The Treloar’s Trust is made up of a school and a college whose main goal is to prepare young people with physical disabilities for adult life by providing them with the skills and confidence to achieve their full potential.
The purpose of the visit was for Mr Brammer to meet with staff, students and pupils at the school and discuss with them the uses of the ipad and how could help the students in their everyday lives.
There were several different topics of discussion exploring different ways that the ipad can impact the lives of the students.
The first issue that was discussed was how to make the ipad can give students a voice with specialised apps.
There was also discussion of how independent living apps can help students to control their surroundings easily with apps that can control lighting, television and music amongst other things in their residential setting. This then gives them a wider sense of independence and confidence to spend more time alone.
The third topic to be discussed at length was how the ipad can be used to enhance learning in the classroom in a controlled way that supports the curriculum.
The discussion group was also joined by some of the Assistive Technology and Therapy staff to discuss the opportunity of running some specialised workshops. Whilst the area of educational use is being followed up by Treloar’s and Apple as part of an on-going ICT Strategy Review.
Some parents commented that using the ipad in such a way that it can be both fun and helpful for the student is very important. Obviously looking cool isn’t everything but it really does give the kids a boost if they are able to use a cool gadget as well as achieve things that before would only have been possible with specialist equipment.
Mr Brammer spent some time after the discussion with the student’s ipad group, which is a school club that is growing in popularity all the time. The student took the opportunity to grill Mr Brammer about the product and make the most of his expertise.
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