"I Have Something to Say"

In her article, Marla Runyan describes the use of iPods, iPads, and other tablets when helping students with disabilities have a voice. There is an app available called Proloquo2Go which gives students a picture accompanied with a word or phrase that helps them communicate what they want or need. The picture above shows the same concept but in paper form. Runyan explains how easily this app can be customized to fit individual students' needs. My mom has been working with children with learning disabilities for almost thirty years now and has been using the same technique but using laminated pieces of paper (similar to what is shown above) instead of an app. I have sat in on my mom's classroom when students are using these. To me they seem to be extremely helpful when young students with autism have not yet found their voice. It is amazing how, although these students cannot speak, they form sentences together to express their thoughts and feelings. While on the app it can speak the sentences that are formed, when used in classroom the "old school" way, the teachers and teachers' aids can speak the sentences they form which will give students more of a face-to-face connection. Runyan goes on to talk about all the features of this app, which include having one symbol represent an entire sentence or how you can organize things by categories.

As wonderful as this app is, one problem is the accessibility of the iPods or iPads. Some schools may have the budget to provide this kind of technology for their students, but what about when the students go home and their family doesn't have that kind of device? As I mentioned above, my mother's classroom has a binder full of different cards with words and pictures on them and velcro on the back of the cards. On the front of the binder are multiple strips of velcro so the students can grab a card and place it on the cover to indicate what they want. This is definitely a more inexpensive way of using the same concept. This would be great in a classroom where a child with a learning disability may have had to be integrated into a regular paced classroom. Said student may have a better way of communicating with their mentor (most students are accompanied by one when placed in classrooms like these), other peers, and even their teachers.

The ISTE NETS standard I would say fits best with this article is standard two: Communication and Collaboration. This article applies to this standard because with said app, students with disabilities can communicate and form sentences and express themselves through technology. This may also help students when sharing ideas or sharing information or bits of knowledge they wouldn't have been able to share before.

Runyan, Marla. (2011) I Have Something to Say. Learning & Leading with Technology, 39(1), 32-33. Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201108#pg34