Throughout my years of teaching, I have come across a few students who have been identified with a development delay within their cognitive functioning. A developmental delay is usually diagnosed for a child under the age of 8 years, and it is not always clear as to why there may be a delay within a child's development. The condition is usually for those who have a significant delay in both processing and development, and the delay would pose serious consequences to the educational development of the child, if special intervention is taken to address the issue. These children show specific skill deficits and delays in language, perception, meta-cognition, social, emotional, and or motor skill development. It is important to address these children in their primary years of education, to help eliminate the delay with proper attention and intervention.
To identify a developmental delay within a child, several assessments can be done. Within the classroom, the homeroom teacher can usually identify a significant delay within his/her literacy program. Utilizing running reading records, PM Benchmarks, Literacy profiles, and teacher observations, the educator can ascertain if a child has a significant delay. From there, the child can be brought to school team, where the SERT can then follow up with a variety of tests and checklists to determine if the child has a significant delay in processing and functioning (e.g., Wechsler Fundamentals Assessment, Processing Assessments, Adaptive Behaviour Assessments, etc.). Once a child has been identified with a developmental delay, he/she can then be put on an accommodated program, that includes the proper supports for the child, including Assistive technology devices and tools.
There are many tools that can be used to support children with an identified developmental delay. The use of an IPad or tablet is a great hands on means to engage students with delays. There are numerous apps that can be downloaded to enhance speech, support writing, promote vocabulary development, and develop reading abilities among learners. Here are a few apps that are available for download to support these learners.
- Learn English 6000 Words - A vocabulary app that combines word development, with pictures, music and games
- Raz-Kids - Now available as an app! Fantastic reading software that include audio stories for its users
- Connect the dots with Dino and Friends - A tracing app that helps to improve dexterity and coordination
- Sushi Monster - A great math app for addition and multiplication skills
For Students experiencing struggles with the written word, Dragon Naturally Speaking, and Dragon Dictation can help students vocalize their ideas verbally, and the software can then translate them into text form. Programs like Kurzweil and Word Q (which I mentioned in my previous blog), or premier tools can translate text into vocalized speech, for those students who struggle with verbal expression and understanding. Information about each of these programs and software alike, can be accessed through the links below.
iPads are awesome for this application because the students don't need to learn keyboarding skills
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