Other links

Here are some other links to sites that have to do with AAC devices or cerebral palsy:

http://www.computers-technology-cerebralpalsy.com/cerebral-palsy-communication.html
(Talks about what cerebral palsy is and what we can do to help students with it in the classroom)

http://www.closingthegap.com/
(This website publishes up-to-date articles about special technologies that are coming out for special needs children)

http://originsofcerebralpalsy.com/
(A site that talks about cerebral palsy and where it comes from)

http://www.acsw.com/
(A site of assistive technologies and other academic software)

http://www.mayer-johnson.com/
(A site where products and assistive technologies could be purchased)

Augmentative Alternative Communication Devices

I chose AACs (Augmentative Alternative Communication devices) which can be used by children with cerebral palsy. First of all, what is cerebral palsy? Well, it can do many things to a person. It can drastically affect their mobility, speech, and balance. Sometimes, control of the extremities can be difficult. Because it can be so hard for children with cerebral palsy to even just get around, things can become difficult for them in the classroom as well. For many, keyboards are not practical for them to use because control of the arms and fingers is very limited. As I'll talk about soon, some technologies are required for those who even have trouble speaking. Have you ever seen people in wheelchairs that have a sort of "robot" talking for them? That's just how AAC devices work.

AAC devices can work a few different ways. For those people that can use their upper bodies effectively, touch pads or mouses can be used to select a word or phrase that they are trying to say. These phrases are organized in a manner that makes it less time-consuming to speak something. For those with poor mobility of their upper extremities, switches can be used. What the computer will do is actually scan through phrases, and when the phrase desired comes up on the screen, the student can then hit the switch to stop the computer and open up more options. Once the sentence or phrase is crafted, the computer will speak it aloud. Even more headway has been made on this topic, though! Some AACs actually have cameras mounted on them, and when the desired phrase comes up, the student can blink twice for the computer to pick a phrase. The camera has infrared tracking devices to sense when a person blinks.

Obviously cerebral palsy is pretty rare, and it shouldn't be necessary for schools to pour out money for more devices than necessary, but technologies like this could be a real help for children that need these types of things for effective communication with others. Just becase kids have disabilities doesn't mean they have to be communicating with a specialist only all day. Devices like this could help a student on a regular homework assignment or on answering a question in the class.

What is special needs?

Children under the category of "special needs" is actually a vast spectrum. Special needs could mean anything from a minor learning disability to a severe mental disability. Food allergies, physical disabilities, as well as emotional disabilities also fall under this category. Children that are terminally ill can also be considered special needs. The idea is that a child classified as having special needs is a child that needs additional assistance when learning in the classroom. Since we know more about children with special needs, many types of assistive technology have come out to aid students in learning.

Assistive technology was not always around, however. In fact, many were not even aware of the magnitude that the number of special needs kids accounts for today. Probably the milestone that started assistive technologies though was Louis Braille's accomplishment of making a "language" for people who were classified as being blind. Ever since then, people have been aware that there are definintely special learners in our classrooms. As recently as 1988, though, the "Tech Act" was passed to get a formal definition of what assistive devices were and what they could accomplish. The Assistive Technologies Act of 1998 replaced this act later on; all sorts of assistive devices spring up as a result of it.

Something I actually found interesting when I was researching was that a "text telephone" was created so the deaf could have a way of communicating via the phone. I wonder if that's how the idea of texting on cell phones started?

Here's some websites I used:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-of-assistive-technology.html
http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?109