My kids with autism just want to talk! I am a speech/language pathologist in a high poverty school and work with K-8 who have autism. Most of my kids can understand far more than they can say and are very frustrated with their lack of speech.
My kids love to learn through interesting characters and stories such as "Where the Wild Things Are" but have difficulty answering or asking questions, making comments or talking with other kids about the story. Our school does not provide electronic communication devices for the children, so their ability to communicate is limited to pointing to pictures from communication boards I have made.
"itouch" has a new application that has proven to be successful with children who have autism. The application is called "proloquo2". This application is available through itunes and can be downloaded on the itouch. The child can use this application to talk with others and ask and answer questions by simply touching the pictures on the itouch and it talks for them! It is significantly less expensive than typical "communicators" that can run into thousands of dollars and are big and bulky. These are only available through a long process involving medical assistance, so most children do not receive these devices. Every child wants and needs to express themselves, and more importantly, deserve to be able to talk with their friends and teachers.
By supporting this project, you will be making it possible for several children to be just like all the other kids; things like asking a question, telling about their day or saying "I love you" are simple things we take for granted. My kids struggle with saying even simple words and phrases but still want and need to express themselves. Thank you for making a huge difference in their lives! Kids just want to talk!
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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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. Wilkens and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.