0 comment Friday, July 11, 2014 | admin
Sprog doesn't have a computer yet - first of all, what was holding me back was cost. However now as there's a huge push to get people online (for good or ill, I do wonder if The Internet is really such a great thing at times) I have been considering it more seriously. This is especially true as he's now having issues doing his homework due to there being a lot of writing involved in doing it, as well as complex reading - honestly, his homework instructions need to be a lot simpler, and equally, unless it's a penmanship homework, I don't want his hatred of writing by hand to be slowing down his education in other areas.
So, we're working on doing his homework via typing/printing and so on, and this of course has brought up the reality of him needing to have his own homework workspace - somewhat free of distractions if possible - to encourage him to to be more independent and confident.
There's a lot of issues with getting a computer at home, however - not the least of which being it has to be STURDY, easy to use, have a few bells and whistles and be portable so sprog can use it wherever to keep him calm - in the car on long trips, in the middle of nowhere. It needs to be fun and yet also functional - it needs to be small enough I can put it away to get him to concentrate on other things (even if he's kicking off about that).
It needs to have a camera, speakers and microphone so sprog can talk to his dad via Skype (the chip didn't fall very far from the motherboard, believe me....) to do homework or socialise and communicate with his dad, play games online with his father, and so on. At the same time, it needs to be easy for us to lock down and make safe to keep him from browsing dubious stuff online (social networking sites, for example, are banned for his use and will be for some time).
The ASUS EEE computer in the photo actually comes very recommended by several adults and teens who have autism - it's apparently a nice little bit of kit, very easy to use, larger than usual keyboard, wide screen, easy to take anywhere and programme with just about anything, from a type-to-speech for those who aren't as verbal to the ability to apparently plug it in with a load of adapted hardware and software.
The best bit about the kit for me, of course, is the price - these little babies are very cheap, actually, and I was surprised to discover there's a few offered on Amazon for all of �100. I had originally resigned myself to trying to access grants for disabled children from various charities and trying to figure out how to get a desktop into my son's room (and house it so he wouldn't climb on it/smash the monitor/destroy the keyboard). However I think I can manage to swing �100 and sort it out myself, then get ex to put all the necessary bells and whistles on the thing for security and fun.
So ex and I (even though we're currently having issues in other areas, we are a united front when it comes to sprog's education) are discussing the possibilities of getting sprog's computer needs sorted. I'm also looking into very sturdy desks and also how to arrange his room so he will have a distraction-free area for working, probably some sort of tent or cubbyspace or something, which means we may have to remove the shelving in his room - it isn't being utilised anyway as he was using it to climb instead! Not that he won't climb the desk but then that just means finding one sturdy enough to hold his weight but we can still get it up the stairs.
On A Mission
So, we're working on doing his homework via typing/printing and so on, and this of course has brought up the reality of him needing to have his own homework workspace - somewhat free of distractions if possible - to encourage him to to be more independent and confident.
There's a lot of issues with getting a computer at home, however - not the least of which being it has to be STURDY, easy to use, have a few bells and whistles and be portable so sprog can use it wherever to keep him calm - in the car on long trips, in the middle of nowhere. It needs to be fun and yet also functional - it needs to be small enough I can put it away to get him to concentrate on other things (even if he's kicking off about that).
It needs to have a camera, speakers and microphone so sprog can talk to his dad via Skype (the chip didn't fall very far from the motherboard, believe me....) to do homework or socialise and communicate with his dad, play games online with his father, and so on. At the same time, it needs to be easy for us to lock down and make safe to keep him from browsing dubious stuff online (social networking sites, for example, are banned for his use and will be for some time).
The ASUS EEE computer in the photo actually comes very recommended by several adults and teens who have autism - it's apparently a nice little bit of kit, very easy to use, larger than usual keyboard, wide screen, easy to take anywhere and programme with just about anything, from a type-to-speech for those who aren't as verbal to the ability to apparently plug it in with a load of adapted hardware and software.
The best bit about the kit for me, of course, is the price - these little babies are very cheap, actually, and I was surprised to discover there's a few offered on Amazon for all of �100. I had originally resigned myself to trying to access grants for disabled children from various charities and trying to figure out how to get a desktop into my son's room (and house it so he wouldn't climb on it/smash the monitor/destroy the keyboard). However I think I can manage to swing �100 and sort it out myself, then get ex to put all the necessary bells and whistles on the thing for security and fun.
So ex and I (even though we're currently having issues in other areas, we are a united front when it comes to sprog's education) are discussing the possibilities of getting sprog's computer needs sorted. I'm also looking into very sturdy desks and also how to arrange his room so he will have a distraction-free area for working, probably some sort of tent or cubbyspace or something, which means we may have to remove the shelving in his room - it isn't being utilised anyway as he was using it to climb instead! Not that he won't climb the desk but then that just means finding one sturdy enough to hold his weight but we can still get it up the stairs.
On A Mission
Labels: Sprog