can harness the web 2.0 technologies to share their experiences with a larger, global audience

The boy has autism, and the whirlwind of options presented by PCs so confounded him that he threw the mouse in frustration. more stories like this

EXAMPLES OF THE READ/WRITE WEB IN ACTION

Children with autism are often visual learners. They often have poor fine motor skills, and writing is often a chore. Their math and language arts skills are often at different levels. They often learn routine social interaction behavior from observing others or through explicit instruction. Children with ASD need a highly structured education plan.  

This was on my mind as I took the leap and created my Facebook profile. The blogs I keep allow me to have a minimal profile; I had the option to fill in a few more details on the personal profile I keep on Facebook. These are decisions that every educator using these technologies has to make.

"Participants also referenced the appropriateness of the content teachers provide. Typical responses included: 'Don't put anything about politics,' 'I wouldn't give out too much personal information or stuff you think your students might make fun of you about,' and 'Be cautious what people put on your wall. Know that your students can see it and be careful what perceptions you are giving'" (12).

what makes an angle, the parts of an angle, and how to name rays

The choice of activities and exercises, adapted to the level of acquisition and emerging abilities, will depend on the assessment. It is these exercises which will have to be integrated into a computer programme. A great many exercises, which are well adapted to the specificities of the autist's learning difficulties, already exist. Computerization of some of these exercises could be quite easily undertaken. One could also look at existing educational computer programmes for exercises, which although not specifically developed for autistic people, could very well be of an appropriate level and which do not, above all, present any disconcerting characteristics for autistic people. It is, moreover, in this category that the highest number of computer experiments may be found. Finally, teachers could also invent new exercises which make specific use of the progressive animation and integration capacities of several of the new tool's sensorial modes.