Ten
years ago, Kaiser Elementary School was run by Mrs. Chris Jurenka. My
kids used to go to that school. The students were really diverse in
culture and language. They also had kids who had some kind of
learning disability because of which they were really quiet. Mrs.
Jurenka spent $150,000 to get computers installed in her school. Each
child with a learning disability had a computer in front of him. The
next thing you know, these kids were interfacing with the computers.
Soon, through the computers, they were sharing their feelings and
were actually able to express themselves. The program was further
expanded to teach all the kids English. This was a major success too.
Another,
more recent, instance I can recall is one of this boy who was
featured on 60
minutes.
This little kid was inarticulate. But with a palmtop, he openly
voiced his desires, feelings and wants. All it took was a palmtop –
and I think that shows us something really important.
Kids
with learning disabilities are not quiet because they’re not
intelligent. They’re quiet because they have no real medium through
which they can communicate. Computers are actually solving this
problem. Kids can interface with computers really easily,
irrespective of their disabilities. You can see their true
intelligence through this interaction – you can see what they
think, how they feel, what they want and so much more.
Moreover,
this technology is not one that only a few people can afford.
Computers today, are within everybody’s reach, even if you think
that they’re out of your budget. Public libraries are free over
most of U.S, Canada and Europe. Each public library has sections
dedicated to computers. So if you want to use one, you’re
absolutely free to walk in and use it. Computers aid many kids in
overcoming the barrier of communication. Once this barrier is
eradicated, the kids are able to shine and their true genius becomes
apparent.
For more information go to: http://www.gorichkids.com/
