It Has A Place
The Argument for Responsible Technology Use
Come back with me to a classroom from the mid-1990s. Rather than a typical classroom, this one caters to those with severe special needs. Of course, each child was different, and their needs varied, and in the days before need could be conveyed through an app on a tablet, there were bulky communication boards, which worked fine for some. I can still see the frustration in their eyes when their message did not get through to the teacher or individual aids, because they were spastic and couldn’t accurately point to the picture of what they needed.
Yes, I get the argument for not having technology in the classroom, but there is a time that technology becomes a bridge, allowing special needs children to go where they might not otherwise get to experience.
Let me take you back to this classroom once more, and watch the frustration in the eyes of a young boy with Cerebral Palsy, who is nonverbal and completely dependent on others. But we must remember that every child is more than a label, so we cannot box him or her into one neat little box, disabled or not.
When I worked in the 1990’s classroom, I often found myself wondering how we could not only reach out to those kids, that part was doable, but the more challenging aspect was giving them a better opportunity to have a voice.
