Abstract:

Digital Technologies are much more than tools; they structure new ways of thinking, learning, behaving, relating and building knowledge; they reach not only the physical level but also the sensory, brain and socio emotional levels. This paper aims at investigating the reading and writing acquisition process of a quadriplegic child who receives home classes in which computer and technologies are used as learning mediators. To analyze this process qualitative methodology was chosen, in the form of participatory research. The laws that regulate the educational assistance at hospitals and homes and the pedagogical practice of this teaching form are presented, as well as a theoretical review about spinal cord injury (quadriplegia), the benefits of the use of technological resources in learning focusing on assistive technologies and the use of information and communication technologies on people with physical disabilities’ education. The research results’ suggest that the use of computer in the reading and writing learning process allows the child/person with physical disability to be subject of his/her own learning, which through nondiscriminatory trial and error guide his development process.

Keywords:

Reading and writing, home educational assistance, assistive technology, physical disability.