The children in Dana Romanczyk's classroom at the William Carter School in Boston have severe special needs. They are unable to speak and are in wheelchairs. Yet they can activate a blender in cooking class or tell a teacher they have papers to take home with the help of technology.
At Watertown's Hosmer School, a fifth-grade boy who has reading difficulties works with occupational therapist Beth Lloyd and can participate in his classmates' project on explorers, thanks to a computer program that reads to him.
The schools are part of a movement in education to integrate technology into mainstream curriculum and general classrooms so students with disabilities such as mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy, blindness, and dyslexia can join their peers.
