Home PublicationsL&LIssuesVolume 26 (1998-1999) May (No. 8)

Making It Work

Using Technology in a Classroom for Young Children with Multiple Disabilities

By Barbara Pratt

Technology can do wonders for students with special needs. Barbara Pratt describes how technology has improved her students’ development in many areas and how it has improved her teaching and time management.

The use of technology greatly enhances the curriculum of the Developmental Learning Program (DLP), a Cape Cod Collaborative Program that provides educational and therapeutic services in a substantially separate classroom for nine young children who have multiple disabilities. The students are developmentally delayed and have limited abilities to communicate. The classroom curriculum is developmentally based using a total communication approach. Not only has the language development of the children been greatly enhanced by the use of computers, but also significant gains have been noted in social-emotional, cognitive, and physical development, and the children have had opportunities to become independent and to learn through active exploration and play. There are a number of activities where computer use helps not only the children but also the staff as they go through the daily schedule and activities.

Figure 1. There are many ways that technology can be integrated into the curriculum and computers used in a classroom not only for individual and group activities but also for acquisition of various developmental skills and for providing independent work and play times, to help staff with completion of paperwork, and to inform parents of daily progress and upcoming activities. The ideas and suggestions given are based on actual classroom experiences that are geared to enhance individual and group lessons leading to increased skill levels. Activities meet a variety of needs as shown in the developmental triad (see Figure 1) addressing language and cognitive skills as well as physical and social-emotional growth. Examples of how parents are kept informed of activities are also discussed.

Adaptive Technology

Communication and language activities can be augmented using Boardmaker to develop a picture system for young nonverbal children. Boardmaker is a communication display maker developed by Mayer-Johnson Co. and is available in both Mac and PC formats. It is a graphics database containing more than 3,000 picture symbols that can be quickly and easily pasted into communication displays, added to any desktop-publishing program, or used to make worksheets, reading books, and posters. Additional sign language libraries are also available.

Figure 3. A favorite topic board in our classroom is used to choose songs during morning circle time (see Figure 3). These picture symbols can also be placed on a talking communication device allowing children to point to and hear what they have selected, or the symbols can be placed on a topic board without voice output. Attaching the pictures to the board with Velcro allows children with limited ability to point; students can take the picture they want and show the class what they want to sing. This type of picture exchange allows the children in our class to make their needs known in many situations. Pictures and symbols are placed on walls or furniture in strategic places (e.g., “drink” on the refrigerator, “toilet” near the bathroom, or “coat” near the closet).

These same pictures and symbols are also added to favorite books to help develop literacy by making story time more interactive, enabling even nonverbal children to be heard as they help “read” the story. The children participate by placing picture cards on the correct page of the story or by matching the cards to a topic board. By adding pictures and symbols to talking devices such as CheapTalk or BIGmack, children are able to actually “read” part of the story. These devices are relatively inexpensive and can be easily programmed—simply record the appropriate phrase or phrases. The children press the communication board to hear the recorded text, and the teacher reads the rest of the book. We also use BIGmack to take messages to the secretary or other teachers.

In a total communication classroom, sign language picture symbols can also be added to the stories; this helps staff or children who have limited signing ability to learn more sign language and be able to “talk” or “read” to children who need to use sign language. Books are chosen to develop a variety of concepts (e.g., counting, colors and shapes, animals and their sounds, actions, etc.) and can be integrated into all curriculum units. During inclusion activities, the children with disabilities have opportunities to interact with their peers by sharing stories, and the children without disabilities learn new ways to communicate whether by sign language or picture.

Figure 4. Children who do not have the fine motor skills to use the mouse or regular keyboard can now access the computer. The overlays are adapted for each child’s ability level; some may need only one or two choices while others may have many—pictures or letters and numbers are also used (see Figure 4). Overlays can be made for any activity and any software program using Boardmaker, Intellikeys Overlay Maker, or both. If a custom-made overlay for commercial software (e.g., SoftTouch’s Five Little Ducks and Best of Kidtech) is not available or there is an interest in cutting expenses, an overlay can be made by taking a picture of the computer screen, copying this into a draw program such as AppleWorks, and adapting the pictures to customize the overlay.

