Rugged Panasonic Toughpad tablets have been donated to three Isle of Wight organisations to help children and adults with learning difficulties, with all 25 tablets are now being used at a school, respite centre and holiday home on the Island.
The super tough tablets, usually used by organisations such as the military, utility companies and the NHS have found another ideal use for those with learning difficulties.
Newport’s St George’s School, the only maintained secondary special school on the Isle of Wight for students with severe and complex needs, is using the devices to help its students learn. Also in Newport, Westminster House respite centre for adults with learning difficulties is making good use of the tablets, along with Spectrum Breaks, a Shanklin holiday home for families with autistic members.
Sue Holman, Headteacher at St George’s School, said:
“The young people using them so far are students with high profile needs and so the robust nature of the Panasonic tablets enables them to be used without fear they will be broken. We have found other commercial tablets are seen as toys or leisure articles but the students are accepting these as a form of communication and staff are not over protective in case they are dropped or thrown when a student is highly anxious, frustrated or upset.”
The speech and language department at the school is using the tablets to display symbols to help as speech aids for students. The science department is using the tablets to provide visual information and to help the students write up experiments. One non-verbal student at the school is also using a tablet to capture his handwriting to express himself.
At Spectrum Breaks the aim is to provide an environment where autistic children and their parents can relax and learn whilst on holiday. The Panasonic Toughpad tablets allow autistic children access to the world of modern tablet technology without the need for the constant supervision often required with normal consumer devices for fear of accidental damage.
Colin Pratt of Spectrum Breaks said:
“With the Panasonic devices there is no longer the fear of breakage, so the children can be left alone to explore the device in their own time and in their own space.
“By utilizing the touch screen technology, we can also set-up the devices to display familiar pictures that when touched by the children create a desirable effect, such as playing music or showing pictures. This we hope will encourage the children to further explore the device and become more familiar with the expansive world of technology that we all take so much for granted.”
Although designed for mobile workers in business, Panasonic Toughpad CF-H1 tablets are proving ideal for those with learning disabilities and autism. The devices are touchscreen for easy interaction, rugged to protect against any knocks, drops or spillages and designed to work for long periods on their batteries.
The Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service and Police use similar tablets.
