My students need a short throw projector for an interactive white board to access communication software.
$910 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
Imagine just for a moment what it would feel like to lose the ability to speak...
Then picture finding your voice again. Recent technologies have made that possible. We can, as teachers and therapists, now help students with communication disorders participate during classroom activities. Help us!
I work with about 50 high school students in a large urban public school.
According to federal law they have the right to attend public school and stay until their 22nd birthday. That means that I start working with them at age 15 and have them for 7 years. ALL of them have a communication disorder, which simply means that they express themselves differently than an "average" student. These are teenagers on the Autism spectrum, with down syndrome, developmental delays, specific learning disabilities, language-learning disabilities, fluency disorders and articulation disorders. Their needs range from hand-over-hand support all the way up to requiring only minimal resources.
Every single one of them deserves to have equal access to the curriculum. The days of forcing them to "perform" with a pencil and paper are gone. Why push them to learn in a way they struggle with? All of them learn better when appropriate technology is made available.
My Project
Taking the pencil and paper away from the child with a language learning disability is like removing the world from Atlas' shoulders. Think of a student with a disability as a person with handcuffs on being asked to hang wall paper. Then empower them, not by removing the cuffs, but by changing the task.
We spend far too much time in school asking students with disabilities to do what they are struggling with. Can't read because of dyslexia? We'll just keep asking you to work harder. NO! There is a better way. There is now technology available to speak for the mute, listen for the hard of hearing, read and write for the illiterate, and help learn for the developmentally delayed.
In our therapy sessions we plan to use an interactive whiteboard connected to a communication device. The students will be able to express themselves and participate in literacy tasks by touching the large screen. We need a short-throw projector so the image is not blocked when standing in front of the screen.
Johnny is non-verbal and cannot hold a pen or read.
He does have the ability to point to pictures and express himself. A projector and an interactive whiteboard, paired to a communication device, will give Johnny and his classmates a group language experience. He will start to access the curriculum, expand his vocabulary, contribute to discussions, and make his wants and needs known. He will have a VOICE!! He will be heard for the first time.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Freedberg and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