Intellitools also makes Intellipics, picture software that helps young children learn colors, animals, picture names, and counting. This talking program can be customized for individual children and has wonderful pictures, sounds, and movements to develop not only language and cognitive skills but simple cause-effect, visual skills such as tracking and scanning, and fine motor skills as the children learn to isolate the index finger and point to Touch Window or Intellikeys. Children can explore and have fun finding objects and also can match or find what is requested when the program is set to question-and-answer mode. Young children or children with limited motor skills do well pointing to a touch window placed on the monitor rather than using the mouse. Many young children do not easily look from keyboard to monitor and need this direct select before learning to use a keyboard—even one that is adapted. And we all know the mouse is tricky to master! Children like to work together taking turns and sharing as they activate the various programs whether using single switch, touch window, or Intellikeys. Attending, fine motor, and cognitive skills are developed while children learn to wait, take turns, and interact in a social situation. Pairing picture cards (made on the computer) to what is seen on the monitor turns many activities into a game situation as the children work on picture matching and identification. All these activities are exemplary of the developmental triad linking communication, cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development as the children explore and interact with much independence. We have seen children learn to share and take turns as they develop skills. We have also seen children gain fine motor and visual-perceptual skills as well as better head control.

Adapting Regular Technology

Using single switches, touch windows, and adapted keyboards, much of the commercial software currently on the market for young children can also be used to enhance this triad of developmental skills. A favorite software program in early childhood classrooms is Reader Rabbit Toddler. This program provides motor skill development and eye-hand coordination using direct select with touch window to teach cursor control either by pointing or using the mouse. Cognitive and language skills developed include matching shapes, finding animals, identifying animal sounds, same and different, visual tracking, simple counting, and choosing favorite songs and activities. Edmark early childhood programs such as Millie’s Math House and Bailey’s Book House provide fun activities while teaching basic preacademic skills; this series also has scanning for single switch users (the scan option allows the program to highlight and move from one area to another until the user sees what he or she wants and presses a switch using any part of the body to make the selection). The switch takes the place of the mouse click. Bailey’s Book House teaches beginning letter recognition and word skills. Millie’s Math House helps develop number recognition, counting, patterning, and telling time. Both programs have ability levels—exploration and identification. Although not every activity within a particular software program may be appropriate for every child, as teachers become familiar with software, they will be able to choose the most appropriate activities for each child. Using the adapted keyboards with overlays, all the children can access portions of each program.

Getting the Technology

Many software companies have free demonstration versions or will give schools a 30-day trial period to decide whether the software is appropriate and can be integrated into the classroom curriculum.

Here in Massachusetts, we have software and technology libraries such as that at Massachusetts Elementary School Principals’ Association in Marlborough where teachers can try out assistive technology devices and software. In addition, schoolwide assistive technology teams are being trained in various areas of the state. These teams will have software and equipment that schools and teachers can use for trial periods. The teams will be available to assess students to help teachers determine the best technology.

Benefits

Using computers in the classroom also helps teacher and staff with individualized educational plan (IEP) management and providing parents with information. Parents enjoy knowing what their children do in school. Nonverbal children are not able to share this information easily. Using a daily newsletter (which can be developed using a spreadsheet and importing photos, art work, and pictures and symbols from Boardmaker) has provided the DLP with an ideal way not only to let the parents know daily news but also to have a group activity for the children to provide closure to the school day. Sequencing, picture identification and matching, and reading are some skills to be developed by sharing the news through the hard copy. And, a slideshow created in AppleWorks, PowerPoint, or Kid Pix is an exciting way to present the daily news. The children enjoy advancing the slides and sharing the news. The hard copies that are sent home can then be “read” to the parents. Parents are encouraged to make this a daily home activity with children finding pictures by pointing or even eye gaze (simply looking at a picture to indicate a choice) to tell what happened at school. When parents visit the classroom, children can show a slide presentation telling about a particular day’s activities, showing photos of the children at school, demonstrating art work, and so on.

