Encouraging Communication for Students with Autism
My students need an iPad. Since the innovation of the iPad, children with autism have even greater opportunities to improve their communication, motor, and cognitive skills, enabling advancement in mathematics, reading, and writing.
$462 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.
My students are in K-5th grade who have special needs (e.g. autism, dyslexic, auditory and visual processing, intellectual disabilities, emotional disabilities, etc). As a whole, our region consistency ranks as an impoverished, neglected, and disadvantaged residential area of the city. The area is troubled by a disproportionately large amount of homelessness and crime.
Children who grow up here are less likely to achieve milestones that increase the likelihood of success in the future, such as graduating from high school and attending college, than kids who have never experienced poverty.
Poverty hits children hard on a number of levels, including being forced to move for negative reasons.
That instability can create a significant challenge for school success. Imagine leaving school at the end of the day and not knowing where you are going to sleep for the night. This is something that is not uncommon for these kids. My students need as much help and support as I can give them. Many of our students live with blended families in small apartments. When they get home they have to help take care of younger siblings. While their parents work 2 or 3 jobs to support the family.
My Project
The world for an autistic child can be full of imagination, rather than words. Using an iPad, an autistic child can create a sentence or even a story using a series of images. By doing so, the child can communicate with teachers, peers, and school personnel without frustration. Since the iPad is mobile, children with autism can take this communication tool wherever they go.
iPads offer portability and flexibly that a traditional PC or laptop cannot provide to a young child.
Since it utilizes a touchscreen, the iPad is more accessible for children who have learning or coordination difficulties. Most children who use the iPad find that tapping and sliding motions are much easier than typing. iPads can also go wherever the child goes, which means they have ways to calm, focus, and learn while on-the-go.
iPads are a great tool for education and communication. Since iPads have customizable options, the iPad can be tailored to the child and their specific needs, which make them more attractive than traditional learning devices. In fact, many children can master the use of an iPad faster than adults.
The iPad itself has a lot of benefits, but for the autistic child the iPad offers many distinct advantages: Portability; a direct touchscreen so no mouse or stylus is required, not having to move their eyes from a keyboard to a screen, Apps are easily organized, predictable, and accessible, Apps help break learning down into discrete chunks and topics, and a child can enjoy independent learning.
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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 Mrs. Salazar and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
