Helen Felker ’12 recently took initiative to aid students at the James E. Duckworth School in Beltsville, MD by fundraising money to help with buying new technology for the school to assist and advance the students’ learning. Apple’s iPads enable students with visual and hearing impairments engage with their lessons in ways they could not have done before.
“50% of the children at Duckworth have autism, and many autistic kids struggle a lot with communication,” Helen says. “For example, I work in a classroom with autistic kids from ages 5 to 6 and most of the focus of the class is in teaching them sign language since they have a huge amount of difficulty in speaking.”
Specific iPad Apps, such as Proloquo2go, can even help non-verbal children communicate their needs to others. By the touch of a picture, the iPad will “speak” a sentence. Helen says “teaching [the students] to communicate for themselves, without having to rely on people who know sign language, is really important, especially since iPads are only going to get more affordable in the future.”
In addition to helping children communicate verbally, “there are apps to teach kids how to point, which is also important for communication, and other apps that teach social skills, science, and math. I think the thing that will make the most difference in education for these kids is the fact that iPads are interactive, which will really help them learn,” says Helen.
As an advocate for children and young adults with special needs, Helen, with the help of Chaila Fraundorfer ’12, designed t-shirts with the Sacred Heart logo and other images to sell for $15 each that have been popular at school and school-related events. So far, Helen has raised $1221 for this great cause.
Interested in helping out Duckworth students? “There are tons of other opportunities for SR girls to help out! I would encourage people to volunteer at Duckworth for Social Action, and Duckworth has tons of other opportunities to volunteer if you can’t do Social Action. There’s a challenge day/field day and other fun events for the kids that always need volunteers! You could also volunteer for the Extended School Year program over the summer.” -Helen Felker
