It's Not About The iPad Tool, It's About The Technique

In my last couple of blog posts I have been talking about how parents and educators can use the iPad to help students with Autism and nonverbal children begin to communicate. In my last blog post, I talked about how parents and educators can use the iPad to help children build auditory skills, which is a skill a child needs to have before they can begin to communicate. In this blog post, I am going to be talking about how it doesn't really matter what tool one uses to help teach a child, but the technique they use to teach it.

In the youtube video I watched, Lisa Luna DeCurtis, a speech/language pathologist, encourages parents and educators to use the following technique BEFORE deciding to use the iPad:

1) PLAN- One must decide why they are choosing to use the iPad and what it can offer the child.

2) PARTICIPANT- One must think about the age, or ages of the children they want using this device. What development level are these children at and what special needs, if any, need to be considered before using the iPad with them? 

3) PURPOSE- One must decide what they want the child to get out of using the particular iPad app.

4) PARAMETERS- One must think about how much time the child is going to need to spend using the iPad. The APA recommends that children under the age of 5 not spend more than 1-2 hours using the iPad.

5) POSITIONING- Do you want to sit next to the child so that both of you can look at the iPad? Or, do you want to sit face-to-face so that you can hold the iPad, and offer it to the child to use, but then it comes back to you. This allows you to bring the iPad up to your face so the child can see the app and your reaction to the app. 

6) PROOF- There is not much evidence-based research on the results of using iPad apps with special needs children. One must use "wisdom and discernment when choosing apps". How are you going to prove that using the app is going to help/is helping the child succeed? 

Student Perspective:

Students with special needs all differ from one another. What works for one student may not work for another student. That being said, a student would appreciate the time and thought a parent or teacher put in to thinking about whether using an iPad would be beneficial for them!

Parent Perspective/ Teacher Perspective:  

I think that both parents and teachers would have the same perspective when thinking about the technique of using a tool to help teach a child. I feel that both parents and teachers would want to take the time to follow the steps that Lisa has set up for them and make sure that they consider the child as an individual and make sure that using an iPad is appropriate for them and would benefit their learning!

Using an iPad to help a student with special needs seems like a no-brainer, especially after watching all the videos I have and hearing all of the success stories. However, I think it is important to remember that all the success stories you hear are about different kids, not the kid that you have in mind. This video relates to the classroom, because educators need to make sure that they are making AT (assistive technology) decisions based off individual needs!!!

To learn more about Lisa's techniques to figuring out if an iPad is an appropriate tool to use, click this link to watch her youtube video!!!