St. Louis Public Schools Receive Grant to Provide iPads to Kids in Autism Program

By Editor on Wed, 11/30/2011 - 2:00pm

The St. Louis Public School District has been awarded a grant valued at $10,900 from the Innovative Technology Education Fund to provide iPads in six self-contained autism classrooms serving students in grades 9-12 at Gateway Institute of Technology High School.

Known as the Learning and Communicating Using iPads Project, the District will incorporate the iPads into instructional learning by utilizing applications recommended by Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization, and by providing two full days of technical training for teachers and paraprofessionals by Apple, the creator of the iPad.

“Gateway has worked extremely hard to develop a state-of-the-art academic program to meet the varying needs of students on the autism spectrum. The iPads will aid in lesson comprehension, but more importantly they will provide communication and behavior support so that students can learn to effectively communicate and socialize with their families and classmates,” said Dr. Elizabeth Bender, principal at Gateway Institute of Technology.

Featured as a “miracle device” for autistic children by CBS News 60 Minutes, and Fox News, the iPad is an extremely flexible and mobile teaching tool that readily incorporates research-based effective strategies for teaching students with autism, including visual presentation, predictability, immediate positive consequences, high-interest lessons and video modeling.

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