In EDCI 336, we had the pleasure of having Tracy Humphreys, the chair and executive director at BCEdAcess join our class as the guest speaker. I thoroughly enjoyed Humphreys’ presentation because inclusion and the best practices to ensure inclusion are things that I am quite interested in.

I have heard people say things before such as “oh well I didn’t have iPads when I was in school and I did fine.” While I do see that maybe some folk can get through their education without the assistance of newer technologies, for some, these technologies are crucial in their learning and communication. I would also like to raise the point that, along with technology, education and our ways of teaching have also advanced so it only makes sense to use new technologies as tools for teaching.

Before hearing Humphreys’ presentation, we were tasked with watching a video about a student who uses a tablet to communicate since he is non-verbal. Along with the video was an article that was written by the student where he described how he is affected by his disability and how the tablet helps him. Watching the video of him using the text-to-speech feature on his tablet, and then reading what he had written was very eye-opening for me because I was not (and still am not very) educated on how disabilities, such as the student’s, that cause folks to be non-verbal affect the person with the disability. I had made the assumption that the level that someone is able to communicate is the same or similar to the level of cognitive function that they have. My assumption was proven very wrong with this student’s story as it was clear that he has very proficient cognitive function and can actually form very eloquent and complex thoughts.

This proves just how vital technology such as tablets with text-to-speech features, or any device that one is able to type on can be for students who are non-verbal or who have difficulty with communicating their thoughts verbally. If we as educators were to stick with the old technologies that were once used and thought of as “the best”, then many students with verbal communication difficulties would feel trapped and unable to fully express their complex thoughts and feelings.