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7 months, 1 week ago by Chris |
Time, perseverance, consistency, record! It’s been a while since anyone has posted here so I thought I’d just share a quick something! A colleague and I have been working with an individual with complex difficulties on the Tobii eye gaze system. My colleague has been recording each session and last week we collated the video evidence. We were amazed to see how much the individual had progressed. We have been concentrating on allowing the individual to experience the eye control with simple cause and effect activities and then working up to simple choice making between two on-screen options. Initially we felt that the eye gaze would not be a viable option for the individual but through my colleague’s (and the individual’s) dedicated and consistent work over the past five or so months we are excited to see that there is a real possibility that the eye gaze system could be a functional communication and IT tool for the individual. Hang in there! |
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3 months ago by lety |
Hello Chris, my name is Lety and I have an autistic non verbal son who is 7 yrs old. he is using PECS and sometimes he points or takes you to what he wants. I read an article on bbc website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18694168 . I have been thinking about using Ipad and proloquo but the school and NHS S&L therapist are reluctant as they think he is too young. and he needs to learn how to navigate...My husband also thinks that if we introduce him now, it might prevent him to try to talk. I feel that we need to start the process. Any advice or tip would be welcome.
Many thanks.L |
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3 months ago by Chris |
Hi Lety. Thanks for your question. I would suggest that until your son has a full communication assessment that you look at other activities on the computer that require picture based navigation and choice making. Your son could work towards gaining the skills necessary for possible AAC at a later stage. I would recommend something like MY Zone and other similar activities with a touch monitor or Windows based tablet device – see description from Inclusive Technology: “MyZone helps children and adults with learning difficulties to find things on the computer. It features large buttons and simple navigation. Use MyZone to create personal workspaces. Provide individual ‘zones’ for each learner to give them easy access to their programs, activities and games”. Please let me know if you require more assistance |
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3 weeks, 1 day ago by toast |
Do you think it is too confusing to be trying with different things at the same time with someone with PMLD? Like my daughter has switch adapted toys, a switch / usb adapter on pc on which she plays games like Happy Duck / a Big Mack and an iPad which she loves and we are really using for cause / effect games. Would we be better doing less switch stuff and focusing more on the iPad - especially as we have less time now school has started back? TIA |
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3 weeks ago by Chris |
Hi Tia That’s a very good question and one that can divide opinion. In my experience it is very dependent on the individual and the nature of their difficulties. It is my opinion that at an early age, the more learning opportunities and variety of experiences a child can experience the better. From what you have described it sounds like you are working on a variety of cause and affect type activities with your child, with slight variations on the method. This variety should help to reinforce those cause and effect concepts. It can however, be important to keep the language used as consistent as possible across the activities when supporting your child. So as for moving between switch activities on the computer, switch toys, a Big Mac and an iPad, I would say this is absolutely fine and would encourage it. It is worth checking with the professionals working with your child in school for specific targets they may be working towards so that you can work on these concepts at home. |
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1 week, 2 days ago by Chris |
Hi all We get a lot of visitors on this forum looking for advice on all sorts of technology. I have responded to a lot of posts regarding iPads and touch screens (please keep the questions coming), but there are many other types of assistive technology available that can change someone’s life and offer them a means to greater independence so I just wanted to offer some topic suggestions. I have recently been using a head tracker with individuals, where they use head movements to control the mouse pointer. This coupled with the latest incarnation of Clicker 6 is a fantastic learning and literacy tool.
Switch accessible IT resources are great activities for individuals who have physical access difficulties but also for able-bodied individuals who require extra support with the sequencing and processing of IT based tasks. Used with the right software, switches can enable a support worker or teacher to break down an IT process for an individual such as accessing and using the internet into more manageable steps. Of course, skills learned on a computer can also be transferred in to other areas of assistive technology to enable someone to make use of environmental controls or voice output communication devices for example. Windows 7 has some pretty nice accessibility features and voice recognition software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking allows a person to give commands and create written work on a computer by speaking to it. There is now a Dragon Naturally Speaking app available on the iPad which I will be trialling very soon. So some things to think about there and as always, please feel free to post questions… |
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