A revolutionary software system which enables children with communication difficulties to take control of conversation has been unveiled at Capability’s Corseford School.
The ‘How was school today?’ system is the first of its kind in the world which uses a combination of technology to enable children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy and learning difficulties to have conversations in a faster, more interactive way.
The system works by attaching sensors to a child’s wheelchair that track the child’s movement throughout the school day. Swipe cards are then used by teachers and carers to tell the system who the child has met and what activity they have been involved in.
At the end of the day the computer then generates simple sentences that can be personalised by the child, such as choosing the order of what is being said. The sentences are then read aloud by an electronic voice giving parents a summary of their child’s school day.
Excitingly, pupils at Capabilty’s Corseford School near Glasgow were the first to try the new system.
Nicole Vallery one of the pupils at the school said, ‘"It made me feel really good about myself and I would definitely like to use it again."
The system is the result of a year-long collaborative project between computing scientists from the Universities of Dundee and Aberdeen and Capability Scotland.
After the promising results and overwhelming support at Corseford , plans are now in place to further evaluate the system to examine how it could be used to support children with different levels and types of impairments.