The educational system has not always been kind to students with special needs. Although they deal with a lot more than their peers, their needs have always been ignored. Technology advancement is changing all that and bridging the gap between all students, disabled or otherwise.
Special needs students have a hard time adapting to the current education system. Equality in education, however, has been a pipe dream for many institutions. Bridging the gap between different demographics such as the poor students, rich, disable and mentally ill has yielded little fruit. Progress has been made in this area, but a lot of students are still disadvantaged when it comes to access in education, tutors and education materials. The most affected students are the special needs students.
The struggle that special needs education undergoes differs greatly from the rest of the students. While the other students struggle with new interactions, making new friends, trying to absorb new information daily and interaction with teachers, special needs students are exposed to a lot more than that. They have to deal with all the struggles other students experience plus their medical condition.
Special needs students interaction with technology
Special needs students are expected to learn at the same pace as other students. This is what the educational system requires. Testing and evaluation are standard across the board with no consideration of neurological conditions that are most that special needs have. They do not care about the developmental conditions of these students such as autism, ADHD and dyspraxia. Physical conditions are also ignored in administering education in these schools.
The solutions to this predicament, however, might just be in the technological boom that we have been experiencing. The learning experience is now being improved and the outcome is significant using the assistive technologies (AT). Teachers and other education stakeholders are now adopting these new methods in handling their interaction with the special needs students. This is a work in progress but it promises a more equal learning delivery and opportunity for all students.
A good example of this AT hardware is the iPads. They have an integrated system that is enabling them to assist visually impaired students in navigating the system. This is being done by the iPad speak selection capable of highlighting a section of text to read aloud to students.
The premise of these devices and technologies is the equality in the learning experience, where if they will be deployed correctly, they will greatly improve on the learning process experience.
Physical barrier is also overcome, some special needs students may have difficulty in viewing board. The text is brought closer to them.
Effective communication is also an item which is improved. Students can express themselves better using the technologies.
The future is bright for these students. With the ever technology industry, we expect that the special needs students will be at the forefront of being a direct beneficiary. Such technologies, if used correctly, will completely solve our current problems with the education system.
