A family's experience with Free Software, the Internet and autism

[ Thanks to M. Fioretti for this link. ]

"Ubuntu is a computer operating system alternative to Windows, but free of license costs and well suited to families and schools. When I read this message on the mailing list for Ubuntu Italian users:

"My kids learned very quickly how to use both Ubuntu and the Mac. Chiara is 10 years old, Nikko 12, but he's autistic. I MUST use Windows only because the educational software for Nikko only runs on Windows!!!! Talk about monopolies... what else should I call this?

"I contacted that mom to know more. The result was a really interesting phone conversation in which we also talked about Ubuntu, but mostly of the role that computers and the Internet have in a family with special needs, the general role they could have in society and of some software-related cliches. Here is (obviously with the authorization of Donatella) a summary of that phone call.

"Stop: Are you a software programmer?

Donatella: No, I just learned by myself how to use computers and I am not scared of thinkering with them. I began to use regularly a computer and the Internet in 2000, just to collect as much information as possible about autism, in order to help Nikko.

"Stop: How did it go?"

Complete Story

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