This document discusses assistive technology and its use for students with disabilities. It defines assistive technology as devices that help people with disabilities perform tasks. Assistive technology promotes greater independence. The document also discusses inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms, the concept of least restrictive environments, common disabilities seen in students, examples of assistive technologies for different disabilities from low to high tech, and reference pages for further information.
2. What is Assistive Technology?? Assistive technologyor adaptive technology(AT) is an umbrella termthat includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and also includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using them. AT promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to or changed methods of interacting with the technologyneeded to accomplish such tasks.
3. Assistive Technology Inclusion-The first and most current meaning, as defined by UNESCO, involves the "transformation of schools and other centers of learning to cater for all children" and recognizes that many currently marginalized groups (such as religious, racial, ethnic, and linguistic minorities, immigrants, girls, the poor, students with disabilities, HIV/AIDS patients, remote populations, and more) are not actively included in education and learning processes. All students can learn and benefit from education. Schools adapt to the needs of students, rather than students adapting to the needs of the school. Individual differences between students are a source of richness and diversity, and not a problem. The diversity of needs and pace of development of students are addressed through a wide and flexible range of responses (so long as those responses do not include removing a student with a disability from a general education classroom).
4. Assistive Technology Free Appropriate Public Education, or FAPE, is an educational right of children with disabilities in the United States that is guaranteed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act(IDEA). Under Section 504, FAPE is defined as “the provision of regular or special education and related aids and services that are designed to meet individual needs of handicapped persons as well as the needs of non-handicapped persons are met and based on adherence to procedural safeguards outlined in the law.” Under the IDEA, FAPE is defined as an educational program that is individualized to a specific child, designed to meet that child's unique needs, provides access to the general curriculum, meets the grade-level standards established by the state, and from which the child receives educational benefit.The United States Department of Education issues regulations that define and govern the provision of FAPE. To provide FAPE to a child with a disability, schools must provide students with an education, including specialized instruction and related services, that prepares the child for further education, employment, and independent living.
5. Assistive Technology As part of the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the least restrictive environment is identified as one of the six principles that govern the education of students with disabilities and other special needs. By law, schools are required to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment that is appropriate to the individual student's needs. "Least restrictive environment" means that a student who has a disability should have the opportunity to be educated with non-disabled peers, to the greatest extent appropriate. They should have access to the general education curriculum, extracurricular activities, or any other program that non-disabled peers would be able to access. The student should be provided with supplementary aids and services necessary to achieve educational goals if placed in a setting with non-disabled peers. Academically, a resource room may be available within the school for specialized instruction, with typically no more than two hours per day of services for a student with learning disabilities.
6. Mild/High Disability Mental Retardation Anxiety Behavior Issues in Children and Adolescent Autism Spectrum Disorder Speech or Language Impairment Hearing Health and Disorders Child and Adolescent Depression Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Characteristics: The following characteristics will vary from one student to another but are generally the same across the categories of mild intellectual disability, emotional disturbances, and learning disabilities. They are clustered under psychological, educational, and social characteristics.
7. Technologies (Mild/high Disability) Hearing Impairment All Hear Systems - classroom amplification. Teltex - TTY's, decoders and signaling devices. Deaf Mall - assistive technology. Learning Disability Aurora Systems - software for learning disability and dyslexia. Pulse Data International - specializes in AT for persons who have difficulties reading print due to learning and/or reading disabilities Autism . Voice Output Communication Aids (VOCAs)-Mild technology
8. Technology Break down "Low" Technology: Visual support strategies which do not involve any type of electronic or battery operated device - typically low cost, and easy to use equipment. Example: dry erase boards, clipboards, 3-ring binders, manila file folders, photo albums, laminated PCS/photographs, highlight tape, etc. "Mid" Technology: Battery operated devices or "simple" electronic devices requiring limited advancements in technology. Example: tape recorder, Language Master, overhead projector, timers, calculators, and simple voice output devices. "High" Technology: Complex technological support strategies - typically "high" cost equipment. Example: video cameras, computers and adaptive hardware, complex voice output devices.
