Communication Creates Connection with Secondary School Peers

Jennah is this year’s winner of the BC Council for Exceptional Children, Yes I Can Award, in the Technology category.   Jennah, a student who received her first technology loan from SET-BC at age 11, is very interested in the power of technology for communication.  Jennah is a non-verbal student with Cortical Visual Impairment and physical disabilities.  She currently uses a Techtalk 8 on loan from SET-BC. 

Last year, in grade nine, Jennah became particularly interested in the computer when peers began sending emails to her Resource Room and her Student Support Worker read them to her.  Jennah's school team sees that technology creates an essential link between Jennah and her peers in secondary school and is committed to providing the best, most inclusive education possible.

This year, a new laptop with specialized software from SET-BC will expand Jennah's communication and literacy skills.  Writing with Symbols and IntelliTools Classroom suite software have been selected for their auditory feedback and picture-generating word processing capabilities. Jennah's current goals, using this new technology, are to increase communication and socialization with peers, family, and the community, to increase her level of independence, and to offer her greater opportunities to make choices.

Jennah looks forward to writing daily correspondence between home, school, and her friends, and writing thank-you notes for herself and her classmates. Digital pictures, imported into the software programs, will support a variety of personalized literacy activities. By the time Jennah graduates from the secondary school system, her goal is to develop a network of connections in the local community and to be able to use technology in independent leisure activities.

Jennah's access to the internet will allow her to receive and send emails.   Messages will be copied and pasted into the Writing With Symbols program and the speech feedback will enable her to listen to her messages. 

Jennah experiences the power of technology daily at home and school.  It is exciting to see the doors technology can open for Jennah.