What is Special Education Software?
Special education software is inclusive of computer software programs that offer education and assistive solutions to children with a wide range of special needs encompassing autism, cognitive disabilities, reading disabilities, low vision and blindness. The various programs can help with vocabulary and language skills that help focus on core concepts such as colors, numbers, shapes, matching and opposites, and other cognitive enhancing learning systems.
A computer software learning system, unlike “educational games”, provides appropriately sequenced lessons and reinforced learning in engaging sequence and scope. These software programs are often utilized by clinics, schools, parents and hospitals to teach critical cognitive, reading and language skills. The screen magnifier and the scanning and reading software additionally offer assistance to visually impaired children and adults. These systems are used in various applications, such as in helping with school work, reading about local and world news, reading personal notes or letters, and in many other ways to assist the visually impaired.
The Importance of Connecting the Right Software to the Individual’s Unique Requirements
Whether it is for a child or adult, it is important to not rush the learning process, or to advance too quickly with the student. The software should proceed at the student’s pace. Go too fast and the students will become confused; too slow and they might get bored. Finding the right software to match the needs of the individual is crucial to success.
Starting at the correct level of knowledge is important when implementing learning software. Begin with the known skill level of the student, and then build on the existing writing, reading and math skills of the student. To start at a lower level than the student’s knowledge can disinterest the child or adult in working with the software.
Not all skill levels are the same with every student. Some students might need more work with math skills, and less assistance with reading or writing skills. Determine the strengths and weaknesses of each student, and use the appropriate level of software for each skill level.
Make sure that the software will encourage the student to be an active learner with questions or scenarios that are interactive with discovery and exploration. Some children will have a difficult time with a ‘rote-memory’ type of learning style.
Introduce different and new learning software to help keep the student’s attention. Also, make sure the learning environment is supportive and safe, keeping distractions and worries away.
Most importantly, keep the learning sessions engaging by balancing them with fun, laughter, and positive reinforcement.
Special education software is constantly expanding, searching to improve its usability with teachers and students, and accessibility by all users is an important issue. Software that may be usable by some people may not be usable by others. Those with learning disabilities process stimuli and information differently and therefore may struggle with a type of software that might work well with other students. Some students may not see color, or may see colors differently, and could even be sight-impaired, while others may require special software for hearing impairments. Many students may need an adaptive mouse or keyboard to use the computer instead of a standard keyboard, so making the computer and software as individually user-friendly as possible for every unique user is important.
What Can Assist the Special Education Software User?
Besides the special educational software that can assist the learning skills of special needs individuals, there is some additional software that can more fully assist those who may need some help with viewing or understanding the educational software:
Screen Magnifier Software: Magnifiers enhance and enlarge everything seen on the computer screen, helping to make all the software applications easy to see and comprehend for low vision users.
Scanning and Reading Software: This software helps to get the text from scanned documents and imports it directly into the program to make the scanned documents easier to read and understand. This is very helpful for visually impaired and blind students to ‘see-and-hear’ what they are doing, enlarging the words while reading aloud everything on the computer screen. Some scan and read software can convert text in over 100 different languages.
What Are Some Different Learning Techniques for Special Needs Individuals?
Play: All children, not only special needs children, stay motivated when they are having fun and enjoying the class or educational software. When this happens, work does indeed become child’s play. Fun activities create a ‘Play and Learn’ curriculum that is centered on play, enhancing developmental learning and multi-sensory systems for learning.
Repetition: While some children do become bored with a repetition or rote type of memory learning routine, others will be helped by learning or developing skills through a recurrence of tasks that contain variation. For some students, the comfort of a steady, gradual pace of learning is the best way for their unique development.
Music: Software that incorporates music into the learning program can enhance the learning atmosphere by helping to establish a more positive learning state. Certain types of music change brain wave patterns, improve memory, release tension, increase concentration, help develop rapport, and provide motivation and inspiration, all the while incorporating sensorimotor routines and providing structure to the learning environment.
Social Interaction: Some software is aimed not only at the individual, but also at groups of students to help incorporate and promote natural social interactions among the students.
Hulet Smith, OT
Rehabmart Co-Founder & CEO
ws
