One of the first apps developed for Apple's iPad was called iMean, a program that helps people with autism communicate by turning the screen into a large keyboard, allowing the speech-challenged to get across their ideas more effectively.

That application and dozens of others developed for autistic needs are listed on the website of the national nonprofit Autism Speaks. After Monday night's Braintree School Committee, four developmental teachers at Flaherty Elementary School can now take advantage of the cutting-edge technology to help them educate local children with autism, thanks to a donation of four iPads by parents involved with the Braintree Autism Network for our Daughters and Sons.

Flaherty, its staff and students are "lucky to have parents with vision and passion," principal Mary Struzziero said on Monday. "The iPad with its touch screen just makes [education] go and go and go."

Donna Wise, a teacher in the school's developmental program, said she has her own iPad that she has been using with students to great effect, helping support the curriculum and differentiate among skill levels. "This is quite an incredible gift," she said.

Explaining the iPad's functions and how BANDS got together on fundraising, parent Dena Vardaxis began to cry, saying that as an extra tool the tablets will reach students "in ways maybe they haven't been reached before and continue their great work."

School Committee member Tom Devin said he would send along some Apple contacts to the Flaherty program who can help develop the use of iPad apps, and Pam Kiley suggested the teachers apply for grants from the Braintree Fund for Education to help pay for some of the more expensive software.

"They say the best gifts come from the heart," Kiley said.