Today was my first class of my Masters in Inclusive Education. I must say that I am truly looking forward to this class. Our introduction today has certainly caught my attention and is making me really look forward to the class content.
I will take a step back before continuing on about today's class. When I think of AT I think of communication devices but this is far from the truth. Reading the first article before we began classes gave me much to think about. Assisstive Technology can be anything that will help a student (person) function in their everyday lives. It does not have to solely be an electronic device nor does it have to be only for communicating. I am glad I read this article first so that I was able to open my mind to many other support devices.
During our first class we had the privilege of watching a video titled "Autism is a World" by Sue Rubin. This was an amazing video that gave us the prospective of an adult with autism and how she perceives the world and how she feels people perceive her. The fact that she was able to communicate using the keyboard without very little educational training goes to show just how much she took in over the years even though people around her did not see that she had the potential to learn. I would have to wonder how much training it took for her to learn to use this device and the persistence her family and support workers must have had to work toward this goal of communication. It was evident that she had a very strong support network that believed that she was capable of learning. Even watching her in her university classes she didn't look like she was paying attention but could answer the questions asked by the professor.
The other side that we see of Sue is her autistic tendencies that she continues to have. She knows that she looks silly carrying around spoons but it is her security and makes her feel safe. She also has other behaviors that she does to help her relax and regroup (water and spoons). One thing that I found interesting is that her support staff did not try to eliminate these autistic tendencies but allowed her to have times throughout her day to with draw into her world.
The other thing we talked about today was how some students were supported in the classroom using the I pod touch. I would have never thought that this tool could be so useful. We had the opportunity to see different students and how they use the I pod in their everyday use. I think this opens up many new opportunities for students to better communicate with their peers. I can see this being a very useful tool for many students. I look forward to trying out the many different apps to see how it will benefit a wide range of students.
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