Autism and Typing

I agreed to my occupational therapist when she complained about how hard it was to find a good typing app for the students with autism.  Most regular typing programs are visually too overstimulating and complicated. 

When speaking to teaching a child with autism to type words/phrases and sentences, “Peck and Hunt” should work here. 👆🏽

If it is possible, I schedule a structured practice on a daily basis. Use a regular set of flashcards(assign 10-20 depending on students’ skill level) and have him/her type on the iPad or laptop computer.  At first, I would focus on teaching the routine of this activity and  gradually allow students to work independently with a longer period of time. 

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Some student may need more distinct “feeling” of pressing the key, in which cases laptop computer works better than the iPad. 

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For those who need physical prompts to find the letter from the keyboard, it may be necessary to cover up some part of the keyboard to begin with. 

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I am a passionate and dedicated special educator and a BCBA. I hope to work together by sharing great ideas and a love for teaching! ❤️

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