Grace's story
Grace uses her tablet PC.Gold Coast mum Maree McIntosh decided to invest in an iPad for her daughter, Grace, in September 2010.
‘She has used it ever since,' says Maree.
Grace, who is an 8-year-old girl with Down syndrome, uses her iPad to support her with her educational needs.
How Grace uses her iPad
‘Every app currently available to Grace on her iPad has an educational purpose or focus', says Maree.
Grace takes her iPad to school with her every day.
‘It is a valuable resource that not only supports Grace with her learning and language, but can be used as a reward tool also,' says Maree.
Grace has access to her iPad after completing various tasks set by her teacher. It is used for free time and as a reward for good work and behaviour.
An incidental benefit of Grace using her iPad in the classroom, shares her mum, is that her classmates think Grace is ‘very cool'.
Grace can navigate her iPad very proficiently and independently. Various applications are organised into folders—for example: language, fine motor skills, literacy, numeracy and reading—and Grace can utilise all these with ease.
Grace receives private speech therapy. Her therapist also uses an iPad as a tool to engage Grace during her speech therapy sessions.
‘We often exchange new apps that we have come across,' says Maree.
Being a visual learner
Maree says Grace is a visual learner and that she uses the device in different ways.
‘If Grace is having difficulty correctly forming a letter, I just go to an app where she can practise tracing the letter before rewriting it,' she says.
Certain language or communication apps can help Grace with her sentence structuring and storytelling. For instance, she recently used a communication app, Proloquo2GoTM, to help her talk about her favourite book. Grace's passport was chosen as the subject; and by previously selecting sentences about why her passport was her favourite book, Grace was able to demonstrate that to her classmates with the press of a button.
‘It was fantastic—Grace was able to present her show-and-tell with success and be understood with the help of her iPad,' says Maree.
More information
You can read more about tablet PCs in education settings, and the experiences of 2 young boys with autism with using tablet PCs.
