Transcript The use of ICT as an augmentative and - ITU

The Egyptian Society for Developing Skills of
Children with Special Needs - “ADVANCE”
ADVANCE
Society
License 4646/99
Ministry of Social Affairs
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Presenter
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Maha Helali graduated in 1982 from the Faculty of Economics
& Political Sciences, Cairo University.
Maha left her post at UNESCO in 1996 to establish the
Learning Resource Center in Cairo.
In 1997, the Egyptian Society for Developing Skills of Children
with Special Needs (ADVANCE) was inaugurated and Maha
was elected Chairman of the Board.
In December 2004, Maha was elected as the Coordinator for
the UNESCO "Education for All" Consultancy Committee
meeting for NGOs for the Theme of Special Needs Education
for the Arab Region.
In 2006, Maha was recognized by the American University in
Cairo for her efforts in advocating special needs persons.
In 2007, Maha was nominated as an Ashoka Fellow by the
Ashoka Foundation to support her mission of including
persons with Autism in the Egyptian Community.
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ICT and People with Disabilities
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Over 10% of the world's population suffer from a
variety of disabilities. However, information and
communication technologies (ICTs) have the
potential for making significant improvements in the
lives of these persons.
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Disability and handicap do not refer to the same
issue. The term disability summarizes a great
number of different functional limitations occurring
in any population in any country in the world.
Sometimes these disabilities are due to reasons
such as wars, earthquakes or other similar events.
People may be disabled by physical, intellectual or
sensory impairment, medical conditions or mental
illness. Such impairments, conditions or illness may
be permanent or transitory in nature.
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The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities
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Convention 9 states:
“Parties shall take appropriate measures to
ensure to persons with disabilities access,
on an equal basis with others, to the
physical environment, to transportation, to
information and communications, including
information and communications
technologies […] both in urban and in rural
areas.”
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Children with Communication & Interaction Difficulties
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Children may have communication and interaction difficulties
for a range of reasons. They may have autistic-spectrum
disorders, sensory or physical impairment, or speech and
language delay. Their difficulties may arise from general
learning difficulties or specific learning difficulties such as
dyslexia. The communication difficulty may be in the area of
writing or speech.
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When we work with children with communication difficulties,
the priority becomes to find a way for them to “speaks” with
us. The term Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC)
describes different ways that people with disabilities
communicate with each other. This system is a replacement of
speech or man additional support to speed up the
communication process or make parts clearer. Some use
symbols or pictures or photos which can be presented on a
chart, in a communication book, or on screen. However, as
language becomes more complex, there is a need for a tool that
can also describe more abstract ideas to better communicate.
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ICT becomes the perfect solution.
Communication Difficulty in Speaking
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Seek advice on whether a VOCA (voice output
communication aid) is needed. A VOCA is a device
that stores speech that can then be used for
communicating. There is a wide range of VOCAs. The
simplest has just one recorded message that you
activate by pressing it, while the most complicated
have many areas, each with a different message, and
several layers of messages.
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Investigate the benefits of using a sound-activated
switch. This can encourage children to vocalise.
Using suitable software and blowing or speaking into
the microphone, they can change a picture on the
screen or create patterns in response to their voices.
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Communication Difficulty in Writing
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Some of the ICT devices that can help
with written communication.
1.Portable dedicated word processor
2.Portable computer
3.Desktop computer
4.Hand-held spellchecker
5.Speech recognition system
6.Overlay keyboard
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Communication Difficulty in Interaction
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A computer can offer some learners with autism a
successful channel of learning on which they can
focus without distraction. It can also offer the means
by which teachers and other learners can join them
in their focus of interest.
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Mind-mapping software has proved a useful tool for
dyslexic learners and, now that it is becoming
commonplace for deaf learners to take written
examinations, they too have to plan and carry
through larger-scale projects. Some packages take a
different approach to thinking and planning
techniques, with learners using visual organisers,
webs and mind maps to help them to keep track of
what they are doing.
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Computer Software in Arabic to use with Children with
Communication Problems
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Project: "Speech Viewer III", Arabic Version
IBM company designed this program to help people of all ages
who have a variety of disabilities, such as speech or language
impairments, cerebral palsy, developmental delay, traumatic brain
injury, and speech disorders resulting from a stroke.
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Super-Owl Eagle-Eye Kalkmonster
Hunziker Multimedia in Switzerland has developed three important
CD-ROM titles for children: Super-Owl, Eagle-Eye, and
Kalkmonster. These titles work well for children who need help with
listening and auditory training, Super-Owl provides a whopping 30
games with two difficulty levels. This software allows special needs
teachers to diagnose and train children in various listening skills
including important differences in pitch, rhythm, timbre, and
sequence.
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Al Nattiq
Nattiq Technologies L.L.C. specializes in speech related products.
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Babil 4.0 - Software Development Kit
Babil is a high-quality speech synthesis engine that 'speaks'
words smoothly, using a tailored time-domain diphone
concatenation algorithm, allowing for a naturalness far
exceeding previous methods, in terms of segmental quality and
fluidity of speech. Babil has been released in Arabic.
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PocketBabil 3.5 - SW library
PocketBabil is the embedded text-to-speech version of Babil. It
is a software only system that requires very few hardware
resources in terms of memory and computational load. The
PocketBabil is the ideal speech solution for portable devices and
embedded equipment, and has been released in Arabic
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Text To Speech (TTS)
By Sakhr Co, this TTS engine converts any Arabic/English text
into a human voice.
