Special Needs Students Meets Innovation = Success

Funded Oct 15, 2022

If it were possible to express in words alone the impact that the new technology has had on my students, a mere three paragraphs would turn into a thousand plus page book. Due to your generous contributions, my students get to experience virtual reality, 3D writing, and now have access to reliable headphones. Working at a campus with over 80% of financially disadvantaged families, most of my students do not have access to technology that most students take for granted. When the three boxes of technology arrived, I let my students experience the reveal by opening the packages with me. Their eyes lit up as if they were opening Holiday presents. The first item that they experienced was the Oculus virtual reality set.

The reveal of the Oculus proved to be enlightening to me as my students instinctively new where to place the unit in relation to their body. For example, i asked students to describe to me how to operate the device in a form of making predictions. For my nonverbal students, I motioned to by feet, legs, torso, shoulders, and eyes. I received all correct responses from all of them. This is significant in that they all actively participated and and interacted with one another due to the excited anticipation of the device. Due to the device being designed for a single user , I immediately followed with the opening of the 3D writing pens. I modeled how to operate them and all of a sudden, all of my non-writers wanted to engage in writing activities. This led to them copying their names and writing them out on individual mats. Once completed, they all excitedly walked around with their creations as they showed every adult their new skills.

While I expected excitement over the new technology, I didn't expect the ripple effect that they would create in other facets of their learning. About half of my students have behavior intervention plans for a variety of verbal and physical reactions that they have while learning. The new technology has now caused them to manifest new positive behaviors that were otherwise difficult to learn. For example, they all now will approach adults and ask for permission to use various items found in the classroom. The new technology serves as a reinforcer of sorts that allows them to work for a preferred item. The Oculus has also allowed students with behavior goals to remain seated for prolonged periods of time when they otherwise could only remain seated for mere seconds. My classroom has always been modeled on the concept that learning is fun. It is through DonorsChoose and the contributions that were received that we are experiencing a blessing unlike any other.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Perez