1. Enhancing Education through Assistive Technology Resources and Instructional Practices to Assist Teachers in Educating Special Needs and Learning Disabled Students

2. Classroom Case Study “What resources do I have in order to help me meet my students’ needs?” Differentiating resources and instructional practices aimed at students with Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), those with varying degrees of visual impairments, and students struggling with a variety of learning disabilities (LD).

3. Overview of Special Education: Legal and Ethical Issues National Association of School Psychologists; Fagan & Wise (2007) FERPA, Section 504, and IDEA These laws have been a virtual civil rights act for the disabled, entitling them to a free and appropriate public education, nondiscriminatory assessment practices, due process procedures, and an individualized educational plan (IEP) for services to be delivered under the least restrictive environment (LRE) concept. No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) Placed an emphasis on student academic proficiency, adequate yearly progress, reduction of dropout rates, improved attendance, and highly qualified educators.

4. Legal and Ethical Issues cont. Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) A written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in a meeting in accordance with 34 CFR 300 (320 – 324). IEPs must include: * Levels of academic achievement & functional performance * A statement of measureable goals * A description of benchmarks or short-term objectives * A description of how progress of the annual goals will be measured and when these periodic reports will be provided * A statement of the special education, related services, and supplementary aids that will be provided * A statement of any individualized appropriate accommodations that are necessary U.S. Department of Education (2010)

5. Legal and Ethical Issues cont. Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) It is required by law that schools provide a “free appropriate public education (FAPE)” in the LRE that is appropriate to the individual’s needs. LRE means that s student with a disability should have the opportunity to be educated with their non-disabled peers, to the greatest extent possible. Student is provided supplementary aids and services if necessary to achieve educational goals. Under the inclusion model, students will spend most or all of their time with non-disabled peers: inclusion is about the child’s right for a FAPE and the school’s duty to accept the child. Wikipedia (2010)

6. Range of Cognitive Skills A disability may interrupt the cognitive process in four ways: 1. It may interfere with a child’s ability to attend to a stimulus, as in a neurological or sensory impairment. 2. It may impede reception of potentially valuable stimuli, as in a visual or hearing impairment. 3. It may disrupt the storage and processing of information, as in brain damage associated with mental retardation. 4. It may interfere with a child’s ability to express his cognitive skills, as in speech disorders and orthopedic impairments.

7. Learning Disabilities (LD) Resources Learning Disabilities Association of America www.ldanatl.org TeacherVision – Family Education Network www.teachervision.fen.com GreatSchools: Involved parents. Successful kids. www.greatschools.org

8. Teaching Students with LDTeacher Vision part of Family Education Network (teachervision.com) When working with special needs and learning disabled students, two terms you’re sure to encounter are accommodation and modification: An accommodationis a device, material, or support process that will enable a student to accomplish a task more efficiently. Modification refers to changes to the instructional outcomes; a change or decrease in the course content or outcome. Learning disabled students are those who demonstrate a significant discrepancy, which is not the result of some other handicap, between academic achievement and intellectual abilities in one or more of the areas of oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skills, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, mathematics reasoning, or spelling.

9. Characteristics of Learning Disabilities Although children with LD may have normal vision and hearing, their brains have trouble interpreting what they see. Processing deficits result in problems with spatial orientation, sequencing, discrimination, and memory. Those with language-based LD often experience word retrieval problems, and in most cases, contributing to later problems with reading, math, and writing. May exhibit poor listening skills, hyper- or hypoactivity, perseveration, disinhibition, and problems with phonological awareness.

10. Creating specialized instructional strategies within a structured environment is key to supporting and enhancing students’ learning potential: Offer learning disabled students a multisensory approach to learning. Take advantaged of all the senses in helping these students enjoy, appreciate, and learn. Instruction must be differentiated & tailored to meet each student’s distinctive learning abilities. Make activities concise and short, whenever possible, to avoid frustration from lengthy projects. Give immediate feedback; establishing a relationship between what was taught and what was learned. Plan to repeat instructions or offer information in both written and verbal formats. Encourage cooperative learning activities when possible.

