A Dublin school that uses virtual reality to teach children with autism is seeking more funding for the use of technology in special education.
Setanta School in Greenhills, Dublin 12, began piloting US-based autism learning app Floreo last October.
As a result, the majority of students showed excellent results. With over 250 lessons available, students perform lessons in life skills such as crossing the road, going shopping, and more.
“It’s a great program, but there’s an annual cost to set it up and keep it running,” said Vice Principal Fiona O’Donovan.
“This is very beneficial and I think it would make a big difference if it could be introduced to children from an early age.
“I set aside money to showcase this project, but now that I know how it helps my students, I want to keep it.
“As far as education is concerned, it would be interesting if this were considered for all neurodiverse children,” she added.
The Ministry of Education provides subsidies to schools according to their size. Setanta is a small school with students from north and south Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Meath.
They want to apply for national lottery grants and drive fundraising efforts to keep the program running.
“As the first Irish school to use this app, we are in discussions with Floreo about how we can bring it in line with our curriculum,” said Miss O’Donovan.
Floreo creates a stimulating real-life environment for students and enables teachers to introduce concepts that cannot be replicated in the classroom using role-plays and visual aids.
“One of my men was on vacation around Christmas and he was feeling anxious and overwhelmed going through the airport,” Miss O’Donovan said.
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Children learn important life skills through virtual reality
“We used this program to identify different ways to virtually guide him through the entire process, including handing over luggage and passport control.
“His mom called after the holidays and she was so happy he made it through the airport without any problems or concerns.”
A handful of students couldn’t stand the VR headset, but most responded positively.
Teachers were able to use this app to introduce students to independent life skills that facilitated their participation in the community.
“The world is exactly tailored to our needs. Our commitment is to try to support neurodiverse communities to engage with the world in a more sensory way,” said Miss O’Donovan. Told.
“As educators, it’s our job to make sure they aren’t overwhelmed when they get out into the real world.”
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