Student with Autism Doodling

 

Student with autism doodling on a Jamboard. 

This activity helps in developing her fine motor skills and keeps her occupied so as not to cause disruptions in the classroom.

Students following Instruction to manipulate the device on their own

 

Student being encourage to follow the directions of the teacher by access different videos.

This activity ensure that the students is listening to the instructions of the teacher and following correctly.

Student with Autism following Instructions

 

The teacher of Robotics previously taught lessons to the students showing them how to follow directions using arrows. 

Student will autism being assessed to verify if understanding of the concept taught has taken place. This activity proved to be more engaging for the student. She was not interested in following the actual arrows that were placed on the floor but willingly followed on the device.

Student Using Arrows to Dress Grace for School

 

The teacher of Robotics previously taught lesson to the students showing them how to follow arrows to go in the correct direction. 

Students being assessed by the teacher based on the activities done before to see if learning has taken place. Students were able to recall directions and apply them when using the devices.

Implementing Specialtech Kidz

Specialtech Kidz was born out of a need to support differentiated instruction within my preschool classroom. This idea came about not because of children at different learning stages but because I have the privilege of being teacher to two students who have been formal diagnosed with Down Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder Level three.

The student with Down Syndrome is often very busy and likes to move away from the classroom continuously. Thus she usually causes a disruption in teaching and learning activities. She has little speech and does not speak in full sentences or coherently, however, she understands instructions most of the time. Her attention span is extremely short except for when she is being engaged with technology.

The student with Autism Spectrum Disorder has many changing moods and consequently some of these moods disrupt not only the teaching and learning activities but is sometimes frightening to the other students. She has little speech and often shows gestures when she wants something. She appears to understand instructions when given although she is not always compliant. She appears to have little patience when engaging in activities and even eating time. She is mostly engaged when placed in a position to view or operate a technological device.

The stake holders involved are mainly the teachers. There is one teacher who officially teaches Robotics to all the students in the school. Class teachers however, provide opportunity for students to be engaged in the online classroom. Parents are encouraged to support the use of technology in a positive way in their homes. Due to past experiences of devices not being returned to the school, it has been decided that the working tablets will remain on the school's compound to be used within the classroom setting.

St. Giles Nursery School

 

The St. Giles' Nursery School is a pre-school which has have the privilege of inclusive classroom for the past two years as some of the students are formally diagnosed.

In Barbados students are not usually diagnosed at such a young age but the child with Down Syndrome was born with those characteristics and hence a diagnosis was made. The child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was born in the United States of America and was diagnosed there with ASD. To date she still exhibits all of the characteristics used in her diagnosis.

At present students are being prepared for the course in Robotics. Hence, they have been learning directions using arrows.