Assistive Technology- Students with Autism

There are many disabilities known to educators, and one that is often diagnosed is autism. Autism is a growing phenomenon, and has no single known cause. Autism can range from mild to severe, and children with severe autism often times are nonverbal. In the classroom, this can be stressful for teachers because they cannot communicate well with their students. Thankfully, within the last ten years or so, assistive technology has been developed for students like this that has made it possible for them to communicate with others. This technology can be referred to as a communication board.

A communication board is a computer like piece of technology that allows one to record his or her voice, and put it to pictures or words. For children with autism, visual images are incredibly important because they think visually. In most cases for students with autism, a page of pictures will be put into this device, and when they press on the picture, a prerecorded voice will say a word or short phrase that goes with the picture. For instance, if a child is hungry, there might be a picture of food that they can press that will say "I'm hungry" or "food please." These communication devices have been lifesavers in many special education and general education classes. Students learn to use them, and can then communicate with their peers, parents and teachers. Below is an example of a simple communication device.

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