(upbeat music) - When a student with complex support needs has significant movement challenges, to the degree that they've not yet been able to manipulate even adapted mouse or use a touch screen, or even use their eyes to have an interface with a computer, then I think we need to think about how the student can direct someone else to do the manipulations that are required in mathematics, whether that's manipulation of tactile objects like little counters, or whether it's the manipulation of pushing buttons on a calculator, a digital calculator, or to move things on a touch screen in a digital simulation related to mathematics.
Because if the student him or herself cannot intentionally make those movements, I think the only option is for them to either do direct another student or an adult support person to make those moves, or for the adult to, for example, press the calculator buttons, and then ask the student "Did I do this right?" to ask the student for confirmation. And that confirmation, again, may need to come through the student's use of an a higher tech augmented communication device. It could be a thumbs up, a thumbs down, a head nod, a head shake.
And that's not an easy access problem to solve, but I've observed it being done. And let me give you an example. For six years, I've supported a team who works with a student who experienced at a very young age, a stroke. So that student acquired a traumatic brain injury that impacted that student's communication skills.
The student has cortical visual impairment, the student also has severe verbal and motor apraxia. So even though he's been getting specialized instruction and all sorts of related services for the past 18 years, he still cannot reliably use a computer or use a calculator. With a very little bit of support at his elbow that does not direct his touch, but rather helps to sort of steady his apraxia, that can be helpful. Limiting the number of choices on a touch screen so that exact accuracy is not important, so that he can touch a large region in the upper or left hand corner, and that means answer A, and a large region in the upper right hand corner, and that means answer B, has proved to be effective for him.
But in math, a lot of it is done really on kind of 20 questions. Okay, John, what's the first step we need to do to solve this problem? Is it put all the unknown terms on the same side, or is it to subtract seven from 10? So look here if it's this answer, look here if it's that answer.
And it's very laborious, which means the number of problems that John is required to do in order to demonstrate mastery is greatly reduced. Other students may have to do 30 problems a night. He may have to do two, because it takes him half an hour, 40 minutes to do it. And I think the last one I would say about that is don't conflate, or don't assume that a student's lack of movement skills means that a student doesn't have the cognitive ability to understand.
Those two things can be vastly different, as you know.
