Computer Technology and the Physically Challenged
Computer technology has positively affected the physically challenged. Computer technology brings new techniques for the blind, deaf, and people with movement disabilities. New programs are making it easier for the disabled. Some schools and states are helping the disabled by setting up computer labs and computer recycling programs.
Computer technology has really helped the blind and the deaf. It has brought Braille keys to a regular keyboard. The blind can print out their documents as a Braille copy or a regular copy. If a blind person does not know Braille, then they can use speech synthesizers. Speech synthesizers can speak the words on the screen aloud. A 62-year-old professor uses a portable speech synthesizer. Computer technology has helped make life easier for the deaf because they can read the computer screen easier than before.
A center called Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC) is making it easier for the disabled to access information technology. The new ATRC program, at the University of Toronto, designed to access information. Another program, called MathML, was intended to put math on the web. ATRC worked with MathML to make it accessible to people. The ATRC has also added haptics, the sense of touch and audio, to interactive programs. In an article I read, one example given was a periodic table that showed the relative elements and weight. Another example given was of a pendulum model that showed the properties of a pendulum. ATRC is also exploring the use of captioning and video description. People can look up a word they do not know using one of these methods. ATRC, along with three other companies, has come up with the smart card system. The smart card sets up the computer to the individuals’ preference.
Another program that was set up to help disabled people is called Equal Access to Software and Information (EASI). EASI is like ATRC; it provides access to information and guidance to the physically challenged. Through a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, EASI had developed several projects. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, they are trying to make science labs more accessible to students with disabilities. They also take an interest in distant learning by having two online workshops to assist in understanding the Internet and computers.
Other schools are starting to help the disabled; whether it is by setting up a new computer lab or recycling used computers.
A person should be able to describe the monthly costs to operate a business, or talk about a marathon pace a runner ran to break a world record, graphs on a coordinate plane enable people to see the data. Graphs relay information about data in a visual way. If a person read almost any newspaper, especially in the business section, they will probably encounter graphs.
This will benefit Billy and his peer helper. The device would be considered low tech. Since Billy wears glasses he can use a computer with a screen reading software. Which will allow him to see the text displayed and hear what is being said while looking at the word. Screen reading software would be considered high tech. Both devices can be used to assist Billy in a regular classroom. Billy can use the classroom devices at desk to have a better understanding of what’s being taught. During choice or computer time Billy can use the screen reading to review what he didn’t understand during teaching instructions. I think both devices will interest and encourage Billy to want to
Seidat, Hans E. "Airplanes against England." Calvin German Propaganda Archive. Calvin College, n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.
Research projects in down syndrome. (2014). Retrieved January 26, 2014, from Center for Mind and Brain website: http://mindbrain.ucdavis.edu/labs/Rivera/research-areas/down-syndrome
From society's perspective, Down syndrome children have become a serious complication in the world. Disabled children with special needs like Down syndrome are not given the directed attention needed for appropriate treatment. In 1862, John Langdon Down characterized Down syndrome as a separate form of mental disability but he broadened his research in 1866. By the 20th century, Downs has become the most recognizable form of mental disability in the world because of the physical characteristics that distinguish their disability (Patterson, 137). Some symptoms include a small-flattened face, bowlegs in some cases, and generally, their tongue is too big for their mouth so it usually hangs outside of their mouth as well as other physical characteristics exemplifies a Down syndrome child (Wedro). Down syndrome, Downs or DS, occurs in children who have an "extra copy of chromosome 21." Ninety-five percent of Down syndrome cases are Trisomy 21 (nondisjunction), four percent are translocation, and one percent is mosaicism. There are roughly 400,000 cases of Downs in the United States toda...
Down Syndrome: Critically analyze the effects of Down syndrome on people and the support that is available
Van Riper, Marcia. ?Living with Down Syndrome: The Family Experience.? Down Syndrome Quarterly. Volume 4, Number 1 March 2005. http://www.denison.edu/dsq/vanriper.shtml
Individuals who are deaf or are hearing impaired are faced with many problems in today’s world. There are so many tasks and activities that are done today that deaf or hearing impaired people may have difficulty doing because of there handicap. There handicap used to stop them or inhibit them from doing something that they are interested in or there friends and neighbors would do. However in today there are new and different technologies, that help the deaf and hearing impaired in the activities in which they want to participate in which is hard for them to take part in because of there handicap. Technology is used to help with everyday tasks in the lives of deaf and hearing impaired individuals. With out this new technology which is being invented everyday, deaf and hearing impaired people may be considered to have a handicap which prevents them from certain activities, but this is not the case anymore, now these people just have different obstacles which through the use of technology they are learning to over come. They can do anything that regular normal range of hearing individuals can do, due to the new technology being invented everyday.
