The Miracle of Boris

We would like to share with you the moving story told by teacher Moran Sivan from the Ofarim School in Haifa. The story is about a child with special needs named Boris (not his real name), and how the iPad changed his life.

 

From a child who walked around the classroom frustrated and crying, Boris became a child who communicates, expresses himself and learns via the iPad, and enters YouTube by himself to find songs that he loves. He even learned many words in English. He became one of the smartest students in the school.

We believe in miracles; they just take some time. In our work with classic autistic students, we believe in miracles, but they usually take a very long time, and the process is long and difficult process until you see little buds of change. Only rarely do you feel the power of a small thing to make such a big and immediate change.

 

My name is Moran Sivan, and I’m a teacher at the Ofarim School in Haifa, a school for students on the autistic spectrum. Some two years ago I was accepted to teach first grade. Our students are very complex, and in order to prepare well for their transition to first grade, we meet the children while still in the kindergarten. We watch them, talk to the teacher, read reports and materials about the students. And then we prepare equipment, learning materials, learning spaces and more – all to suit our students.

 

Boris (not his real name) was one of the children I observed. Boris is a sweet and handsome boy with long hair. He didn’t speak, and would repeatedly make hand gestures that we associate with children on the autistic spectrum. He also wasn’t potty-trained. He wouldn’t cooperate in kindergarten, and the written reports stated that in addition to autism he also suffered from moderate retardation.

 

Boris is the son of new immigrants without financial means. His parents are wonderful, but it appeared that they didn’t fully understand the essence of autism and how to treat Boris. Our school was a new school that had just begun its third year. After the school principal read about the iPad and learned about it, he brought a number of iPads to the school. He gave us iPads, sent us to a training course, and purchased suitable applications. He told us all the time, "Take the iPad home, play with it, and make it your best friend."

 

The principal really believed in the iPad, and really encouraged us to experiment with it and get to know it. I took the iPad, started exploring it, playing with it myself, looking for recommended apps, and experimenting with them. A speech therapist taught me to manipulate and use communication software. I looked for tutorials on the Internet, and found teachers who could guide me. That's how I learned to deliver lessons on the iPad. I tried the iPad all the time with the students in a “trial and error” approach. All the time I kept running through my head what I read about Boris (moderate retardation and few abilities). I told myself that I had to try everything, not believe what I had read, and keep believing in the child. All the time I was telling myself – believe in the kids and your faith will be fulfilled.

 

That’s how I began first grade. In the beginning Boris cried a lot with no apparent reason, and would put his hand in his mouth and bite himself. In the beginning he did not cooperate at all. The learning materials did not interest him at all, and he would wander around the classroom crying and frustrated. We tried to interest him in games, art, and in any creative way possible, but we didn’t succeed in reaching him. Boris continued to bite his finger and whimper for no reason.

 

That’s how I began the year: sweet children, one iPad, and a lot of faith and love. There were children walking around the classroom, not resting for a moment, checking everything, having difficulty sitting, not communicating, and some still wearing diapers. There was a lot of crying and frustration among the children, a lot of frustration among the staff, and some other students who were very similar in their behavior to Boris.

 

I promised myself that I would do everything I could. I believed that slowly but surely, with patience and faith, I would be able to achieve progress with the students. I started working with the kids with the iPad and the TouchChat application, since I perceive myself foremost as a teacher of communication. I believe communication can help children break through their boundaries and cope with the many difficulties they face.

 

We had a regular computer in the classroom, but I could not lead the children to respond independently by showing material on a television screen. Moreover, the size of the computer did not allow me to take it with us wherever we went. When I started to teach using the iPad, suddenly there was a response, and the children pressed on the iPad. We connected the iPad to a TV using Apple TV, and in this way learning became more meaningful.

 

Slowly Boris began experimenting with the iPad. I gave him the iPad so that he could use it by himself. I watched him and tried to guide him. Together we explored the keypad. We learned about letters. Boris began pressing on the keyboard as a researcher. From pressing on letters randomly, Boris began selecting songs by pressing the first letter of the song. From there, he began forming words that were taught in our various lessons. The change was immediate and without a logical explanation. Suddenly Boris realized that he had in his hands a very accessible device with almost unlimited capabilities. A device that allowed him to express his desires, give a high five, learn, show everyone his knowledge, and access numerous games and applications.

 

The change was crazy. Every day we found time for Boris to explore the iPad and learn new things by himself, and he was open for us to learn together as a team. From a child who wandered around the classroom crying, sad and biting himself, we discovered a curious and smart child with outstanding learning and intellectual capabilities. In addition to learning using the TouchChat app, Boris learned how to work on math and language with the iPad. In his free time, he downloaded applications for music, which he really loves, and began creating mixes and music clips.

 

Amazingly, we got to the point where we would watch Boris work, write and play in a music app and not be able to follow him. Suddenly Boris was transformed into a communicative child who could express himself. The moment that moved me the most was during one of the breaks and we were in the hallway without an iPad. Something bothered Boris. He yelled and bit his finger. As part of my attempts to get him to express himself and to understand what was bothering him, I handed him my phone with an open keyboard. He wrote “class” and I replied: “Do you want to go back to class?” We returned to the classroom and Boris was happy. Suddenly I realized that a miracle was occurring in front of my eyes. Boris was able to express himself. He could learn and show everyone his abilities, things that would not have happened without an accessible and convenient learning device. He learned to write functional words and began communicating via the keyboard.

 

From a nonverbal child he began to read words. At the beginning of second grade Boris said "I want an iPad." A complete and moving sentence. From a nonverbal child, Boris began to speak. This tool became so significant for him; he was intrigued by it and learned to write and read. With the help of additional software Boris learned to write on the iPad. We started writing using touch, and then with a pen designed for the iPad, and then he started writing on pages.

 

Boris learned through the iPad to go to YouTube and find songs himself. He is interested in languages. That's how he learned to go into Google Translate and translate into many languages words ​​that interest him. Boris's parents speak Russian. He began to communicate with them in Russian, something they never dreamed would happen.

 

Boris's curiosity helped me as a teacher to teach my students English and songs in other languages. Also typing became a way of life in my class, and all my students learned to write. It's hard for me to imagine Boris’s life if Nachum the principal had not encouraged me to teach with an iPad, and hadn’t helped me organize my lessons as technologically as possible with Apple TV.

 

I'll go back to Boris, who moves me anew every single day. From a child with “moderate retardation” he became one of the smartest students in the school. I always tell myself and everyone else: "Boris is a genius!!!" He learns certain subjects that are appropriate for general children his age, while in English he already knows how to write and read a large number of words. We would not have reached these achievements without an iPad – he would have stayed with his frustration and the stigma that was attached to him. He would have stayed with the label of a child with moderate retardation and low abilities.

 

The iPad generated an instant miracle thanks to its accessibility. If I adapt Churchill's sentence and translate it into my life, I can say: "I never owed so much gratitude for knowledge and communication to one device that is so small and special.” I am grateful for the great privilege bestowed on me in discovering the abilities of a student. I hope that in the future I will be able to implement learning methods using the iPad for other students. The contribution of Athena Fund and its partners is the integration of the iPad into special education; the iPad is a tool for self-expression among special education students, something that would not have happened without it.

 

Thank you dear Boris, thank you dear Athena Fund, and thank you dear iPad for making miracles. I still have the enthusiasm and excitement of a person who witnessed a miracle with her own eyes.

 

Moran Sivan, special education teacher, Ofarim school, Haifa.