Disability Name:

Affordances

Constraints

Autism

-Superior skills in perception and attention

-Superior skills in a specific interest

-Able to follow repetition/structure

-Impaired social interactions and development

-Impaired communication

-Restricted interests

-Repetitive behavior

-Atypical eating

-Sensory abnormalities

-Extreme passiveness or hyperactivity

-Poor muscle tone, poor motor planning, toe walking

Pedagogies

Affordances

Constraints

Modeling

-Child is able to see what is being taught

-child could mimic and copy the thing being modeled

- could cause child to explore less

-might not understand what is being modeled or what it means

-may only do what is being modeled, and so will not know how to react in different situations

Using written words a long side of visual representation

-some children with autism show a high interest in letter and words

- some even become early readers 

-Not all letters are equally visible to the reader

-We don't know where a particular individual focuses his gaze (which letter or letters it's on).

Building on the individual child’s interests

-The child will stay engaged and motivated when teaching is based on already established interests.

-These interests are talents that can be built upon to become skills used in future employment.

-Each child has individual interests that can be used to teach school subjects. For example, an interest is sports can be used to teach reading by reading stories about different sports, or math by including word problems about sports.

-There may not be enough staff to effectively teach to each individual child’s interests. It will probably be necessary to have one on one teaching.

-It may take time to find the interest of the child that will be best to build upon. Patience is necessary.

-Also, good teacher parent relationships may be necessary for advice on what the interests of the child are. Some parents may be willing and some may not.

Relationship Development Intervention: a systematic process used to treat classical autism

-Interventions are specific to individuals’ strengths and needs

-Encourages family involvement

-Targets important social skills (nonverbal cues and interaction)

-Incorporates everyday activities into a natural setting

-Breaks large tasks into small steps

-Provides data collection, one is able to see improvement over time

-Is time consuming for the individual, consultant, and family

-Requires that the family be involved

-Requires significant commitment

-Expensive

-If an in-home/school program, it can have a huge impact on life there

Technologies

Affordances

Constraints

Videotape

-child could rewatch as many times as necessary

-non-confrontational

-could have pictures on screen and words and have narrative

-may only do well in the exact situation that is presented in video

-because they are not involved, they may not pay attention for long

Picture This 

-Ideal for creating schedules

-Augmentative communication systems

-Some individuals with autism pay particular attention to a certain color, so some images will be hard to focus on.

-Doesn't teach the student to use his own words.  

-Software is expensive. 

Typing

-Children with severe autism who have difficulties with handwriting will not become frustrated with themselves. They can focus on what they are writing and not how they are writing.

-Teachers will be able to understand what the child is writing and better asses what the child understands and what needs more focus. They can better prepare future lessons.

-Typing can be useful in many computer software programs used to teach multiple subjects.

-Without practice handwriting will not improve.

-A lack of access to computers would create a problem.

I touch with Proloque2Go software

-Makes communication with non-verbal students possible

-Word Prediction

-Sleek & Small

-One-touch vocabulary addition

-Can connect to internet

-Can connect to a printer

-Picture list choice or Grid view available

-Can cut, copy, and paste items while typing

-Can quickly access recently communicated items for the last 15 minutes up to one week back

-Includes natural-sounding Infovox iVox voices for a language of choice

-Long battery life

-Expensive

-Easy to misplace

-Small keys/key pad making it difficult to convey thoughts quickly

-Mastering use may be too intellectually intensive for some students

-If student is wheel chair bound it may be better for them to use a lap top

Personal FM transmitter

-Reduced distracting background noise

-Reduced reverberation and sound distortion

-Reduced listening fatigue

- Improved voice clarity and understanding

-Improved hearing at a distance from the speaker

-Expense

-The headphones may be irritating

-Runs on battery

-May pick up noises that could be overwhelming to user

-May make it more difficult for user to integrate with peers

-aids in communication

-can be used for all ages

-can be used in a variety of settings (home, school, community)

-not complex

-not expensive

-easliy learned by most students

-doesn't improve speech patterns of the individual

-time

- takes little effort to be trained on one

- scalability: up to sixteen messgaes or as few as one

-because there is a 1-16 scale of messages there is dead space on the board when not all 16 are used.

Disability Name:

Affordances

Constraints

Down Syndrome

concrete thinking, love of social interaction

lower than average cognitive ability, developmental delays, speech impairment, shorter limbs, higher risk of heart defects,  lack of fine motor skills

Loving, caring, optimistic

characteristic facial features, high chance of hearing loss,  memory loss

social, create bonds, can be very enthusiastic/ positive 

protruding tongue (speech impairments), thyroid dysfunctions, congenital heart defects, gastroesophageal reflux disease, recurrent ear infections, slowed growth 

Pedagogies

Affordances

Constraints

Skills stations

work on specific skills, does not single out any one person, students work at natural ability level, student can focus on improving one's own ability

not used for learning from other peers, less control of whole class, cannot monitor each station at the same time, possible behavior problems, self motivation is required, lots of distractions

 Small breaks from class & Small doses of each subject

Allows students to have a rest so they will be more focused when you teach, works with short attention spans, can remember more if subject is in small amounts.

 Breaks cut into learning time and amount of material covered. 

High praise and self esteem boosting in any activity

many times student with down syndrome have a lower self esteem,  can make them feel like everyone else, can increase motivation, improve the overall attitude of the student

I don't think that there are any constraints with anything that lifts another student.

Social skills practice

provides an opportunity for students with down syndrome to be able to practice social skills that may not come naturally, they can be fun,  can simulate real life situations, can be applicable to what the student will face for the rest of his or her life

might make kids uncomfortable, they may not take the practice seriously

Improves articulation and communication skills, speaking more clearly and correctly

Protruding tongue may cause added obstacles. students might get frustrated when they are not understood

Technologies

Affordances

Constraints

Crayon Holder

No fine motor skills needed, inexpensive, easy to use, can use more than one color at a time, no electricity necessary

harder to draw a specific picture with, takes time to switch from one crayon to the next, can only be used with crayons or like objects, does not position the hand correctly for fine motor skills

Specialized Keyboard (IntelliKey) 

Flat surfaced, easier to press buttons on touch screen keyboard, button sizes can be chosen, user can program it themselves,  no limit to number of overlays you can program and so it grows with child's abilities, allows independence for child, fun because of bright colours, inexpensive.

 Requires electricity, not extremely portable, is different from regular keyboard and may harm child's ability to use a regular one.

Musical instrument

helps improve fine motor skills, can be fun, helps boost self esteem, helps them to feel like they fit in, improves focus and attention span

could be difficult if it is a hard instrument but something like a guitar could be used to teach a three chord song that could be fun and easy to use

Computer software/learning games

Makes learning something academic fun with cartoon pictures and animations, they may not even think they are learning and instead that they are playing a game, could be used as an award for progress, 

could be noisy, could disrupt class if not in a good area,  student may not want to get off

Talking electronic device or software to pronounce challenging words

Students can feel a sense of independence as they can challenge themselves to reading alone but still have assistence when they need it, added motivation in that it is an exciting process