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ADVANCE and Autism
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ADVANCE program started in March 1997 as a diagnostic
nursery offering an educational program for children 2 – 6
years old, in addition to specialized therapies according to
each child's needs.
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In 1998, and with the increase in demand, the parents united
together and established the Egyptian Society for Developing
Skills of Children with Special Needs, "ADVANCE", a non-forprofit social organization registered with the Egyptian Ministry
of Social Affairs under number 4646/99.
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Parents were joined and supported by a group of
professionals, as founders, to help provide for those needs.
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The program focuses on children with AUTISM as 80% of our
enrolled students have autism and other related disorders.
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Our Vision
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As we become parents our children become our greatest
hope and our most vital priority. We honor our commitment
to their future by providing them with the best we can offer
to help them reach their highest level of independence.
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Parents of children with special needs face greater
challenges in providing their children with the necessary
services to help them confront their handicaps, reach their
potential and enjoy a high quality of life.
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They are still children, but with differences that might have a
name.
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We have therefore set our aim to provide special needs
children and adults with a wide range of life span remedial,
educational, vocational and rehabilitation services
necessary for them to proceed towards independence and
better integration within the community.
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AUTISM
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Autism is a serious developmental,
life-long disorder affecting at least
1 in 800 children in the Egypt. It
has no known cause or cure.
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It affects a child's ability to learn so
profoundly that in the absence of
special education most will
regress, remain unable to
communicate, with no eye contact
or speech; it can lead to severe
behavioral problems including selfinjury.
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However, with intensive education
these children will be enabled to
participate more fully in society.
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AUTISM
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Communication and language
problems are a major feature of
autism; over 50% of autistic people
do not develop meaningful
communicative language and most
autistic people have problems with
other forms of communication.
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Autistic people are often easily
distracted and have poor
organizational skills. They can also
find it hard to deal with abstractions
and are easily obsessed with details.
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Abnormal motor patterns are often
observed and some people can have
extreme reactions to sensory input,
reacting strongly to some stimuli,
such as sound or light.
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ICT can provide help in many different
ways, among the obvious being with
communication and motor difficulties.
However it should always be born in mind
that the computer may reinforce or provide
a vehicle for some of the less desirable
tendencies of autism.
In fact one description of autism describes autistic people as having,
among other problems, impaired reciprocal social interactions and
restricted behaviors, a description that could be used for some
computer enthusiasts!
Given the range and degree of problems that can occur with autism it is
difficult to describe some computer software and resources as being "for
autism". It is better to know and understand a child's needs, consider the
range of ICT resources that are available and match them, if possible. It
can be helpful to consider the different ways that computers can be used
and how they can be adapted to support special educational needs. 15
Our Experience of ADVANCE of using
ICT with Children with Autism
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Recording and writing
Word processors are commonly used to
record written work. Some children will
find it is easier to record using a computer
than by hand writing and will benefit from
using a standard word processor. Others
may need or gain additional benefit from
extra support with recording. Programs
such as Inclusive Writer, Clicker 5 and
Writing with Symbols 2000 can provide
additional support for writing with onscreen word/picture banks.
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Motivation
A neat printed copy can be more
satisfying than poor handwriting. Mistakes
can be more easily corrected. Speech
feedback can help with motivation and
checking work.
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Cause and effect and early interaction
Software can be used to help children develop
a concept of cause and effect. Simple input
devices such as switches and touch screens
along with suitable software can encourage
interaction. Children may then be able to
progress to more complex tasks using a
computer. Care needs to be taken as some of
this software could encourage repetitive
actions and interaction with a computer could
be isolating.
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Communication
Computers and other ICT devices such as
electronic communication aids can be used to
support children who have communication
difficulties. The computer is an ideal way to
work with symbols and pictures. Sound, both
"real" and synthetic can be easily used along
with symbols and pictures to create
communication tools.
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Teaching computer skills at ADVANCE
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There is a computer in each class that each child uses,
either with their 1:1 support if necessary or alone,
sometimes as reinforcement, and an ICT curriculum is
currently being developed at ADVANCE.
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The first level of the curriculum is Basic Skills. A majority
of the children are able to access this level
independently. These programs focus primarily on
mouse skills - clicking, moving and dragging. A long time
is often spent focusing on clicking and moving the
mouse, so they understand the effect they and the mouse
are having on the computer screen.
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Once the above tasks are mastered, the children then
move onto other tasks. These involve matching, speech
recognition, memory, sorting and painting. After this the
ICT curriculum divides into the following areas, language
and literacy, mathematics, science and creative skills.
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Using websites
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As well as software programs within the school,
many of the children enjoy websites. Some of
their favorites include Cbeebies, Bear in the Big
Blue House and Thomas the tank engine.
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These are generally used within free time as a
reinforcer for good work and behavior. Here
they can try to generalize the skills they have
already learnt.
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Websites act as a great reinforcer as the
children are learning with characters they know
and love from television, comics, books and
toys.
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The benefits of computers
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I. C. T. is an essential part of the a child’s day
program.
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As well as generalizing learnt skills, it is a great way
for the children to be independent.
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Many get a lot of enjoyment out of printing their work,
going to the office to collect it from the printer, and
then either putting it up in class or taking it home.
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Once at home it is also an independent skill they can
use, whilst freeing up their parents during busy times,
for instance making dinner or looking after other
children. It is work they enjoy, that brings its own
rewards.
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What we need?
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More Arabic software
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Research Funding
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Subsidizing communication
equipment to be more affordable
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Awareness
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