Blog Post 12 (I chose to write this blog post individually)

What assistive technologies are available to you as a teacher? Select a few and discuss how they may be useful to you.



The local school district in our area answers the question of what assistive technology consists: According To the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, assistive technology is defined as

"any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially or off the shelf, modified, or customized that is used to increase, maintain or improve capabilities of individuals with disabilities."

The use of assistive technology in the classroom is only limited to how much time and energy we as teachers put into helping those children who are identified with disabilities. There are low tech and high tech equipment that may be utilized for the educational day and beyond. Speaking with a particular student’s parent, former teacher or para-professional can help determine what methods or strategies should be utilized. In certain instances it may be necessary to consult with an experienced professional or specialist about the disability, this can help a teacher gain much needed perspective about what the student is feeling and what technologies he or she might benefit. There are very simple tools a teacher can make very inexpensively that can help with transitions, tasks and behaviors that may be in need of a modification. Visual aids and anchor charts are very simple and easily applied to any subject or activity. The visuals are a reminder to not just the child whom has been identified but serve to assist the other children in the class as well.







The IEP or Individualized educational program team will help the teacher determine the products, tools or programs which may prove useful for educational success. One site the local district offers as a resource is ablenet. The site can be explored and they offer a wide variety of products. If the student is visually impaired or deaf or hard of hearing there are many new technologically advanced products coming down the pipe. One such program is the icanconnect distributed by the FCC (Federal Communication Commission.) The services will be offered to the deaf and blind who are low income and in need of assistive technology. The Braille type machines can run up to $6,000.00 dollars. UltimateNews© contributes news about new technology offered to the deaf and blind.







Assistive technology is ever changing. Some tools are rudimentary and basic in design or implementation, others are costly and complexly constructed. Whatever the technology the IEP team and teacher choose to use, there will be time invested and it will be an experiment of sorts to find the best tool possible in order to move the child toward educational success.