My brother visited with his son over the holiday break. His son has special needs. He attends a regular public high school but does have an IEP. My brother commented how good text messaging is for his son. The physical act of texting helps with his son's fine motor skills. The mental task of thinking of words and typing them out on the mobile keyboard is another useful skill. His son might not sit at a keyboard and type out a paper, but he will text his friends. I told my brother that when I was a district technology coordinator I read lots research about technology and education it was pretty clear that technology can be very useful for the special needs population. I must admit that I never thought of texting as a way to help out special needs students. My brother also stated that he wants to get his son an iPhone so he can use Dragon Dictation. His son uses Dragon Naturally Speaking at home and at school on a desptop computer. My brother thinks having a mobile version of Dragon would be helpful for his son's development.