This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
As a speech-language pathologist at a title-one, Autism Spectrum Disorder cluster elementary school, my students are all very unique. Each of the students that I service receive all of their academics in Autism units with similarly-disabled peers to facilitate their participation in the curriculum.
My students are all incredibly different and special and require a little extra support in order to ensure success in the classroom.
Many of my students are nonverbal and all of my students require speech and/or language therapy. While all of my students are extremely different, they all have the desire to be heard and understood.
This is my first year working in exceptional education as a speech-language pathologist and I never imagined I would fall in love with it the way that I have. Building relationships and learning about all of my students and their families has made more of an impact on me than I ever would've thought was possible. These amazing, exceptional, incredible kiddos have changed my world.
My Project
iPads are truly revolutionizing speech and language therapy. Utilizing an iPad during therapy opens the doors to many new activities that would target the communication needs of my students. Incorporating an iPad into therapy would be hugely beneficial as it would allow me to have many different materials/activities prepared at any given moment all in one place. This is so important when working with students with Autism, many of whom lack focus and struggle to maintain attention on a single activity for any length of time. Having the option to switch between apps and activities opens the door to higher levels of engagement during therapy. Having many materials in one place is also very helpful as a push-in therapist who has to carry therapy materials across campus to different Autism units throughout the day. iPads are portable, easy to use, and user-friendly, making them the perfect tool to use in the classroom.
Utilizing the iPad and interactive apps as a therapy tool will prove to be engaging for all students within the classroom.
Many of my students are highly motivated for technology within the classroom and most are already proficient with tablets and chrome books.
The App Store offers a huge variety of speech and language related apps including augmentative and alternative communication style apps which will be beneficial to the students on my caseload who are nonverbal.
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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 Ms. Croll and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
