A new software program could help children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities communicate more quickly and naturally with family and teachers.
The How Was School Today? computer system is equipped with a battery of sensors and recording devices that keep track of a child’s activity throughout the day, and then helps the child turn the information into smooth, interactive speech. Developers and those who have tested the software say it is a first of its kind program that allows children with speech developmental problems to answer questions and provide feedback at an unparalleled speed.
The cerebral palsy speech software was developed jointly by Scottish scientists at the University of Aberdeen, the University of Dundee, and Capability Scotland. It takes information it gathers throughout the day and turns that information into a story using natural language and narration. Children with motor disabilities and limited or no speech can then use the software to talk about things they’ve experienced and even answer questions.
Teachers and other school personnel who interact with the child will have swipe cards that allow the computer to log who the child has interacted with during the day. Teachers can record data about what the child has been doing in class, and the system would even make use of menu barcodes to log what the student had for lunch.
All of the data is converted into short stories about what the child did during the day, which are then placed as icons on a computer screen that the child can key up with a variety of input devices, depending upon their abilities.
Currently, software aimed at allowing communications with disabled children is slow and laborious, and many children and their parents become frustrated with the slow pace and limited amount of information that is conveyed. The developers of How Was School Today? hope their new program will resolve just those issues.
The developers plan to expand the system to use in settings beyond school, and find ways to apply it to children with a variety of disabilities or developmental challenges.
Read:
- Times Online: How was school today? Now disabled pupils can tell the story.
- Nursing in Practice: Software boost for cerebral palsy
- Nursing Times: Speech software breakthrough unveiled
