A presentation on assistive technologies for ITEC 7530.

1. Assistive Technologies
Enhancing your Students’ Educational Experience
Jennifer Whitlow
ITEC 7530

2. “Education is the most powerful weapon
which you can use to change the world.”
– Nelson Mandela

3. Individual Education Plan (IEP)
Individual Education Plans are written development plans
designed for each student who qualifies for special
education through collaborations between parents, teachers,
guidance counselors, and other school officials (Cennamo,
Ross & Ertmer, 2010, p.151).
IEPs may included the use of assistive technologies.

4. Individual Education Plan (IEP)
According to the KidsHealth website (2010), students may
require an IEP for the following reasons:
Learning disabilities
ADHD
Emotional disorders
Cognitive challenges
Autism
Hearing impairment
Visual impairment
Speech or language impairment
Developmental delay
Resource: http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/learning/iep.html#

5. What is assistive technology?
As stated in the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), an
assistive technology device is “any item, piece of equipment
or product system, whether acquired commercially off the
shelf, modified or customized, that is used to increase,
maintain or improve the functional capabilities of individuals
with disabilities” (IDEA 300.5).
Assistive technology can help teachers meet one of the goals
of IDEA – that of ensuring that each child is educated in
the least restrictive environment possible.

6. Identifying the Right Assistive Technology
The National Center for Technology Innovation and Center
for Implementing Technology in Education suggests a six-
step process for identifying the best assistive technology to
enhance a student’s educational experience, and suggests
that the identification process be done as a team (“Help for
Young Learners: How To Choose AT”).

7. Identifying the Right Assistive Technology
Step 1: Collect child and family information. Begin the discussion about
the child’s strengths, abilities, preferences and needs. What strategies
have been found to work best?
Step 2: Identify activities for participation. Discuss the various
activities within the environments that a child encounters throughout
the day. What is preventing him/her from participating more?
Step 3: What can be observed that indicates the intervention is
successful? What is his/her current level of participation and what
observable behaviors will reflect an increase in independent
interactions? What changes (e.g., number of initiations, expression
attempts, responses, reactions, etc.) will you look for?

8. Identifying the Right Assistive Technology
Step 4: Brainstorm AT solutions. With the activity and desired
outcomes established, you are now ready to discuss possible solutions
with educators, family members, physical therapist, and other people
with whom the child interacts on a weekly basis. Do the child’s needs
include supports for movement, communication and/or use of materials?
Start with what is available in the environment (what other children
use) and consider adaptations to those materials. A range of options
that address specific support areas should be considered.
Step 5: Try it out. Determine when the AT intervention will begin and
create an observation plan to record how the child participates with the
AT supports.

9. Identifying the Right Assistive Technology
Step 6: Identify what worked. Selecting AT interventions is a
continuous learning opportunity. Reflect on your plan and discuss what
worked. What didn’t work? What should be done differently? Make
modifications as needed and try again. Only by trying the AT can
certain factors such as technology placement, amount of force,
mounting, number of choices, etc. be determined and adjusted.
Resource: http://www.ldonline.org/article/8088/

10. Types of Assistive Technology
No-Tech: Low-Tech: High-Tech:
Detailed outlines Video taping class E-readers
for note taking lectures Touch screens
Colored paper/note Talking calculators Speech recognition
cards Captions software
Magnifying glasses Assisted listening Word processors
Braille devices Computerized
Picture Video description testing
boards/books Switch controlled Progress monitoring
Large text books devices software
Graphic organizers

11. Types of Assistive Technology
Assistive technology for working with students with ADHD:
Talking calculators (ex. Independent Living Aids)
Electronic math worksheets (ex. MathPad)
Audio books and E-readers (ex. Audible.com and Kindle)
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software (ex. Quicktionary 2 Scanning
Translator and Readingpen Basic Edition)
Speech synthesizers and screen readers (ex. ClassMate Reader)
Portable word processors (ex. Fusion and QuickPad)
Speech recognition programs (ex. Simply Speaking and ViaVoice)
Word-prediction software (ex. Aurora Suite and EZ Keys)
Resource: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/6585.html

12. Types of Assistive Technology
Assistive technology for working with students with auditory
disabilities:
Personal frequency modulation systems
Infrared systems
Induction loop systems
One-to-one communicators
Text telephones
Computerized speech recognition
Closed-caption TV
Note taking
Resource: http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/treatment/assist_tech.htm

13. Types of Assistive Technology
Assistive technology for working with students with mild learning
disabilities:
Note-taking
Video taping lectures
Word processing software
Online learning environments
Multimedia tools
E-Readers
Electronic Schedulers
Resource: http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Assistive_Technology/

14. Downside to Using Assistive Technology in the
Classroom
According to the Assistive Technology Training Online
Project (2005), there are several issues with using assistive
technology in the classroom:
Lack of information about the availability and use of devices
Lack of training and technical assistance in the operation and
integration of the technology into the curriculum
Lack of computer access due to incompatibility of old and new
technologies
Assistive technologies often require maintenance, repair, and upgrades
Costs (training, purchasing technologies, maintenance, repairs, and
upgrades)
Resource: http://atto.buffalo.edu/registered/ATBasics/Foundation/intro/introtrends.php

15. Support for Teachers and Administrators
The Georgia Project for Assistive Technologies (GPAT) provides
professional learning through meetings and conferences that
address the needs of special education teachers and administrators
in addressing the assistive technology needs of students with
disabilities. These include the Statewide AT Consortium and the
GPAT Summer Institute. (http://www.gpat.org/Georgia-Project-
for-Assistive-Technology/Pages/AT-Meetings-and-
Conferences.aspx)
Other online resources such as, the Equal Access to Software and
Information (EASI) site provides webcast interviews, articles, and
other resources for educators to learn more about using assistive
technology - http://people.rit.edu/easi/.