at this early stage is a ‘social’ activity. A photograph of you together at the computer would work well. For children anxious about what particular activity they will be working/playing on, take a picture of the activity on the screen.
Use computer activities like any other table-top turn-taking game (see Chapter 8 on turn-taking). Remember to keep up a simple audible dialogue as your child is unable to see your face for clues about when it’s your turn. Talk about what is happening on the screen, but leave pauses for your child to respond to what he is seeing and to process what you’re saying.
Always take a look at an activity first before you try it with your child; you need to be really clear about how it works and what happens. You might decide that the spoken/written instructions on the screen may need to be supplemented by picture cue cards, for example if there is a written instruction such as ‘click on the train’, you may need a picture of a train to show your child. You may feel it would reduce your child’s stress to produce a simple picture instruction card for the activity for him to follow in a sequence.
If you’re working on a site looking at facial expressions, have a mirror ready to practise the expression, and maybe take a digital photo of you and/or your child making expressions.
Your child may need a ‘cue’ for when it’s your turn to touch the mouse, so try having a photo of each person using the computer (i.e. you, your child, a sibling) and place the photo in a mouse mat with a wallet pocket, or stand it next to the computer screen when it’s time to change turns.
You may need to supplement the activity with picture cue cards not just for using the computer, but for switching on, saving work and calming down too (see below).
It is only natural that as your child gets older and more independent (again this can only be judged by yourself, but as a rule at least over seven years), these activities can become more solitary, in short bursts, as your child becomes a more self-directed learner. The computer can then become an appropriate leisure activity in supervised sessions.
How long?
If the computer is already very attractive to your child, consider using a visual timer to monitor how long they are engaged with the activity. Starting this practice will make life easier when your child is playing/using the computer independently. Visual timers can be purchased from www.timetimer.com.
A visual timer may also be useful for showing your child that the computer needs five minutes to warm up after having been switched on – a huge source of stress to an impatient child. Seeing five minutes in concrete terms makes the wait more tolerable. Don’t forget to display the timer as part of the activity: switch on, time five minutes using timer, play … (show a picture of the activity). There are some suggested pictures at the end of the chapter (see pp.58–9).
Adaptive hardware
It may be that your child is highly motivated by the computer but is experiencing difficulties and frustration controlling the mouse. Before you start thinking about investing in adaptive devices for the computer try to stay with activities that just use the space bar and arrow keys. These are easier for children to manage when they are first starting to use a computer. If they are able, they will automatically move to the mouse in time. Remember all computers can be customized to suit the user, you can enlarge text, make the mouse pointer easier to see, choose background colours and make the computer talk.
Visit www.abilitynet.org.uk/myway for an in-depth description on exactly how to customize your settings.
For children with significant fine motor skill problems the traditional keyboard, monitor and mouse are frustrating and impossible and you may need to look at alternative tracking devices, touch screen monitors and big key keyboards. Make sure the technology matches the needs and abilities of your child.
Large Tracking Balls
A large tracking ball requires less fine motor control than a standard mouse and is ruggedly built, with separate right and left mouse click buttons to avoid unwanted mouse clicks. Some versions have a cursor trail function to lengthen the cursor’s trail to make it easier to see – ideal for children with visual overload problems. Just as important is the feature in some models that enables the tracking ball and a second mouse to be connected together to allow for joint participation. Other mouse alternatives:
Bigtrack
Discover: Switch PS2
EasiTrax
Inclusive KIDTRAC
Lomak
Microspeed KidTRAC
Microspeed PC-TRAC/MAX-TRAC
My First Mouse
n-ABLER
OPTIMA Rollerball
OPTIMAX Wireless Rollerball
Orbitrack
Single Button Mouse
Small Optical Mouse
SmartNAV 3 Pro
Tiny Mouse
TrackerPro
Traxsys Roller II
Traxsys Roller Joystick II
Traxsys Roller Plus
Traxsys Roller Plus Joystick
Wireless Mouse.
To investigate these options, key into an internet search engine such as ‘Google’ and compare and contrast which would suit your child best. For an instant picture to give you an idea of what the devices look like, key in the product and search in ‘images’.
Big key keyboards
Older children will need to feel confident and comfortable using the keyboard. It may be that, to increase confidence and reduce stress, your child needs larger keys in order to discriminate the letters from each other or you may wish to experiment with high visibility keyboard stickers first.
For keyboards and tracking balls try the following:
www.techready.co.uk (keyboard stickers)
