Welcome

Can you imagine what it is like to be 8 years old, autistic, and nonverbal?

Learning to communicate your needs and thoughts with language would be so frustrating and difficult.
Many of these frustrations stem from an inability to express themselves. When one of our students are hungry or thirsty, they can't tell us. If they are too hot or have an upset stomach, they can't tell us that either.
Even if they are happy and bouncing around the room, our students can't explain how they are feeling or why.

How can we best help our students communicate?

There has been quite a bit of news lately about the successful use of technology in classrooms across America.  We are not talking about video games or mindless busywork here, instead, a real and potentially revolutionary way to use computer technology to seriously transform the way our students communicate
and learn about the world around them.

The apple iPad provides students of all types with the ability to non-verbally communicate via a set picture based system that the student can arrange into a sentence that best fits their needs and thoughts at the time.  This enables the students who would usually avoid communication with others to interact more frequently and more successfully.  The communication system learned by our students can be used and improved upon throughout their lives and not just for this class. The device is easy to use and can be carried easily without being restricted to the classroom.

How can I help?

We need your help to make this work.  The most urgent need are donated funds for the purchase of the equipment.  We are currently raising money for the cost of the iPad devices and the supplemental material that supports each device.  Our goal is to purchase all of the devices (8 total) at one time and to implement this program soon after the 2010 Holiday Season.  We have partnered with DonorChoose.org for online donations and fundraising support.  I have used DonorsChoose in the past to great success and feel that they are best positioned to provide this fundraising project with the right focus and attention to our needs.

To donate, you can simply follow this link:
iPads for Ms. Hayden's class!

We have already received some great support from generous donations, is it your turn to help?  Yes it is :)

Two Lesson Plans

Recently, we were asked by a parent to describe a couple lesson plans that would go along with the iPad use in the classroom and we though it would make a great post for anyone interested to know more about how our class will use the technology to its full potential.

Picture Exchange Learning System (PECS)
This a communication system is used by students who have difficulty with their speech.  Pictures are used that represent a specific item.  For example, an apple would be represented as a picture and the word apple on a card.  The cards are arranged in sentence order (subject, verb, etc.) to express what the student wishes to communicate.  Directed instruction is used to help the student drill and review what they have learned.  Once a student has practiced enough they are able to formulate simple sentences on their own.  The use of iPads greatly expands the students ability to use PECS by replacing cards with pictures directly on screen eliminating the need to carry cumbersome equipment and provides an enormous library of picture/word combinations easy to use in a fraction of the time.

The second lesson plan involves an inquiry-based learning approach where the student is encouraged to use the touch pad to finger paint pictures of their own design.  Students use the iPaint application that comes with every iPad.  This exercise enables students to explore creativity without getting paint everywhere while at the same time developing fine motor skills in a fun and expressive way.

What are your thoughts, do you know of other ideas we can implement with iPads for our students?
Let us know and post a blog about it!  Thanks.