Taking AT away

Hello readers,

I am usually against people ranting online as it seems pointless and distasteful; however, in this case, I am going to go on a little rant as it relates to the importance of assistive technology and how it truly can change someone’s life. 

One of my students (my favorite student if I was allowed to say so) is no longer at my school and has moved to a different school board. During our time together, we practiced reading strategies, writing skills, basic Math skills, life skills and spent many hours laughing, joking and learning together. This student of mine is someone who many underestimate on a regular basis based on her language barrier (her speech is difficult to understand if you don't know her well) and her cognitive delay. I will admit, I underestimated her at first before I got to know her. 

Luckily, it did not take long for this student to get her hands on an ipad to use in all of her classes and it was hers alone. She didn't seem to use it much last year or even in the beginning of September. She would look at pictures of her favorite band and listen to music using her ipad, but beyond that, she really did not take much interest in it. This student would receive one-on-one Resource support with me on a daily basis, so I took the opportunity to show her ways in which she can use certain apps to help with Math assignments, writing tasks, organizing her money and budgeting, ways to present her projects to her class and so on. Each day, she would become more and more excited to learn about the apps and practice using them on her own. One day, she came into my room and I could tell she didn't need my help anymore when it came to using BookCreator. Her teaching assistant made it clear she really did not understand how to use the application, so my student showed her how. I watched as she presented her the project she made for her Social Studies class, where she took pictures of her entire community and described the importance of each place. She showed the teaching assistant her biography of her favorite artist including pictures, video and text describing the person of interest. She even showed how she made a collection of "silly Ms. Munroe" pictures that she had secretly taken of me when I was teaching other students. She made a book for me without our knowledge and it was very sweet. To sum things up, this student not only learned how to use the apps that I showed her, but she was able to use them independently, teach others how to use them and even participated in sharing her projects, assignments and thinking with the rest of her class as an independent learner. She was proud of her accomplishments and surpassed what I thought she was capable of along with many other colleagues. 

Having access to this ipad really changed her life and it was the first time I saw such progression in such a recognizable grand scale. I wish I could end this story here, on a positive note, but that is unfortunately not where the story ends. This student moved unexpectedly and by no fault of her own she was forced to change school boards. This student does not have her ipad any longer. She has to make do without it as it does not travel with her automatically. I understand why and it’s not to say she won’t get one, but it hurts to know that she is expected to do without for the time being. It breaks my heart that she is gone and it truly is a shame that she does not have what she needs to be independent and succeed. This student is resilient and strong and I know she will do well no matter what, but I hope that her ipad is returned to her so she can have what she deserves and needs to be the girl I have come to love and miss.