A Computer is Not a Luxury

By Margaret Simons, Ph.D

I wanted to write this piece earlier today but my daughter, Rachel, was using the computer and she wouldn't get off until her story was finished. We just returned home from a family trip and Rachel wanted to write about what she did on her summer vacation so she could show her second grade teacher in September. I use the computer because I prefer the ease of editing and the neatness. Rachel uses the computer because she has developmental apraxia (verbal and motor) and this is the only way she can effectively express her thoughts on paper.

Four years of intensive OT have helped Rachel's fine motor skills considerably. She can print all the letters and numbers and most of them are legible. If she must concentrate, however, on the form of what she is writing, she will not be able to concentrate on the content. This is where the computer is indespensible. Rachel took her spelling tests last year by typing the words on the computer. She got most of the words correct and usually missed the others by only one letter (she has a great deal of trouble with phonics). If Rachel had had to write the words with a pencil, she could not have concentrated on the spelling. The result would have been that the teacher would have thought Rachel could not spell. This was obviously not the case.

Rachel also used the computer to write stories like the other first grade children. She started the school year with an IEP goal that said the computer should be used for 50% of written work. It took me a while to catch on and correct the wording (I just love calling for additional IEPs, doesn't everyone?). By the last third of the school year the wording had been changed to "Rachel will use the computer for 100% of all creative writing." The difference was radical. During the first semester Rachel's Journal contained only scribbles. Those of the other children in her first grade class had stories and handrawn pictures. After the change in wording of the IEP goal, Rachel "wrote" a story almost everyday and illustrated them using the computer as well. Her self-esteem improved as did her attentiveness in class. Rachel could read a story she wrote or a description of an event or object instead of relating it from memory, a task which was difficult due to the apraxia. This enabled Rachel to feel more a full member of the class and helped her classmates to relate to her in the same way.

The computer software which has enabled Rachel to "write" so well is a word prediction program called Co:Writer (which is used with a word processing program). It is available only for Mac and was developed by Don Johnson, Inc. It is perfect for today's children who are taught to use inventive spelling as part of the whole language curriculum. This means that the young child spells the words the way the child thinks they are spelled (including leaving out letters if they can't figure out which letters should be there). As an example, apple might be spelled."apl" Using Co:writer, Rachel needs to type the first letter of the word. The program then lists between 3 and 15 words (the number of alternatives is set by the teacher) which begin with that letter. Moving the curser to each of the words results in the computer speaking the word so reading is not necessary.

The program is also very smart and learns which words are used frequently by the student. These are placed at the top of the list. When the student hears or reads the correct word, she double clicks on it and the word is entered into the sentence. If Rachel has written a few stories about apples, the first three choices she might see when she types an "a" could be apple, airplane, and arm. She could listen to the choices and click on the correct one. This procedure also helps in auditory and visual processing, spelling, and reading. Most importantly, Rachel was able to write a story which contained her thoughts and ideas of which she has many. Her creative writing was presented in a legible form with correct spelling which could be read by Rachel or the teacher. It could be displayed on bulletin boards and not look too different from that of the other children. The computer has enabled my daughter to do the same writing assignments as her classmates and allowed her to be proud of her work and her efforts.

This year we hope to make use of another piece of technology which will work with the computer. Rachel's school now owns a scanner which we hope to use to scan class and homework worksheets into the computer. Rachel will then be able to complete the sentences, answer questions, and color in pictures using word processing and painting programs. She has already tried it on a math worksheet on which she typed in the correct numerical answer and then used the number key ( 2=red, 3=blue, etc.) to color the picture using the paint program. We used Clarisworks because it includes both functions in the same program.

For Rachel, the computer is not a luxury, but rather a necessity. I am grateful that the technology exists and that word prediction software exists. My goal for this school year was to convince the school district that Rachel needs a laptop so that she can do her writing at her desk like her classmates instead of frequently moving to the back or side of the room where the desktop computer is located. If the class sits under a tree to write a story about Autumn, Rachel should be there too with her laptop. Computer education is desirable for all children today, but for some it is essential. I am pleased to report that our school district finally agreed with us and Rachel's laptop was delivered just before the winter recess.

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