"Having Down syndrome is like being born normal. I am just like you and you are just like me. We are all born in different ways, that is the way I can describe it. I have a normal life"(Burke, C., n.d.). Where special education is concerned, one must always remember that exceptional learners are different, not less. In the following studies, the various strengths and weaknesses of the language and communication of individuals with Down syndrome (DS) is reviewed and discussed.
Assistive technology is often used by individuals with a learning disability. A learning disability “describes a neurobiological disorder in which a person’s brain works or is structured differently” (Lee1). A person’s abilities can be severely affected from a learning disability. They may listen differently, talk differently, write, spell, organize, and work with school subjects in a different way. Learning disabilities also affect people’s individual and personal lives to a great extent. According to the National Institutes of Health, one in seven children has a learning disability. The disability manifests itself when the child shows difficulty in reading, writing, spelling, and conversing with others. The added time they need to process information may make them seem less intelligent then others around them, but this is not the case. Individuals with learning disabilities are just as smart as anyone else; they just need to learn in a different way. The earlier a learning disability is noticed and detected, the earlier a child may be able to learn how to deal with or compensate for it (Lee 1). This is where assistive technology comes into play.
“If the technology became available for the deaf to hear completely, would you want your deaf child to have this technology?” It is every parent’s dream for their child to grow up healthy and happy. There are so many children in the world that do not have the ability to hear, and it is a horrible thing. Many would think it wrong for a parent to not want to give their child the gift of sight. If I had a child that was deaf, I would do everything in my power to help them get their hearing. If the technology was there to fix this disability, why wouldn’t anyone want their child to have it? “840 babies are born with a permanent hearing loss every year.”(NDCS of UK). This is a horrible number to hear, that so many children will never be able to hear. If there was any technology able to restore a child’s hearing it would be a shame if the parents didn’t get it. “Deaf children face tremendous difficulties learning to read, write and communicate with the hearing world around them.”(NDCS of UK). Not only would you be giving your child the gift of hearing by using this technology, but you will also help child to be able learn on the normal level of other children.
Down syndrome are growing and the population of them is rising. They are very capable and
One of the most popular types of charts is the pie chart. The pie chart is used to visually represent the proportional value of individual parts to the whole. As the name describes, this is done by representing the numerical equivalence of each part as a piece of the whole pie, which in total equates to 100%. The Pennsylvania Department of Health (2001) says that pie charts are a good choice when a relatively small amount of parts, perhaps 3 to 7, need to be represented. With any more it becomes difficult to notice the differences in magnitude; thus, the pie chart loses its simplicity and impact. They can only be used when a total amount is known, one such example would be an election where the total of votes received by all candidates equals 100% of the votes. Or a budget where the total amount spending is divided in to categories such as labor, facilities costs, advertising, etc… which always are a part of the total. However, according to McBride (2003), the pie chart could not be used to show a change in spending through out a period. A pie chart shows data at one instance, like a snapshot and cannot be used to show change in data over time (para. 4). With the advent of computers, 3D graphs have become somewhat popular, unfortunately a negative aspect is that they add complexity to the image and can distort visual proportional value. It is recommended to stick with flat “2D” charts (para. 6).
It is believed that people with Down Syndrome has been around for a while. In 1959 Professor Jérome Lejeune proved that Down's syndrome is a chromosomal irregularity.Parents in that time were ashamed of their children with disabilities.In 1944 kids with disabilities did not have the right to have an education. Not until 1971 it was recognized that it should be legal for people with learning disabilities to get an education.Life expectancy for people with Down syndrome has heightened dramatically in modern decades from 25 in 1983 to 60 today. People with down syndrome have an increased risk for certain medical conditions such as heart disease,brain atrophy and learning disorders.(downs-syndrome association)
Bowser and Reed [1995] as cited by Bryant et al [1998] argue that as a child progresses through the Education System, their requirements change and this may necessitate a need for different devices. This is not limited to those children with a physical disability but is relevant to all children with SEN as they progress and the Education System places additional burdens upon them. For children with a visual impairment ICT can provide support in various ways; tools to support communication, to improve access to information and as a means of producing learning materials in alternative. There is a wide range of devices and software, which can