Joselin Bautista

Professor Jennifer Rodrick

English 115

September 25, 2018

Can technology help?

The topic whether technology is good or bad has been going on for a long time. It either

shapes our identities in a positive or negative way and it either helps a person or doesn’t. This

debate can go on forever because everyone has a different view on it and always will. Everyone

today uses technology including children. A lot of parents don’t even like it but others do

because it teaches their children even before going to school. Children are learning what they

will be learning at school, for example their ABC’s, animal names, and sounds. Although many

argue that technology can be negative because of the many hours of use, it is a true fact that it’s

not that way at all, it’s actually very helpful especially for those with disabilities and children

who have a lack of talking to others and even learning.

Technology can really help children with disability. It can really help them with being

social with another person. For example, Gus a 13-year-old boy had a deep conversation with

Siri for quite a while. In the article, “To Siri, with love: How One Boy with Autism Became BFF

with Apple’s Siri”, the mother, Judith Newman of the 13-year talks about how his son, Gus, talks

to Siri and has conversations with it like she’s never seen him do before. She then says, “My

son’s practice conversation with Siri is translating into more facility with actual humans.

Yesterday I had the longest conversation with him that I’ve ever had.” (Newman, 631)

According to Judith, her son learned to be more talkative with the help of Siri which is Apple’s

assistant in the iPhone which in this case is a kind of technology where in this case was helpful.
 All of kids are being born with disabilities every day and a lot of them have trouble

learning. A lot of new apps are being helpful with these types of children. In an article named,

“Computers empower students with special needs” it states “Students with disabilities may

develop a positive attitude to learning through the use of computers. This development has been

observed from cases where intellectually disabled children have improved their language

skills through word recognition programs in multimedia format.” (Ryba) This is clearly saying

that children with disabilities have a positive outcome when it comes to studying with the use of

computers. They have even studied over time and have noticed that these kinds of technology

have really helped children with their skills and in this case with their learning skills.

Studies have shown the environment of computers has shown that technology is not only

helpful for social skills but also for individual growth. Though many educators in the past have

had concerns about this technology being negative due to the fact that it can isolate children. In

the article by Ken Ryba states, “The focus on interpersonal skills within the computer

environment is not only important for social development, but it also provides a basis for

intellectual growth (Clements and Nastasi 1988). For example, students with intellectual growth

have learned to follow directions and master basic academic concepts using simplified versions

of the LOGO computer language (Ryba 1998).” (Ryba) Computers have really been helping

students with disabilities with their growth and also their social environment.

Children born with dyslexia have difficulty reading and interpreting words, letters and

even symbols. There is therapy for this but I think that a lot of kids feel so much pressure when

they do these kinds of sessions. Having computer teach children with dyslexia can really help

them with technology and also the skills they should be using every day. In the article

“Microsoft’s OneNote can help dyslexic children read and spell, study finds” it states,
“Microsoft’s OneNote digital notebook has helped dyslexic children improve their reading and

spelling skills in a trial led by a top UK school.” (Plus Company Updates) We can see that not

only do these technologies help children with social schools but they also help with their reading

and spelling. It also states “The children made the ‘normally expected rate of progress’ on

processing speed, but OneNote had given them ‘more strategies to apply’ during resists of this

particular part of the test, which was seen as a positive development.” (Plus Company Updates)

According to this, it has been tested and it has been proven that a lot of children increase their

skills by this OneNote notebook that is digital.

As technology begins to grow and children are being born with disabilities, a lot of

parents have trouble on knowing how to teach their child everyday things. The picture below

shows a little girl who may have a disability and she’s learning on her iPad; most likely she’s

learning before even going to school. There is a lot of kids who aren’t allowed in certain schools

and their parents have to teach them at home and I believe technology has been really helpful

because they are learning themselves instead of someone else helping them. They are learning

from their own mistakes. Technology has giving us so many opportunities to teach those having

trouble learning.
Citations:

Newman, Judith. “To Siri, with Love.” 2014. The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfunction.

Ed. Melissa A. Goldthwaite et al. 14th ed. New York: Norton, 2016. 268-33. Print.

Ryba, Ken, et al. "Computers empower students with special needs." Educational Leadership,

Oct. 1995, p. 82+. Expanded Academic ASAP. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

"Microsoft's OneNote can help dyslexic children read and spell, study finds." Plus Company

Updates, 13 Feb. 2017. General OneFile. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.