Monthly newsletters and activity calendars also provide parents with news of activities and general information. These can look very professional when designed using computer software such as Printshop or AppleWorks. In addition, reminders and notices about inservice days or field trips need to be sent home and are quickly available if a computer is used.

IEPs must be developed for every special needs student. Using word processing and templates, it is time saving to have evaluations, student profile information, goals and objectives, and service delivery saved to the hard disk with a backup copy (just in case). The information can be reviewed and updated as needed saving much time generating this paperwork. In addition, daily schedules and staff assignment information is made easy with computer-generated forms. Checklists can be made to keep track of individual progress. The paperwork ideas are endless and forms can easily be updated when necessary.

Conclusion

In the DLP, computers save time by allowing teachers’ paperwork to be more professional looking and more easily generated. They also provide motivation, a multimedia approach to repetitive tasks, and many inclusion opportunities. Children attend better, are more motivated, and more quickly develop the skills listed in the developmental triad. Although computers are only one part of the curriculum for children with multiple disabilities, technology will continue to play a necessary and expanding role in the classroom activities, and teachers will continue to explore and share new ideas to make learning as exciting as possible so all children will continue to develop to their maximum potential.

More information about the classroom and some of the activities mentioned in this article is available by visiting the DLP Web site at www.massed.net/~bpratt. This site not only gives information about the classroom and suggestions for activities, but also provides links to the Cape Cod Collaborative and the Memorial Elementary School.

Resources

The American Sign Language Dictionary and Boardmaker are available from Mayer-Johnson Co., PO Box 1579, Solana Beach, CA 92075-1579; 619.550.0084; mayerj@aol.com.

Bailey’s Book House and Millie’s Math House are available from Edmark, PO Box 97021, Redmond, WA 98073-9721; 800.691.2986 or 425.556.8400; www.edmark.com.

Best of kidTECH and Five Little Ducks are available from SoftTouch/kidTECH, 4182 Pinewood Lake Dr., Bakersfield, CA 93309; 805.873.8744; jomeyer@aol.com.

The BIGmack talking device is available from AbleNet, 1081 Tenth Ave. SE. Minneapolis, MN 55414; 800.322.0956; CustomerService@ablenetinc.com.

For more information about the Intellikeys adapted keyboard, Intellipics, and Overlay Maker, contact Intellitools at 800.899.6687 or 415.382.5959, or visit their Web site at www.intellitools.com.

Kid Pix, Kid Pix Studio, and Printshop are available directly from Brøderbund
(www.broderbund.com) or at your local software retailers. Contact Brøderbund at 800.474.8840 or 800.548.1798 for more information.

Reader Rabbit’s Toddler is available from The Learning Company’s online store
(www.shoptlc.com) or from a local software retailer. For more information, call 800.685.6322 or 617.761.3000.

Touch window and accompanying software are available from Keytec, Inc., 800.624.4289 or www.magictouch.com.

Barbara Pratt (bpratt@massed.net) has been teaching young children with special needs for 24 years. Barbara is mother of six and grandmother of five. She has a daughter who is totally blind and a daughter with Rett Syndrome. She taught first grade before having her children and became interested in special education when her own girls were diagnosed. She is currently enrolled in a Master’s program at Lesley College, and she will soon receive certification as an Educational Technology Specialist.

Dr. Joan Thormann (thormann@mail.lesley.edu) is L&L’s special needs editor and a professor in and codirector of Lesley College’s innovative technology in education program. She taught students with special needs in public and private schools. She wrote Literacy in a Science Context (ASCD, 1996), a technology-based curriculum for inclusive classrooms. Phone her at 617.349.8387 or fax her at 617.349.8169.

Copyright © 1999, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.