My son Joseph is 19 now. He has Dias Logan syndrome, caused by a genetic mutation, which manifests as complex learning disability and autism. I started Show Me as a Community Interest Company for children and young people like him in special schools who can access touchscreen technology, but who typically don’t speak or have very limited verbal communication.
A major challenge in teaching Joseph is that he's not motivated by praise, a pat on the back or a Gold Star. One of the main tasks in working with those with complex learning disabilities is finding motivators to engage them. This generation of young people love touchscreens, but they are often used as pacifiers and to mark downtime. We might give them a touchscreen at break and let them look at YouTube or other apps for entertainment.
Making it a simple process
People need time, energy and patience to learn new skills and adapt to new technologies. It needs to be step by step, with lots of repetition. I gravitated towards working with the teaching community because teachers have the same problems as parents. I want to gather a suite of apps and activities that will work in home, school and community settings.
Parents and teachers will have a short list of apps and settings with clear instructions: Neither schools nor families have the time to scroll through hundreds of apps to find something appropriate. I prefer to work with Android devices, as Apple products are so expensive. Joseph has “drowned” two iPads, so I now buy Kindles. The basic Kindle costs around £30-50 on Prime days and has a protective foam shell. I can buy ten of them for the same price as a new iPad.