Special Needs Cildren

In word processing researchers have found that students are more willing to revise and explore the writing process on a computer because it is so much easier to deal with. This allows for more time focusing on the writing process, rather than editing.

Word Prediction software allows children with learning, communication, and basic motor disabilities to use forms of expression that they would normally give up on because they are either too complicated or demanding.

There are also the obvious technological breakthroughs that make teaching disabled students easier. Machines that clarify the speech of someone with a communication impairment, or machines that help deaf or blind students communicate and process information faster or easier. Fun fact! The telephone was originally invented because Bell wanted a device that would help his hearing disabled sister. Now telecommunications is one of the largest industries in the world.


Obviously, these forms of technology do help in the classroom. Try and argue that a deaf child does not deserve cochlear implants. (audio chips that stimulate specific nerves in the brain so people with severe hearing impairment can hear.



"Hearing Aids:The hearing aid is a miniature public address system worn by the user (listener). It works best in quiet, structured settings, where the speaker is no more than a few feet away and extraneous noise is minimized. Hearing aids are generally available in four styles: body-worn, behind-the-ear, eyeglass, and in-the-ear. School-age children most often use postauricular hearing aids, which are designed to fit unobtrusively behind the ear. Almost all people with hearing loss, including “nerve loss,” can benefit to some extent from hearing aids.

Frequency-Modulated (FM) Amplification Systems: Also known as an auditory trainer, the FM transmission device creates a direct link between the teacher, who wears a microphone, and the student, who wears a hearing aid. In this system, background noise is reduced and the teacher and students are free to move around the room. For more than 40 years, FM systems have been used by teachers and students in the classroom, and they are still one of the most commonly used auditory enhancement devices in schools because of their versatility and portability for use in or out of the school building.

Audio Loops:The audio loop is another type of amplification system. It was introduced in an attempt to meet the need to control the sound level of the teacher’s voice, to maintain consistency in auditory cues between home and school, to deal more effectively with background noise, and to provide maximum mobility within a classroom. An adaptation of the FM device described above, the audio loop directs sound from its source directly to the listener’s ear through a specially equipped hearing aid. Sound may be transmitted through a wire connection or by using radio waves. Audio loops can be built into the walls of a room or created to surround only a certain section of seats in a room.

Infrared Systems: Infrared systems transmit clean, clear sound invisibly tohearing impaired listeners. They provide better hearing in public places without the hassle of wires and cords, and they suffer less from interference emanating from pagers and other outside radio signals, but they may have limited accessibility because of issues related to line-of-site or distance
between the emitter and the transceiver. Nevertheless, as costs come down, the popularity of infrared systems is increasing.

Cochlear Implants: A cochlear implant is a relatively new device designed to provide sound information for people with profound hearing impairments. While hearing aids and other assistive devices are designed to amplify sound, an implant can actually enable the wearer to hear sounds that were previously indistinguishable. The implant, which is surgically placed
beneath the skin, bypasses the damaged parts of the inner ear and stimulates nerves that have not been stimulated before. Signals are sent continuously when sound is present in the environment, but special circuitry in the speech processor reduces unwanted background noise.

Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf (TDDs): The TDD, which enables a person with no hearing to make or receive telephone calls, is the most widely known telecommunication device used today. The TDD is attached to a telephone and resembles a small keyboard with a screen to display the incoming or outgoing messages. Some TDDs have a paper printout to
record a permanent copy of the conversation. To use a TDD, the user types a message on the keyboard that is automatically converted into tones and transmitted over the phone line to another TDD, which converts the message back into text form. In this system, both the sender and the receiver of the message must have access to the technology. Although these technologies are not typically used in the classroom environment, they enable students with disabilities to interact with each other outside of the school environment for both academic and social reasons, just as their non-disabled peers do.

Captioned Television:Captioning refers to the addition of text to a visual display, where the words that are spoken are seen as text. The early form of captioning was seen primarily as subtitles for translating foreign films. There are two kinds of captions, open and closed. Open captioning is seldom used, because it cannot be turned off and is consequently unpopular with the general public. Conversely, closed captioning is very common and it can be turned on or off by the user on all modern televisions. Since 1993, all television manufacturers have been required to place built-in decoders in their products to provide individuals with hearing impairments with access to closed captioned television programs and videos for educational and recreational purposes. Given that consumers purchase more than 20 million televisions each year, the majority of classrooms and private homes in this country have access to this technology.

Live Speech Captioning: Live speech captioning is another variation of this technology that allows individuals with hearing impairments to access words as they are being spoken. This technology works much like steno keyboards that are used to record judicial proceedings. When captioning is used in educational settings, a stenographer typically enters information as
the teacher talks and the text is displayed on a computer monitor. This technology has proven to be very helpful for students with hearing disabilities who are enrolled in college courses or who attend public lectures.


Closed-Circuit Television Magnification (CCTV): CCTV is designed to enlarge any type of text or graphic material by using a small vertically mounted video camera with a zoom lens directly connected to a monitor for displaying the image. The text or graphic material is placed under the camera lenson a sliding reading stand and the image is projected on the attached video
monitor. CCTVs allow the user to adjust the magnification, contrast, brightness, and focus, and to change the background display to either black or white, or in some cases, color. Older CCTVs, while still useful for many classroom applications, are expensive and cumbersome to move. But the newer, smaller versions of this technology are portable, and thus much easier for students to use.

Computer Screen Magnification: Most computers sold today allow for the magnification of the screen through the use of special software. Typically, the user can select a portion of the screen and then enlarge that section up to 16 times the original size. Although the user is somewhat inconvenienced by having to view a smaller portion of the original screen as the magnification increases, this technology makes it possible for students with visual impairments to use computers in ways similar to their nondisabled peers.

