Sped school in Pasay starts pilot test of ‘autism’ software

If voice-enabled software allowed blind people to “see" and live as productive members of society, a special education (Sped) school in Pasay City is hoping that a US-made software would do the same for autistic Filipino children. P. Villanueva Elementary School in Pasay City recently acquired VizZle, a visual learning software aimed primarily at helping children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), The Autism Society Philippines (ASP), a national non-profit organization dedicated to the well-being of persons with ASD, was able to acquire a technical grant of two full licenses of VizZle. The other public school which will receive the software donation is P. Gomez Elementary School in Manila Aside from hosting Sped centers, both P. Villanueva and P. Gomez are also recognized as centers of academic excellence in the cities of Pasay and Manila, respectively, for regular pupils. The pilot test marks the first that local schools are using the software to support learning and communication of public school children diagnosed with autism. The schools will also get related training for teachers and parents from ASP. The Vizzle training will begin this summer for implementation beginning school year 2011-2012. The school’s computer laboratory, which is comprised of eight used desktop PCs donated by ASP, are connected to the Internet via Globe Wimax. Globe Telecom is also providing a free one-year Internet access to P. Gomez Elementary School. There are currently only 231 public Sped centers in the country with an alarming 25:1 student-teacher ratio. The figure leaves no room for dedicated attention for the unique needs of students which have a mixed host of disabilities such as autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, hearing/speech/visual/physical impairment, among others. Moreover, most of them have outdated, non-functioning computers, and non-existent Internet connection. With the lack of facilities and special education professionals in public Sped centers, Globe and ASP said ICT can help address the problem by allowing easy implementation of differentiated learning across a class of unique learners. VizZle, a multi-awarded visual learning software, has the capability to add video and audio and share lessons across a web-based library. It was created through collaborations with the Monarch Center for Autism and Children’s Hospital Boston/Harvard Medical School. Through VizZle, children with ASD can also use multi-media tools with the help of their parents and makes learning fun since they deliver the visuals, the auditory, and the kinesthetic experience to the students. For instance, an engaging audio recording can read through highlighted words while touch screen allow the children to respond to the programs. There are even mobile applications in the market that teach handwriting through a cursive handwriting game on a tablet PC. VizZle, which is being introducing for the first time in the Philippines, can run on any PC as long as there is Internet connection. Even older PCs can be tapped for this project, Globe execs said. Cristina Estampador, a member of the ASP Board of Trustees who supervised the installation of the VizZle software in the computer lab, said technology has been a great equalizer for the disabled and special children. “We wanted the public school system to embrace to embrace education technology for special needs such as ASD. Technology is here and available. There shouldn’t be excuses to delay this," said Estampador, a former IT project manager with Citibank Singapore who herself has two young sons with autism disorder. — Newsbytes.ph