Main Take Aways From Class #2

The first main takeaway from class #2 that I would like to discuss is the website Understood.  This website gave a stimulation fo what is like for children with certain difficulties such as reading, writing, and behavior issues. You pick a grade level and an issue and then a child will give an example of what it is like to have that issue from their perspective.   Then you get to experience through an activity (the stimulation) what is like to be someone with that issue. After the stimulation, a professional will give you suggestions on how to help that child o that certain issue. I picked a kindergarten-aged student with writing difficulties. I found listening to the child explain what it was like the most interesting and heartbreaking.  Children generally don’t express their thoughts and feelings that much in Kindergarten because it is such a new concept for them. So it really affected me to hear what someone with writing issues may feel like. 

The second take away from class #2 is all the accessibility features that I learned about on an iPhone or Ipad.  I did not realize that there were so many features that could be used.  Most schools have iPads to be used, however, from my own experience, I do not feel that most personnel at schools are aware of all the accessibility features they have at their fingertips every day. It is definitely something I will be bringing back to my colleagues. 

The third takeaway is all the apps and websites that Barbara showed us.  They were all good and new to me. Some were for older students but there was a lot that I would be able to use in my classroom.  One thing that I loved about the apps and websites that I learned about during class #3, was that they would benefit all students. 

Critique of Take the Pencil out of the Process

“Fair is not giving everyone the same thing, fair is giving people what they need.” 

The article titled Take the Pencil Out of the Process written by Leslie Broun discusses the difficulties that children that have been diagnosed with ASD may face when it comes to written output, especially with printing and writing. It goes on to discuss that it is not unusual to go into a classroom and see students who struggle to produce legible print. Broun states that many children have difficulties with the physical printing and writing process.  The article goes into detail about the concerns of motor impairment with children who have autism.  Some of these concerns include hypotonia and apraxia. Although motor dysfunction is not required for a diagnosis but is considered a “soft” sign by many researchers.  According to Broun, studies have shown that for a student with ASD, difficulties with handwriting can underscore all areas of academic participation and that early substitution of the keyboard for students experiencing difficulty will help with graphomotor skills. Broun’s article continued to discuss the importance of the use of computers in the classroom, not just for students with ASD  as a UDL tool; the implications for using a keyboard for nonverbal students and strategies for using a keyboard. 

I really connected with the article because it was a conversation that I had had with several colleagues in the last several years.  My first experience with handwriting difficulties and a child diagnosed with ASD was when I taught in a Kindergarten classroom last year.  The little boy would have major meltdowns when it came to printing on paper with any type of writing utensil.  I had many conversations with his mom, IRTS and the guidance counselor to try to come up with a solution.  The guidance counselor had told me that she had also experienced this in other children diagnosed with ASD but did not have a reason for it. We had discussed using technology but being in a small school with little resources, it was hard to come up with an actual plan on how to implement it. This article answered so many questions and supports a lot of the observations that I have relating to the correlation between ASD and handwriting.  I will definitely be using the information provided by Broun to implement various technology in my classroom and not be so concerned with the fact that children have to learn to write with a pencil and paper.  Her suggestions were very straight forward and put me at ease in implementing a keyboard in the class.