Meeting the Needs of our Students with Autism Using iPads/iPod Touches (Sept/Oct 2012) (TLLP 12/13)

Shortly after the school year started the people involved in our TLLP project came together to talk about the project and the role(s) they would play in helping our students learn and demonstrate their learning. I was responsible for this meeting and it was my pleasure to speak to the three Educational Assistants involved, the two Classroom Teachers, our Special Education Teacher, our Vice-Principal, and our Principal.

I now find myself doing the "work" before the "work" - searching for applications (apps) that mesh well with the curriculum expectations that the teachers have chosen as part of their student's Individual Education Plan (IEP). It is a painstaking task, but also a very rewarding one. Let me provide you with an example.

One of the Mathematics expectations in the Measurement strand for our grade two student revolves around her ability to match money (coins) using visuals. There are many apps about money (coins) but they are all American and that is not going to help when we are responsible for teaching Canadian currency. Nevertheless, I have found an app and at the next stage - downloading them to the devices and trying them out - we will have to see if it is good enough for what we are looking to do with it.

On a brighter and more rewarding note, I was reviewing our grade 5 student's Science and Technology IEP page (I find myself constantly reviewing the IEP's of the students participating in the project), and realized that the expectations listed are about the human body. I then searched for "Human Body" apps in the iTunes store and found two apps that appear to be relevant and interesting.

Next steps involve downloading the apps to the devices and meeting with the Educational Assistants who work with our three students. It is very important that they feel comfortable enough with the devices and the apps so that they can spend their time/energy assisting the student and documenting their observations.

I look forward to the initial feedback that comes from the first encounters with the devices. I am eager to have our students in the "driver's seat" and look forward to the ride!