assistive technologies system for children with special needs prof. d-r. dragan mihajlov, faculty of...

Assistive Technologies System for Children with Special Needs

Prof. D-r. Dragan Mihajlov,

Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering,Ss. Cyril and Methodius University,

1000 Skopje,Republic of Macedonia,

[email protected]


Whatever you teach you have to consider people with special needs


Assistive technologies have existed from the moment our prehistoric ancestors started using tools


Assistive technologies

Purpose-built hardware or software,used by individuals in order to perform functions that would otherwise be difficult or impossible


Mary Pat Radabaugh,

Director of IBM National Support Center for Persons with

Disabilities

"For people without disabilities, technology makes things easier.

For people with disabilities, technology makes things possible. ”


In Republic of Macedonia the use of assistive technologies

for children with special needs is in a very early phase

We have been developing many systems for different people, supporting different kind of activities

This system is different


Macedonian Assistive Technologies System (MATS) for

children with special needs


Children with special needs have been classified into

several categories:

• mobility impairment,

• sensory impairment (visual and hearing impairments) and

• intellectual impairment (difficulties in understanding, expressing or interacting with other people)


Different classification:

Physical Disabilities

Visual Disabilities

Hearing Disabilities

Cognitive Disabilities and Learning Disorders

Communications Disabilities


Different categories of children with special needs


MATS is a collection of

- conventions, - devices and - services

particularly chosen and applied for helping children with disabilities


Some tools are very simple like cane for the visually impaired


Other tools are very high technology


Rules of Engagements or Disability etiquette

What have we done until now

First step

Sticks and stones may break my bones

but words will hurt forever


Use respectful language

Examples

- Using the term “person without a disability” instead of “normal person”

- Never move a person in a wheelchair unless you have permission from that person

- Do not refer to people as blind, they are visually impaired

- Do not refer to people as deaf, they are hearing impaired


Center for people with disabilities "Open the windows”

- adaptations (magnification, color, sound, keys and mouse speed, ...)

- developing tools that will be in Macedonian language (Braile printer, …)

- developing specialized educational software for students with special needs

. Macedonian alphabet to children with disabilities. First grade math. Macedonian speech synthesizer for visually impaired. Software for learning hand signs for hearing impaired


EU-funded project

AsTeRICS

(Assistive Technology Rapid Integration and Construction Set)


Facilitate access for people with a physical disability to different devices

- personal computers,

- cell phones

- smart home devices

The core of the software suite is provided as Open Source


AsTeRICS contains about 100 plugins like

- speech recognition,

- environment control (KNX, FS20, IR-Trans),

- mouse/keyboard emulation,

- PS3 gamepad emulation

- ... ...


Gerhard Nussbaum


We are proudly working on UNIX and Android implementations of AsTeRICS


Teaching or helping child with special needs is like touching god

assistive technologies system for children with special needs prof. d-r. dragan mihajlov, faculty of...

Documents

special needs children

special needshave

special needsprof

special needswhatever

use of assistive technologies

different people

term person

normal person