Descriptive Video Services (DVS): DVS technology inserts a narrative verbal description of visual elements—such as sets and costumes, characters’ physical descriptions, and facial expressions—into pauses in a program’s dialogue. The majority of television sets and VCRs manufactured in the past six years have been designed with a “second audio program” (or SAP) switch that can be turned on so that the user can automatically hear descriptive video. DVS is available for both standard VHS and DVS formatted videotapes. DVS technologies help students by providing them with access to information, and through the increased opportunities to discuss programs and movies that are part of the popular culture, by providing them with opportunities for increased socialization and knowledge building.

Screen Readers:Screen reader software represents what is known as a text-to-speech application, which analyzes letters, words, and sentences and converts them into synthetic or digital speech. Today, text-to-speech software is common in many software packages, including many word processing and educational software programs in math, reading, and spelling. In some instances, the student can adjust the volume, pitch, and speed of reading, and even choose between a male or a female voice. With synthetic speech, the computer reads text passages, analyzes the phonetic structure of words, and attempts to reconstruct the words by putting together a string of synthetic phonemes that are then “spoken” by the computer. However, when the words are not phonetically predictble, the results can be difficult to understand. In contrast, digital speech is composed of actual recordings of human speech. While digital speech is much easier to understand, it requires a large amount of storage because each word that the computer may encounter must be prerecorded. Consequently, its use is often not feasible for classroom instruction. As more low-cost options for storing electronic information become available, however, this technology will likely be used more extensively to assist students who have communication disorders or visual impairments.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR): OCR technology enables blind students to place books or other print materials on a scanner and have the text interpreted and read using synthetic or digital speech. The first OCR system for individuals with visual impairments was introduced in 1976, when Ray Kurzweil invented the Kurzweil Reader. The early Kurzweil Reader was about the size of a small photocopy machine and was considered to be a truly remarkable advance for students with visual disabilities. While the device was often found in libraries, it was too bulky and expensive to be available to students in the classroom. Today, there are portable stand-alone OCR devices and devices that can attach to other computers and scanners.

Braille Notetakers:Braille notetakers are small, portable devices that enable students to enter and store Braille characters in the form of words and sentences. The notetakers use the same six keys found on a traditional Braille writer used for making a paper copy of Braille. However, most notetakers allow users to review what they have written by listening to the text-to-
speech function of the device. In addition, software translators allow the Braille to be converted into text. The stored files can then be used with a standard word processor or a screen reader. To get a hard copy of the information that was entered, the user can connect the notetaker directly to a standard printer for text output or a Braille printer for Braille output. Similarly, a paperless Braille display can be attached to a computer or a personal notetaker that can display up to 80 characters simultaneously. Devices such as the Braille notetaker that combine Braille with computer technology have made Braille much more useful than it was in the past.

Switches:Switches control the flow of electrical power to a device that the user wants to turn on or off. Switches can be activated by almost any part of the body a person is able to voluntarily and reliably control—for example, switches are available that can be activated by the use of an arm, hand, finger, leg, foot, head, or chin. They also may be controlled by less obvious movements of the eyebrow, or the rib cage with access through controlled breath-
ing. While the movement does not have to be big, it must be controllable and reliable, and often considerable training is required before the use of the switch is reliable.

Basic Adaptive Keyboards: Basic keyboard adaptations that assist physically disabled students to use computers include replacing standard keys with larger keys that are easier to see and touch, reducing the number of keys on the keyboard, placing letter keys in alphabetical order, and providing keys that are brightly colored and easy to read. Other keyboards are much smaller than their traditional counterparts and have keyboard surfaces that are much more
sensitive to touch. These keyboards are excellent for individuals with a limited range of motion or for individuals who have a difficult time applying pressure to keys.

Touch-Sensitive Screens: Touch-sensitive screens are very popular with young computer users and with individuals who have severe developmental or physical disabilities. This technology allows the user to simply touch the computer screen to perform a function. Many touch-sensitive screens come complete with multiple screen overlays that can be used to perform a variety of tasks. Similarly, many companies provide additional software that enables the users to create their own overlays.

Infrared Sensors with Pneumatic Switches:Use of an infrared sensor worn on the head, along with use of a pneumatic switch, can enable physically disabled students to interact with the computer. As the user looks at the computer screen, the cursor follows the user’s head movement. Moving the head to the left moves the cursor in the same direction on the screen. Thus, users can position the cursor anywhere on the screen by moving their head left, right, up, or down. The pneumatic switch, which is activated by inhaling or exhaling through a plastic tube, enables the user to use the mouse. When the user sips or puffs on the switch, the computer responds as if the mouse button had been clicked. In this manner, the user can move a cursor and click on items displayed on the computer screen. Special software is used in conjunction with these movements to allow the user to type out information on a facsimile of a
keyboard that is displayed on the computer monitor.

Voice Recognition:Using voice recognition software, the user can bypass the keyboard and just speak to the computer. By programming the computer with a set of predefined instructions, the user can control the computer by verbally issuing commands into a microphone. In most cases, the reliability of the system can be enhanced by having the user “train” the computer to recognize his or her speech patterns. Voice recognition systems allow students to operate a variety of application programs, to dictate to a word processor, and to enter data into spreadsheets.


As you can see, even without reading about the different technologies that make these students' lives easier, computers and other forms of technology are definitely enriching their lives. To say that computers are not helping these children is proof of ignorance. These kids are able to write, listen, talk, and understand through the computer and to take that away from them would be awful. This is a perfect example of how technology is vastly enriching kids' lives in the classroom.