C o m p u t e r
By Esther Ilana Rabi
M ordechai peers at me with warm brown eyes , hooting and dancing with the joy of meeting someone new . Then he takes the iPad that ’ s slung around his neck and his fingers dance over the screen . He giggles as it says , “ Shalom , my name is Mordechai .”
It ’ s a simple sentence . We say such things all the time without effort or thought . But for a child who can ’ t speak , it ’ s a thrill . When Seeach Sod invested in communications technology , it gave Mordechai the gift of speech .
“ I used to teach here ,” says Yitzchak Vanunu , now coordinator of Seeach Sod ’ s educational technology department . " I saw how much trouble the students had expressing themselves . Many of them could only communicate ‘ yes ’ or ‘ no .’ They had no way of letting me know what they wanted . Today , Seeach Sod is heavily invested in technology that lets our students communicate . For students who don ’ t see well , we have huge screens and big keyboards . Students with poor motor control have keys as big as a small plate .
“ Today , I sat with a young woman who never communicates and showed her how to use the new keyboard . She typed ‘ shanah tovah ’ and emailed it to the housemother of her assisted-living apartment . She and her friends were so excited . It ’ s nice to see them so happy , so alive .”
No Longer Trapped
There ’ s more to it than just happiness . Several teachers in Seeach Sod tell me about students whose physical and cognitive limitations left them trapped . With no way to communicate , they used to have explosive tantrums several times a day , until they learned how to convey their needs and wants through their iPads .
Speech therapist Ruthie Feder tells me about one of her students in Seeach Sod , Aharon , a low-functioning , non-verbal child with autism . “ He was 12 years old when we gave him his first computer , which we ’ d set up so he could use it with picture symbols ,” says Ruthie . “ I ’ ll never forget this . We were listening to music together before class — he loves music — and when class started , his teacher took away his headphones . Aharon got agitated , but instead of melting down and having a hysterical outburst , he opened his computer to the picture symbols and found one that showed , ‘ They took it from me .’ His teacher asked what was taken from him , and he pointed to a picture of a musical note .
“ ‘ You ’ re angry that I took away your music !’ his teacher said .
“ That wasn ’ t enough for Aharon . He kept pointing to the note . Then , because his teacher knew what was upsetting him , she showed him the pictures of a
TECHNOLOGY OPENS WORLDS FOR NON-VERBAL MEMBERS OF SEEACH SOD
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