A basic skill for Children with Down syndrome is to learn to press the Space Bar.
The first two photographs show Deborah using that skill. Deborah is 6 years old in these photographs.
Often using a computer will bring a child with Down syndrome just pure delight
After learning to use space bar the next step is to learn specific keys on the 'qwerty' keyboard.
This is accomplished by children picking out first or last letters in a word.
In this picture Deborah is choosing the appropriate letter on the keyboard.
After learning to pick out letters on the keyboard the next skill is to type whole words.
Here Deborah is typing the word 'drink' and she has just hit the " i " key
Number skills are more difficult for children with Down Syndrome.
These Progams aim to teach the most basic number skills.
In this picture Deborah is using the addition key " + " as she learns that a plus key increases a row and a minus "-" key decreases the row
The role of parents and siblings assisting children with an intellectual disability using a computer is extremely important.
Actually parental and/or sibling assistance is essential if children are to gain benefit from these Programs.
In the next two photographs Deborah is assisted by her sister Katharine.
The next two photographs are of Katharine and Deborah, the first at Deborah’s 30th Birthday, the second a few weeks later at an Event called Light The Night in support of Research for Leukemia.
Both photos are late 2018.