Disabilities becomes abilities with the iPad's Accessibility features

I attended the iPad feedback session from the Apple Accessibility Conference in Berlin, presented by Karen Hart at the iStore on Sandton Drive yesterday. I am struck that the word "disability" is not the choice word when discussing special needs . It is now only about "accessibility".

With three clicks the iPad changes into an accessible tool that changes learning for special needs' kids completely. The software has been built-in from the start and developed for 25 years.

It addresses vision, hearing, physical and motor skills, as well as learning and literacy.

The following quotes comes from a video about the use of iPads in special needs education: The link is here, and if you have seven minutes, it is really worth seeing: http://t.co/dVs54lRpmb

• iPad makes learning so much easier!
• When learning is fun, it has a bigger impact on the child!
• The focus is on the abilities rather than disabilities!
• The use of iPads open up new ways of looking at the world!
• Independence is very important to learning, and the iPad makes it possible.
• It motivates teaching!

A breakdown of the Accessibility features can be found here:
iOS. A wide range of features for a wide range of use 


The in-built features on the iOS devices:

I am only going to name them, because it can all be Googled to learn how to make use of it!

Vision

- VoiceOver
- Speak Screen
- Siri
- Dictation
- Zoom
- Font Adjustments
- Invert colours and grayscale
- Braille displays are also available

Hearing

- FaceTime video calling
- Unlimited texting
- Closed Captions to watch movies, television, and podcasts
- Mono Audio helps with adjusting stereo to mono, or diverting sound to one ear.
-Visibility and vibrating alerts
- Works with hearing aids

Karen Hart demonstrating her Picster Book apps that specifically addresses South African sign language for English and Afrikaans users. She also demonstrated this at the Berlin Conference. The Picsterbook apps are all available for free download on the iTunes Store.

Karen Heart with her Picster Books 

Physical and motor challenges

- Assistive Touch - the screen can be adapted to unique physical needs, such as not having functional arms.
- Siri
- Switch Control
- Dictation
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Predictive text
- Support for Third Party Keyboards

Karen Hart demonstration of using only head movements to
operate the iPad

Attention, Cognitive and Learning challenges (including autism)

- Guided access
- Speak Screen
- Dictionary
- Safari

Karen hart discussed a few presentations that caught her eye during the Conference, including the story of Srini Swaminathan who uses the iPad as teaching tool in the slums of India.

Earlier today Karen Hart @picsterbooks gave feedback about the Accessibility Summit in Berlin with reference to the passion of @srini091 who teach in the slums if India with his iPad #ipadlearningza

A photo posted by Karen Du Toit (@karentoittoit) on Mar 23, 2015 at 2:06pm PDT

Responses on the Instagram photo:

@karentoittoit Thank you Karen Srini remains an inspiration for me. If we had more teachers like him we could change the face of education
— Karen Hart (@picsterbooks) March 24, 2015

I was inspired as always, and wish we can have this technology in every child's hand!


Related posts:

- iPad learning for special needs - Autism #iPadlearningZA

- iPad in Education at Sacred Heart College #iPadLearningZA

Ipad in Education - Transoranje School for the Deaf #iPadLearningZA

Following on the inspiring story and challenge by Abdul Chohan, "What would you do if you were not afraid?"on Friday, we were shown this video as one of the iPad in Education projects in South Africa that is transforming Education.

The Transoranje School for the Deaf, located on the outskirts of Pretoria, is home to 200 deaf and hard-of-hearing pre-primary to high school students.

The children are developmentally behind their peers because of a lack of language exposure.

Photo: Core Group

The iDeaf Project on the iPad originated out of a necessity to better equip the deaf students with the critical reading and language skills needed to accelerate their learning to desired levels.  The developers set out to combine a variety of visual and language elements because their learning are centred around visual methods.

Picsterbooks developed a series of locally relevant and interactive story books in both English and Afrikaans that would teach deaf students to read using South African Sign Language. The books are not only engaging but also enables a level of in-depth understanding that has surpassed previous learning methods.
It has transformed the way the school teaches students to read and communicate effectively.

The iDeaf app overview

"The storybook apps were designed locally to meet the needs of deaf students who use South African Sign Language.

• There are 6 storybooks which include folk tales such as 3 Little Pigs, Goldilocks and The Gingerbread Man, as well as uniquely created stories which are based on the local curriculum such as The Clever Plan and The Big Carrot.
• All the storybooks are based on the objectives of the South African curriculum and contain beautifully illustrated stories designed in a standardised format.
• The storybooks can be read in English or Afrikaans and contain various visual elements: simplified text and syntax, picture animations, highlighted words, finger spelling and SASL (South African Sign Language) interpretations and video.
• The highlighted words in the app are words that deaf children commonly struggle with. When selecting these words they are explained in 4 formats: text, an animation or an image, SASL and finger spelling (deaf ABC). By combining the learning elements into 1 place, the student is able to move through the book and develop a range of skills in an easy to understand format.
• The books also contain an audio element for only partially deaf children so that they can also hear the book read aloud, while reading the text and learning the sign.
• The storybooks were created using the Demibooks Composer app only available on iPad."

"We are working with children who are naturally language users with their hands 

and this was just an extension of their own language."

                                          Karen Hart, App Developer and Digital Publisher

I love the fact that the students AND teachers have already found new ways to use their iPads in their learning at the school, not only for reading and language skills!

Caitlin, I wish for you as well!

The story of a little girl named Caitlin... It is an ongoing story!

To me it sounds like a struggle, but to mom Michelle it is just what you do to help your child to reach her optimal potential in life. It must be even more difficult when the other twin is a healthy bouncy nearly 6 year old girl!

You can read about her story on her Facebook page: The little Train that can: Caitlin's story so far.

I have put up the Fundraiser button on my blog, and seen that it is super easy to donate. We don't have a lot to give on our own, but together we can make a difference for this sweet little face!

They still want to take her for stem cell treatment in December. Caitlin has cerebral palsy, and the hope remains that she will be able to walk, get back the functionality of her arms, as well as clear speech.The total cost comes down to just over R100 000, but for a single mom with twins it is very difficult to raise on her own.

It will have a compounded effect when the treatment will also be able to help other children in the future!
I know that if it was my child, I would also explore all the possibilities...

Michelle asks that we also spread the word about the wish of Caitlin to as many people as possible.
The fundraising presentation is also available on Facebook.