oliveyrkitegan: Using technology to teach children with autism

Posted at: 11/08/2011 8:41 PM | Updated at: 11/08/2011 10:39 PM
By: Antoinette Antonio, KOB Eyewitness News 4

Teachers are seeing a major breakthrough in children with autism - thanks to iPads.

The devices are changing the way the kids learn by giving them a way to communicate that they?ve never had before.

Ritamarie Theiler teaches a 3rd through 5th grade class for children with autism at McCollum Elementary.

Most of the kids in the class aren't performing at their grade level because of the challenges that come with having autism.

"I see students with autism who have motor skills where they can hardly write," Theiler said.

Communication is another big obstacle.

Students on the severe end of the autism spectrum have trouble expressing some of the most simple wants and needs.

One of those students is 10-year-old Zipporah.

"This particular student has limited verbal skills, so we're working on getting her using vocabulary and do things that help her with spelling," Theiler said.

To help Zipporah and other students in the class, Theiler started bringing her iPad to class.

She said the touching, the swiping and the sounds the iPad makes are helping her make major breakthroughs with her students.

"The kids are so much more interactive, it really makes them come alive. They like working on the iPad, they like doing these things," Theiler said.

The iPads aren't just helping the children learn, but they are also helping parents and teachers understand what the children already know.

Zipporah's mom, Mayline Jaramillo, said of her daughter: "She's able to come home and show us, you know, I know my alphabet, I know my numbers, I can add, I can subtract. This is stuff we were never able to see her communicate with us."

Both Jaramillo and Theiler said Zipporah's vocabulary has increased since she started playing with the iPad, but they know the iPad can't do everything.

"It?s not going to cure autism, but it's another tool to help," Jaramillo said. "In my opinion, this is going to revolutionize how we teach students with autism,? Theiler added.

Albuquerque Public Schools officials said there are about 650 children in the district with autism.

Theiler has been teaching her class with her own iPad ? and she only has one.

If you would like to help, you can go through the APS Education Foundation.

> http://www.aps.edu/education-foundation

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