iPads providing a voice for disabled children
Teachers in Darwin say they're having huge success with a program that helps students with severe disabilities to communicate through iPads. Some parents have expressed concern the technology may hinder vocal development, but the teachers say they're seeing the opposite.
Source: The World Today | Duration: 4min 27sec
KIM LANDERS: School teachers in Darwin have tapped into a new way to help students with special needs communicate.
They've raised money to buy iPads for children who have a range of serious intellectual disabilities and minimal speech.
And they're finding the technology is drastically improving the students' communication skills.
Clare Rawlinson has this report.
BEV GRACE: Yeah, with me, that's right, so you get your iPad and you come over and get my recycling.
CLARE RAWLINSON: Caitlin Campbell is 14-years-old, but because of severe verbal and developmental disabilities, she can only speak a few short words.
BEV GRACE: So knock on the door.
BEV GRACE: Hello Caty.
IPAD VOICE: Hello.
CLARE RAWLINSON: With the help of her teachers at Darwin's Henbury School for children with special needs, Caitlin has started communicating through her own iPad.
IPAD VOICE: Can I have your compost please?
BEV GRACE: Sure, here you go.
IPAD VOICE: Thanks.
BEV GRACE: Okay.
CLARE RAWLINSON: Caitlin is one of dozens of students at Henbury who have adopted iPads, and so far, teacher Bev Grace says the results have been overwhelming.
BEV GRACE: Because she is almost non-verbal it allows her to ask for the things that she wants.
CLARE RAWLINSON: And has Caitlin picked it up pretty quickly, because it involves a bit of moving between different screens?
BEV GRACE: It's taken a little while for her to remember from day to day, but mostly she's picked it up and she's fine now. We just remind her each time we're going to do our job that that's how she has to use her iPad and then she's fine.
CLARE RAWLINSON: What was it like before she had this iPad, how would she do things like go and collect the compost?
BEV GRACE: We didn't do it or someone else would speak for her.
CLARE RAWLINSON: What's your name?
MARIA NISTAZOU: Maria.
CLARE RAWLINSON: Maria. What have you got here?
ANA PETHICK: iPad, Maria.
MARIA NISTAZOU: iPad.
ANA PETHICK: Good girl. Okay.
(iPad makes barking noises.)
MARIA NISTAZOU: Dog.
ANA PETHICK: Dog, good girl.
CLARE RAWLINSON: Fifteen-year-old Maria Nistazou is another student with severe developmental disabilities and speaks only a handful of words in English. Teacher Ana Pethick explains.
ANA PETHICK: She moved over to Australia from Greece at the end of last year. We're using the iPad with her as a tool to learn some language and for interaction with other students.
(Sounds of Maria singing, sounds of iPad Tomcat repeating)
ANICA CORMIE: So that's actually taught her turn taking, at the start she didn't wait for the cat to speak back.
CLARE RAWLINSON: Teacher Anica Cormie.
Ana Pethick says the use of iPads has changed the scope of possibilities for the futures of severely disabled children.
ANA PETHICK: In particular speech development and communication were the two things that we got really excited about. There's lots of fantastic applications in particular for augmentive communication.
It's called Proloquo to Go and it's a fantastic speech app, which allows students to press on the tiles or on the screen and communicate.
So for students that - we have lots of students who have receptive language, so they understand what you're saying but they can't communicate their message across. So they might have three or four words, yes, no, maybe, home, mum, those types of things.
CLARE RAWLINSON: Could use of the program though and the iPad be seen to in a way prevent any further development of vocal skills?
ANA PETHICK: That's something our parents you know at times can be quite concerned that they don't want, but what we've seen is the complete opposite of that. We've actually seen their language develop.
We think it's because they are practising; you know, they are using it and it's being said and they often say it directly afterwards and they're becoming more confident because they can practise.
If it's important for every student in this school to have them then they will, it's just a process of rolling them out.
CLARE RAWLINSON: Kate Martin teaches one of the classes where every child has an iPad.
KATE MARTIN: So this is Jonathan and he's showing us how to use his iPad in the morning for community circle. Jonathon do you want to show how we use the, how we do the date in the morning?
IPAD VOICE: Hi. Bye.
KATIE MARTIN: And into our school, and we need to do our date.
IPAD VOICE: Shopping List. Community circle. Days of the week. Today is Thursday.
CLARE RAWLINSON: He's very fast.
IPAD VOICE: Date.
KATE MARTIN: Yeah he definitely knows what he's doing.
CLARE RAWLINSON: Jonathon you're right on it.
IPAD VOICE: Later Alligator.
KATE MARTIN: You've finished talking have you?
IPAD VOICE: Goodbye.
KIM LANDERS: Teacher Kate Martin, ending that report from Clare Rawlinson in Darwin.