For Grandparent’s Day a couple of weeks ago, I spent the morning with my grandson, Dean. His first grade class had prepared a song to sing for us. After the musical presentation, they proudly lead all their respective grandparents to prepared artwork and individual lockers. A sense of enthusiasm was evident as the students pulled out their iPads to show the elders all they could do. It was at that point I noticed slight bobbing and cocking of heads accompanied by many uh hums. The first graders were flipping through icons and pausing to stop at one and then another, swiping to the left and to the right. The grandparent’s heads kept bobbing and sounds of the uh hums became more obvious.
Being one of the senior PATINS staff members, I’ve been around to see technology metamorphoses into a variety of different forms. It started with a handful of cause and effect programs, switch access here and rudimentary AAC devices there. There were big CCTVs and various keyboards. It didn’t seem to change very much over time. However, technology today is expediential in how quickly it is surpassing itself. To me that is mind blowing!
Perhaps out of comfort or habit, this senior staff member tends to think “old school”. This old dog sometimes doesn’t mind following through with the same old tricks. It might be as simple as needing a piece of paper to physically hold onto...to connect my mind to something tangible. I’ve realized that many things that have become habit for one may not be an easy habit for others.
I have five young grandchildren and every day they are acquiring knowledge that is new and is truly in its simplest form. I have been fortunate to have acquired a good technology skill set over time and I feel confident in sharing that knowledge with them and with others. In my position with PATINS/ICAM, I receive calls, emails and in person requests for the most simplest things. Often, I remind myself that even what one person sees as simple is another’s struggle to understand or grasp. My takeaway is to never underestimate the simple; it might just be the roadblock that might keep a person from moving forward.
We live in an age where we experience so much in the digital context. Cell phones, the Internet, news and social media, etc. offers immediate access to content that is at our fingertips. Is that tangible enough for us to absorb in a way that we can fully process all of the content? For some, perhaps not.
I’ve bounced around some senior insight, but in that moment of watching the head bobbing and uh humming at my grandson’s celebration of Grandparents, a thought crossed my mind. I don’t think it was the confusion of what the grandparents were seeing and hearing with the iPads. I think it was the amazement of what our grandchildren are experiencing. These first graders made their experiences seem so simple…at least to this grandparent!
Being one of the senior PATINS staff members, I’ve been around to see technology metamorphoses into a variety of different forms. It started with a handful of cause and effect programs, switch access here and rudimentary AAC devices there. There were big CCTVs and various keyboards. It didn’t seem to change very much over time. However, technology today is expediential in how quickly it is surpassing itself. To me that is mind blowing!
Perhaps out of comfort or habit, this senior staff member tends to think “old school”. This old dog sometimes doesn’t mind following through with the same old tricks. It might be as simple as needing a piece of paper to physically hold onto...to connect my mind to something tangible. I’ve realized that many things that have become habit for one may not be an easy habit for others.
I have five young grandchildren and every day they are acquiring knowledge that is new and is truly in its simplest form. I have been fortunate to have acquired a good technology skill set over time and I feel confident in sharing that knowledge with them and with others. In my position with PATINS/ICAM, I receive calls, emails and in person requests for the most simplest things. Often, I remind myself that even what one person sees as simple is another’s struggle to understand or grasp. My takeaway is to never underestimate the simple; it might just be the roadblock that might keep a person from moving forward.
We live in an age where we experience so much in the digital context. Cell phones, the Internet, news and social media, etc. offers immediate access to content that is at our fingertips. Is that tangible enough for us to absorb in a way that we can fully process all of the content? For some, perhaps not.
I’ve bounced around some senior insight, but in that moment of watching the head bobbing and uh humming at my grandson’s celebration of Grandparents, a thought crossed my mind. I don’t think it was the confusion of what the grandparents were seeing and hearing with the iPads. I think it was the amazement of what our grandchildren are experiencing. These first graders made their experiences seem so simple…at least to this grandparent!
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I called Tina and asked her about her first days with PATINS. 
