Networking, Adaptive Technology, and Disabilities: Four Students at Nathan Hale

At Nathan Hale our Special Education department has used a variety of technological innovation, combined with Internet access, to enable students who are challenged by disabilities. Four of our students are discussed here.

Eric has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk or write. He also has difficulty speaking clearly. But through the use of assistive technology, he can access all aspects of a computer. Eric presses a switch with his head which causes a series of letters and characters to move across the screen. When he sees the letter he wants, he presses the switch by his head once more. The selected letter then goes into his document just as if he had typed it with his hands. This technology allows individuals with severe disabilities to access all aspects of a computer.

Because this process is slow, Eric has other special software to help him. He uses a predictive word processor which helps him to type more efficiently. When he begins to type a word, this program shows him a list of words that it "thinks" Eric intends to type. When he sees the word he wants, he just chooses it from the list. In this way, the program effectively finishes Eric's word for him, saving him a tremendous amount of time and energy in the process. Eric also uses a text-to-speech word processor which speaks whatever text is on the computer screen. If Eric is reading a letter from a friend, not only does he read it with his eyes, but he can listen to it with his ears as well. This helps Eric a lot because he is visually impaired and can't always look at the computer screen easily.

Eric has an Internet account on the Nathan Hale server and is able to communicate with people throughout the school, as well as throughout the world. For example, this network connection gives him direct communication with the school nurse and the counselor at the Teen Health Center; two people who have had significant involvement with Eric's challenges. Since Eric's speech is often difficult to understand, this has been especially valuable to him.

Eric has a class of friends in Ohio that he's been writing to for almost a year. He is also a member of two email groups which are designed to serve the needs of people with disabilites world-wide. Eric receives letters each week from people all over the world. He's very excited about exploring the possibilities of the Internet, and hopes to get a modem this year so that he can use the Internet from home.

Bryan is another Nathan Hale student that uses special technology to help him overcome a disability. Bryan has limited movement in his arms and is unable to type. He uses a voice recognition system which allows him to enter text by speaking into a microphone instead of using a keyboard. Bryan has used this system to write articles for the school newspaper in his journalism class. He also uses a mouse with an on-screen keyboard. An on-screen keyboard is a picture of a keyboard on a computer screen which has letters that can be clicked on with a mouse. Clicking on one of these letters performs the same action as typing on an ordinary keyboard. Bryan also has an account on our Hale server, and is using voice recognition and the on-screen keyboard to explore the rich offerings of the Internet.

Kong has mild cerebral palsy and doesn't need special technology to access a computer. His main difficulty is that he is still learning English. He is experimenting with technology to help him with this process. Kong can download a staggering variety of articles using his Hale Internet account. To help him understand the articles, Kong has dictionary software he can use while on the Internet. If he doesn't know the meaning of a particular word, he can simply select that word and the computer will give him an instant definition. Kong also has a personal dictionary that will translate an English word into Chinese. In addition, Kong can hear an article using speech-to-text software that will read it to him out-loud. If Kong wants to use these tools to help him read an article from an ordinary magazine or newspaper, the article can be scanned into the computer using OCR (optical character recognition) software. Kong is very interested in computer programming and hopes to have a career in this field. He has just finished writing a computer program which teaches aspects of English grammar.

Priscilla also has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. Although she can access the computer using an ordinary keyboard, she is using voice recognition as a means to combat fatigue which she experiences when she types. She enjoys the freedom that our building's Internet access provides her. This technology allows her to " go to the library" without leaving her house; a convenience that is especially appreciated when one has to deal with a wheelchair. She also likes getting to know others throughout the world, and exploring other countries via the Internet.  In addition, her visual impairments are ameliorated by reading online text which has been enlarged on the screen.

(The above article was "spoken" into a computer using Dragon Dictate.)

 

TOP OF PAGE