Tablets in the SPED classrooms on campus are extremely helpful for the students, not only is it a device to help them learn but also to communicate.

Some of the basic things that people have known ever since they were young is taken for granted. Kids have disabilities and technology helps them feel more included in society, like they have a voice. The tablets help the nonverbal students communicate to their teachers that they are hungry, thirsty, or when they need to go to the restroom. The tablets also help the kids focus in class. The kids need that extra help to let adults know when they need something.
“It’s how some of the nonverbal kids communicate,” Principal Dan Serrano says.

One of the young girls in the class wrote a sentence on her iPad and the device says the words for her. Other students don’t always understand how lucky they are. They can talk and say whatever they want to their friends, parents, and teachers. But these kids have to speak through  technology.

Serrano explains, “Some of the kids order lunch, they can’t speak, so that’s how they tell you what they want.”

Some of the teenagers are struggling to do things that regular-ed students do every single day and probably take for granted.

Some of the kids need help using the device to type a sentence, and can use them to further assist them in everyday functions.

One of the girls in the class has a specific way she needs to use it, Coach Rose Escalante explains, “She just wants to watch videos, so we have to use the hand over hand system so that she doesn’t just go to You-Tube.” The girl uses her device not only to speak but to help her focus in class because she can’t focus for the full class hour.

As humans we have an urge to make our opinion known and to talk about our point of view. These students can’t or are limited to what they can say because they may only know a few words. The technology used in their classrooms can help them speak about topics or to answer a question.

When people talk they don’t have to worry about the battery life on their voice, or just to try an find the words that you want to use on a screen. But that is their normal, they don’t know any different.