12. AT can be manual/hand-held visual devices, electronic voice/computer devices, alternative keyboards, audio devices, speech-recognition programs, variable speed tape recorders, word-prediction software programs and internet-based technology.AT compensates for a student’s skills deficit or area(s) of disability.

13. ATs for Specific LDs Word Processors - difficulty using a pencil/pen or confusion when forming letters; removes focus from the mechanical process of writing Tape Recorders – difficulty reading or making sense out of words, struggles with the mechanics of reading; provides freedom to focus on content Word Prediction - offers word suggestions; allows greater freedom of expression when otherwise student would be having a hard time finding the letters to express meaning Text Reading Systems - content appears on screen while the student hears it; reinforces info visually and audibly to promote learning Reading Pens - trouble processing printed words; allows for greater comprehension Concept Mapping – difficulty grasping structure and overall meaning of text passages Speech Recognition – allows students who have difficulty with manual dexterity to “type” text by speaking into a microphone

14. Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Resources Bright Hub, Inc. www.BrightHub.com/Education Children’s Disabilities & Special Needs Information www.ChildrensDisabilities.info

15. Teaching Students with ADHDChildren’s Disabilities & Special Needs Information (www.childrensdisabilities.info) Attention deficit disorder is a syndrome characterized by serious and persistent difficulties in the following three areas: Attention Span Impulse Control Hyperactivity (sometimes) Characteristics often include inappropriate verbal responses, distraction in the presence of background noise, difficulty in sustaining attention for verbal instruction over a period, inattention, and difficulty completing multistep tasks. Beginning in infancy and extending into adulthood, ADHD has continued negative effects on a child’s life at home, school, and within the community.

17. Place students up front with their backs to the rest of the class to keep other students out of view.

18. Encourage peer tutoring and cooperative/collaborative learning.

19. Be creative! Produce a stimuli-reduced study area, while avoiding stimuli that may be too distracting.

20. Make directions clear and concise. Be consistent with daily instructions. Simplify complex directions and avoid multiple commands.

22. Visual Impairments Resources Axistive (2010) www.axistive.com/assistive-technology Council for Exceptional Children www.cec.sped.org Children’s Disabilities & Special Needs Information www.ChildrensDisabilities.info Education World www.educationworld.com/a_tech

23. Teaching Students with Hearing Impairments Hearing impairments are categorized by their type, by their severity, and by the age of onset. The age at which hearing loss occurs is crucial for the acquisition of a spoken language. Over time, the average hearing impaired student shows an ever increasing gap in vocabulary growth, complex sentence comprehension and construction, and in concept formation as compared to students with normal hearing. Signs of hearing problems include: turning the ear toward the noise, favoring one ear over another, lack of follow through with directions or instructions, seeming distracted and/or confused. They will often ask for repeated info and sometimes mispronounce words.

24. Working with Hearing Impaired Students Make sure your lips and facial expressions can be seen when you’re talking. Try not to move around too much when you’re speaking. Speak naturally, avoiding the overuse of hand gestures. Always ensure that directions and assignments are understood. Ask student to repeat instructions back to you, rather than ask if he/she understands. Use visual cues when appropriate. Use as many audio/video components as is possible. Reduce extraneous noise whenever possible.

25. Assistive Technology for Hearing Impaired Students Personal Frequency Modulation (FM) Systems – these devices are like miniature radio stations operating on special frequencies; teacher talks into a transmitter microphone connected to a receiver that transmits the sound into the student’s ears or, directly into the hearing aid. Large Print/Screen Magnification – hardware and software functions like magnifying glasses; allows students to more easily read fine print Personal Reading Machines – scans printed pages while simultaneously reading the page out loud Video Description – an additional narrative track describes on-screen action in videos Talking Calculators – recites symbols, numbers or functions as student presses the keys

26. Not only is technology changing the face of K-12 education, but it is also having a profound impact on postsecondary school and the workforce. While technology helps aide students in the traditional sense of subject matter, its important to learn about the technology itself. Essentially students of today are being prepared for the world they’re growing up in, thanks largely in part to education technology.