HEAL distributes iPads for Exceptional Students

After witnessing the progress students with autism are making with iPads, the HEAL (Helping Enrich Autistic Lives) Foundation landed the iHEAL – iPads Helping Enrich Autistic Lives initiative. To date, HEAL has gifted more than 350 iPads to Exceptional Student Education (ESE) classrooms throughout Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties.

On Jan. 10, HEAL presented 40 additional iPads to local ESE classrooms, bringing the total number donated to 400. HEAL’s goal is to gift an iPad to every local ESE classroom in northeast Florida to help support local students with intellectual and developmental differences (IDDs). Each iPad comes with a protective case and a $25 iTunes gift card to enable teachers to purchase educational apps for their students.

“HEAL has been assisting our local autism community with grants and resources for over a decade,” Leslie Weed, HEAL founder, said. “For those who are nonverbal, it is their voice to communicate their thoughts, wants and needs.”