Autism and iPads
What is Autism?
Autism is a neurological disorder characterized by challenges with social skills and interactions, repetitive behaviors with a strong dislike of change, and difficulties with speech and nonverbal communication. Autism makes building social relationships very difficult and discouraging. Children with autism have a range of symptoms depending on the degree of autism; symptoms vary from child to child. One major characteristic of autism is that it does not discriminate; autism affects everyone.
WARNING: Just because a child has autism does not mean that they are intellectually disabled!
How Many Children are Affected by Autism?
One in fifty-nine children are affected by autism.
What are iPads?
IPads are like computers, but can do much more than a computer can do. IPads are portable; you cannot carry your computer in the car with you on the way to school. With an iPad, everything is at the touch of a screen.
Benefits of iPads for Children with Autism:
- iPads support individualized learning
- iPads allow for self-pacing
- iPads are generally predictable and organized
- iPads provide many accessibility features
- iPads can increase social relationships in-and-out of the classroom
- iPads are portable
- iPads provide the opportunity for children to express their emotions
- iPads offer many apps for the various needs of children
- iPads offer multiple methods for communication
Accessibility Features of the iPad:
- VoiceOver- tells you what is on the screen
- Magnifier- allows for text to be the desired size
- Facetime- beneficial for nonverbal communicators (sign language)
- LED Flash- you can see the phone ring
- Switch Control- a switch controls what is on the screen
The list goes on!
Reflecting on Autism and iPads:
Before watching this presentation on autism and iPads, I knew about accessibility features but I did not see the bigger picture of how they could be used to aid children with autism. To me, I see accessibility features as extras on my phone. Think about how much of a life-changer they are to children who have autism. I will definitely be using these in my future classroom. It is mind-blowing how something so simple can take children so far. In my future classroom, I will use iPads as not only a method of instruction and learning, but as a tool for children with autism to express their emotions and learn important skills that they were unable to build before. IPads have the power and ability to turn the lives of children with autism around.
All pictures are from Google and Pinterest!
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