WAP 7 Assistive Technology

         Having never been in a classroom before, I struggled with this practical. I know that in my future classroom, I will work with students who have different needs and assistive technology can help my students get the most out of their time in school.  I decided to use this practical to explore options for students with autism or communication disorders. 

    Looking through programs that I could utilize in my classroom, I came across an application called AutisMate. This program allows the user to make custom interactive scenes using pictures of people or places that the student interacts with on a day to day basis. When students click on various items in the scene, it gives students the tools to communicate verbally or to use the application to communicate for them. This application is also capable of creating a schedule with visual aids to help students complete daily routines, responsibilities, or activities. 

    This application is useful for students who are  verbal and non-verbal.  For students who struggle socially to communicate, this can provide them with social cues or questions to ask in social situations. This can help students who struggle to interact with their peers to begin to connect with other students in the classroom. One good thing about this application is that files can be created within files to help students continue a conversation. So once students ask a question, they can click on the folder to help students further the conversation with more questions or statements.  Students can even record their own voice asking the questions if they are verbal.  

    One way I can see this application being useful is on the playground. If I had a student with autism who was verbal but struggled in social situations playing and interacting with their peers on the playground, I would use AutisMate to help them talk to their peers about items on the playground. I would program the different playground items such as the slide, swing, etc. so that students could ask their peers to participate in those activities with them and describe how they feel about the activities (ex. that was fun, that was scary, let's do it again, etc.).  I would observe my student in the playground and take notes on any additional interactions I need to add to the image to improve my student's ability to communicate with their peers. I would check in with my student weekly to see how the student likes the application and address any issues or make any changes the student would like. 

    In order to successfully role out this application,  I would introduce this application in the beginning of the school year. I would first create a high interest board for my student on something they are interested in.  For example, Minecraft. This would allow my student to become active and engaged in the application while still learning how to navigate through the menus. In a few weeks, once my student understands the application, I would then create scenes of the classroom and playground. I would navigate through the menus with my student and stay with my student while they learn to use the application during the first week.  The next week, I would have my student then practice using the application with a peer who works well with others and likes to be a helper. Having positive interactions while using this application will make the student want to use the application in the future. I would take notes while this interaction is occurring to see what works and what doesn't work so that I can make adjustments as needed. 

    One downfall is that it requires a lot of time to program the application. It also requires the person programing the application to predict the social situations and interactions that this application would be useful for. There may be points in the day where students cannot communicate using this application in a way that they need to because they are limited by what is programed within the scene. Not being able to communicate in the way they need to may make students frustrated. 

   This application is very versatile and can be useful in games, academics, morning meetings, questions and can even provide students reminders of appropriate verbal interactions. I can see this being useful in many aspects of the classroom for many students.