New Delhi: Seminar on IT Enablers

Sherston Educational Software, a UK based organization with operations in Chennai and Bangalore, organized a seminar on the use of computer for persons and children with special needs during the Education Fair held at the Pragati Maidan.

Dr Nandini Mundkur, a well-known developmental pediatrician attached to Bangalore Children's Hospital delivered a talk on Learning Disabilities (LD).
She highlighted that boring/uninteresting, developmentally inappropriate schooling curriculums and rigid educational systems coupled with unhealthy competition (ratified by the school authorities as well as parents) compounded the problem of LD. She also blamed the TV, computers and video games as they obstructed imaginative development and interactive communication. She pointed out that important early indicators of LD include difficulties in learning the alphabet, rhyming words, Connecting sounds and letters, Counting and learning numbers. Potentially at-risk children also have difficulty in using scissors, crayons, and paints; remembering the names of colors or dress self without assistance.

She shared her experience of using Sherston Software for teaching children with special needs. The advantages are that these help in concept teaching, providing visual clues and allow graded difficulties in the same class. She has found that it helps in improving attention span. She demonstrated some of the programs.

Dr Vijay Agarwal talked about the way computer technology has over a period of time begun to address the special needs of persons and children with disabilities.
He pointed out that most accessories have to be adapted to suit the accessibility needs. Screen readers for the blind use integrated voice synthesizer and the computer's sound card to output the content of the computer screen to speakers. The most popular of these are JAWS (Job Access With Speech), KeyRead (Junior ScreenReader), Hal Screen Reader and outSPOKEN Ensemble. Screen Magnification helped those with low vision and it combines synchronized magnification and screen reading and is easy to use.

For those with cognitive Disabilities, the ISAAC system provides a small, battery powered cognitive prosthetic assistive device of the size of a pager, can be individualized for the user; and the content may include task steps, directions to/from places, personal information, reminders, prompts/cues to be delivered at specified times or under specified conditions, and more.

There are communication systems available that help the Deaf & Hard of Hearing persons to communicate through sign language and vice versa. For persons who are spastic, are physically incoordinated or neurologically impaired keyboards have been expanded with changing interfaces, or can have large key keys for easy maneuverability, adapted for one-hand use, or miniaturized for people with severe movement disabilities. He informed that most computer operating systems came with accessibility packages in the form of sticky keys, on-screen keyboards and mouse alternatives.

Other alternatives for the mouse are ones that can function on the movements of eyes alone, or foot/head controlled. Speech recognition software like the Dragon Naturally Speaking has made it much easier for "hands free" usage, especially for the visually impaired and the physically challenged

Computers are also being used for Augmentative Alternative Communication, which enhances an individual's communication and interaction with their surroundings with the use of an integrated group of, strategies and techniques, symbols, picture boards, pencil/paper, or an electronic communication device. More recently electronic aid to daily living have made interactions and manipulations of one or more electronic devices such as a television, radio, CD player, lights, and fan etc possible even for the severely impaired.