AREN’T HACKERS THE BAD GUYS?
Not anymore! Hewlett-Packard has a project called ”Hacking Autism” aimed at combining Silicon Valley programmers with “Autism Speaks” and other programs similar to it. Many people in the tech community have encountered autism through their families and through families of their friends. After realizing that autism is recognized in 1 out of 110 U.S. children (This rate is rising.), Hewlett Packard launched a website www.hackingautism.org where anyone can submit ideas for touch-screen applications that could help people with autism. Programmers who visit the site may sign up to work on the ideas as a volunteer on Hewlett-Packard’s “hackathon” this October.
All ideas submitted will be reviewed and refined by a qualified committee of autism experts. The resulting applications would then be eligible to go through further rounds of improvement before they are released. This is a golden opportunity for parental input. Think about individual children. Realize that they are probably not the only one with a particular problem. Be willing to share and contact Hewlett Packard’s “hackathon.”
Hewlett Packard isn’t the only company with special applications for the autistic child. Apple iPad uses a software platform called webOS. By the way, Apple users will be allowed to participate in the “hackathon.” Apple’s iPad was the first to use these applications and continues to be the most popular model of the tablet group.
All companies do support the touch screen which allows the student to signal words and sentences by lightly touching a series of familiar pictures on the iPad screen. The screen, in turn, prompts an audio program to play the words out loud.
One noteworthy fact is that the images on a computer screen draw closer attention than pictures do on paper. Older students are particularly drawn to the tablet because the tablet doesn’t carry the stigma of bulky, conspicuous special education equipment. Other facts to be taken into consideration is the fact that a touch screen eliminates the difficulty that a child with autism or other motor skill disabilities might have difficulties trying to manipulate a keyboard or even understanding the connection between a mouse and cursor. Many applications allow the student to learn to spell by tracing letters with their fingertip while others sound out words. Some applications will allow the parents to create visual time schedules.
Gary Jones, the father of an autistic child in Connecticut sums the tablets quite well. “These tablets are giving children a voice.” Today Mr. Jones has his own website that reviews applications for children with special needs.
The ease of the touch screen, its visual impact, and its portability, creates a dynamic factor.  In turn, this dynamic factor has led to near-miraculous breakthroughs for children and adults with autism and other learning disabilities.
Research Hewlett-Packard, Apple and Google’s Android. Consider the applications that would be used by your child. Compare prices as well as the qualities of applications available. Search the internet for websites that sponsor applications such as Ted Conley’s “TapSpeak” and Gary James’ website.
These wonderful new applications and the devices to use them are the frontier for learning. This is a time of great ideas and the development of even greater content. With the passage of time, this field will rapidly expand. It is the learning process of a new frontier for education.