special needs and gadgets

[kubani1]

Maybe this is the wrong place to ask, but here goes:

Does anyone know about information in regards to special needs adults and the use of ipads and or other tablets and computers?

I live and work with adults with special needs as part of a Camphill Community. In a couple of months we are going to have a conference on social integration and there was a wish to include the growing use of technology and how we can safely and appropriately support it......

because i am more technically savvy than say, most of the rest of the community, i have been asked to try and give a talk, yippie.

the problem is, there is a plethora of information about children and technology, but nothing i can find about adults.

i need to address safety concerns and positive ways of utilizing new technologies for the benefits of the adult. and just to be more clear, i am more interested in mental/learning disabilities than physical disabilities, most of our people can speak and move and many can even read and write, although not necessarily at an "normal persons" level.

thanks

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

Honestly, dealing with a mentally handicapped child, and enteracting with older mentally handicapped adolencents and adults, introducing them to social networking is a bad bad idea. Unless they are high functioning, they don't comprehend the ideas of safe computing/using the internet. IF you supply them with an email address there is a very very high chance of them falling victim to fraud ect. If you care about these people, help them develop interpersonal skills before putting them on a computer or tablet.
Honestly, technology used for handicapped people should be used as a learning tool or an aid to life, not as a means of social engineering and intergration.

 

[kubani1]

Honestly, technology used for handicapped people should be used as a learning tool or an aid to life, not as a means of social engineering and intergration.

I agree completely, but it isn't always so simple. We have an issue with adults with special needs starting to come to us who are already involved in social networking, and the problem is only going to become more common.

The problem is, if we don't have a solution in place when vulnerable adults come to live with us, parents often try to substitute that for us. the issue in the past was with TV's. Long before i started working here, many of the houses had no TV's, it was seen as very anti-social, and people would go to cinema and the likes instead, but parents wanted their children to have a TV, so parents bought TV's for their kids to put in their rooms. Which is even more anti-social than a TV in the sitting room. So, we have TV's, we watch stuff together, and we can monitor what they watch to make sure it is appropriate. Like one guy who will watch scary shows, even though it gives him nightmares and then he cannot sleep, by having TV in a public space, we can monitor that, by having TV's in the houses, parents don't find the need to provide one for their child's bedroom (although if they want one, they do have the right to one).

The new problem comes with all sorts of devices and gizmos that are small and people can have in their rooms. I work with adults, we cannot just tell people that they cannot have these things, but at the same time I need to ensure that they are safe from scams and hardcore pornography and phishing and all sorts of stuff, because despite being adults, they can put themselves in a lot of danger. I need to find a way to allow a positive use of the internet that is safe and appropriate, but also offers them the privacy and dignity they need.

The question is, how?

I have also been looking into sites like http://www.safesearchkids.com/google-kids.html

This would be great, if it wasn't plastered all over that it is for kids, some vulnerable adults don't like the idea of using a kids search engine, even though they need the same safe search results.

I was also wondering if certain tablets and stuff are easier to safe guard for use. I have never used a tablet, although I would love to have one for no particular reason.

I don't know, I'm just hoping someone has some good ideas, cause I'm kinda stuck and feel that there has to be a more creative and age appropriate way to "child proof" personal computing for adults.

 

[hanoverphist]

considering the adults youre working with are at child-level development, you should be able to use the same tools for tablets and computers. have you thought of calling any of the companies the develop the childrens versions you like and ask them about a reskinned version that isnt all kidsy? also, get a good net nanny software to filter the hell out of the content available online. you should be running a decent server/ firewall as it is.

 

[Ns1]

my friend is a autism behavior analyst

based on the stories that he has relayed to me, using an iPad as a weapon would be the most likely scenario.




sooooo I guess it depends on the special need