Tech gifts give kids a voice

NON-verbal students at the Ballarat Specialist School were presented with thirteen new iPads to assist with learning and communicating last week.

Thanks to Victorian not-for-profit State Schools’ Relief and their philanthropic partners Gandel Philanthropy and Bank First, 350 new iPads are being gifted to non-verbal kids at over 80 schools around the state.

Ballarat Specialist School teacher Caitriona Ferrer said the technology will be life changing to some.

“We’ve struggled to get some of the kids iPad’s through NDIS funding so it will be amazing for them access wise,” she said.

“We’re always trying to figure out what the kids like and need, but when you have a system like this it makes it a lot easier.

“The aim is that these kids aren’t stuck in the corner, they have a voice and can tell us what they need.”

After applying for the SSR program, Ms Ferrer said they were happy that a great deal of their high-priority students would receive iPads.

“With some of the students, the NDIS planning will take too long so this would support them in getting it faster,” she said.

“It’s really important that we’re getting new iPads as well because it means we can run the newest version of the communication apps.”

The program was rolled out initially in 2019 with 191 iPads gifted and after proving successful, continued to grow and almost doubled its reach in 2021.

State Schools’ Relief CEO Sue Karzis said providing non-verbal children with a tablet enables them to have their own voice and ensures they don’t get left behind.

“We provide for the student not for the school and if they leave the school it’s theirs to take because for us, it’s about providing a voice for these kids outside of school,” she said.

“We do have government funding for some of our programs, such as providing uniforms which we do here as well, but not the iPads, so we have to find that money somehow and hope to raise awareness so we can provide even more iPads around the state.”