week 2: Assistive Technology

I really enjoyed looking over the resources for this week. My favorite section was on assistive technology in special education. I work at a school with children with autism who every day use assistive technology. As shown in all the videos that I watched iPads have become a major part of special education. Listening to the parents talk about how the iPad has made such a big impact on their children was really heartwarming. Children with autism that are nonverbal have a hard time expressing how they feel, and every day I get to see hands-on how much these children rely on iPads. I had students in my classroom who recieved an iPad as a trial and it has completely changed the way we communicate with them. Before they receive their device there always very frustrated and would act out because they couldn't let us know what was bothering them. Even though according to the resource there is not much research that can strongly conclude the significance of the iPad in the classroom I believe that one day there will be. Working in schools with children with Autism it's so clear to see how much of an impact the iPads have had on these children. Sure the iPad is a relatively new device but it has helped restore communication between the child and the person they wish to talk to. The ipad is a voice for non-verbal children and I can only imagine the sigh of relief they feel when they are handed this device that can finally express what they have been trying to say.

Technology is advancing so quickly but it is also having a giant impact on children with special needs. As educators we have to make sure that we're constantly learning about technology in order to assist our students. We need to embrace the changes and advances of technology in our classrooms because they will not only be beneficial for us but her students as well.