REFLECTION

October 10, 2012

Tonight’s class opened with a discussion about “Competence”, “Communication” and the “Convergence of Technology”.  As we muddled our way through the definition of each of these terms it became evident that we, as educators, and as fellow human beings must presume that all individuals have competence, and a desire to communicate.  Fortunately with augmentative devices we have been able to help many individuals do just that, communicate.  However, since the introduction of devices such as the iPod, the iPad and the Tablet we have seen a trend.  This trend can be defined as a “convergence of technology”.  These devices provide one location that contains numerous applications which help communication, (text to speech, camera, video recorder).

As our class progressed we discussed the requirement for communication to take place:

1. A common language
2. A willing partner
3. Joint Attention

Without these ingredients, there is no communication.

Communication can also take many forms:

• Face to face
• Over the phone
• Body language
• Gestures
• Written     

Tonight we were introduced to a young lady named Carly who is Autistic and non verbal but desperately wants to communicate.  Fortunately for Carly her parents have been strong advocates for her and have done everything possible to enhance her quality of life.  There quest to help Carly led them to augmentative devices that have allowed Carly to communicate her thoughts, feelings, wants, needs and desires.

Check out the video below to see Carly's Story!

 

Tonight’s hands on experience introduced us to the benefits of Proloquo2go for the iPad.  What an amazing program designed as a multilingual Augmentative and Alternative Communication program from Apple for people who have difficulty speaking or cannot speak at all. The software also offers features for users with limited vision or learning disabilities.  After a brief tutorial by Barb we were presented with a case study and challenged to design a communication board using Proloquo2go.  Stephanie and I spent some time planning our project and will be hard at work next week designing the final product.

Check out the demo below to discover the benefits of this amazing program.

I am extremely excited to learn this program as I have a young gentleman at my school that is blind and non verbal.  He has some sign language skills and has used a Go Talk to communicate.  He also has an iPad to help build his communication skills and has tested out Quolopro2go with some success. I am delighted that I now understand how the program works and can see the future potential for his success later in life! 

 

Chow!