1. Assistive Technology and
Approaches:
Assisting Students with Special Needs

2.  Not all students are exactly the same. For this
reason, teachers must differentiate lessons to ensure
the success of all students.
 Differentiation can be aided through Assistive
Technologies and Non-technological Approaches.

3.  Many special needs students may have IEP’s
(Individualized Education Programs).
 IEP’s may be given to students for several
reasons, including:
 Learning disabilities
 ADHD
 Emotional and Cognitive challenges
 Autism
 Hearing, visual, or speech impairments
 Developmental Delay

4.  In order to help students with special needs, teachers
can use Assistive Technology in the classroom.
 Assistive Technology is a broad term used to describe
technology which can be used to assist students in
order to maximize their learning capacities.
 Assistive Technology enhances independence among
students with special needs. These students are able
to do things which at some point seemed impossible.

5.  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).

6.  Assistive Technology can help students gain
independence in several ways, including:
 Physical Mobility
 Communication
 Software accessibility
 Visual enhancements
 Auditory enhancements

7.  Discovering Assistive Technology which can be helpful
to individuals with special needs can be done if the
right steps are taken:
 Define strengths and weaknesses of the individual
 Define what prevents the individual from being
fully-functional
 Define what strategies/technologies are helpful and which
fail to produce positive results
 Continue to modify strategies/technologies that work in
order to grant maximum effectiveness
 Implement the strategy/technology into the individual’s
everyday life
 Continue to reflect and modify accordingly

8.  Not all assistance for students with special needs has
to be based upon technology.
 “No-Technology” refers to assistance for students
which does not involve technology.
 There are simple ways in which teachers can make a
huge difference without the use of technology. An
example of this is providing students with
structured, guided notes.

9.  Some students may need assistance with hearing.
 Hearing assistive technology systems (HATS) are
devices which help students to hear better in order to
improve their social and academic performance.
 These devices work best when students are placed
closer to the teacher than everyone else. This is
because the closer a student is to a source of
sound, the better he/she will be able to hear it.

10.  Some students with special needs may benefit by
using Touchscreen computers.
 Touchscreen computers allow users to directly touch
the icons in order to activate them. This prevents
aggravations associated with students who may
struggle with fine motor skills.
 There are 3 types of Touchscreen technological
devices: Resistive, Surface Wave, and Capacitive.

11.  The Georgia Project for Assistive Technology (GPAT) is
a program which supports the implementation of
technology into classrooms which have students with
special needs.
 The mission of this program focuses on helping
students with special needs to gain independence and
to become productive citizens.

12.  Extra sources from the Web:
 Teachers should be aware that although Assistive
Technology can greatly enhance students’ learning
capabilities, they should not be the only form of
instruction.
 Students with special needs should be expected to learn
cognitive processing and reasoning just as other students.
Therefore, technology without effective instruction is
useless.
 However, if effective instruction is combined with a variety
of Assistive Technology approaches, then student success
will be highly probable to occur.
 http://www.sc.edu/scatp/cdrom/integratingat.htm

13.  Extra sources from the Web:
 Assistive Technology (AT) can relieve a multitude of
problems for students with special needs.
 AT can address hearing problems, vision
problems, organization problems, memory
problems, and writing problems.
 Although AT has traditionally had the meaning of
hardware devices, modern AT also includes
computer software as well as internet sources.
 http://www.greatschools.org/special-
education/assistive-technology/702-assistive-
technology-for-kids-with-learning-disabilities-an-
overview.gs

14.  Extra sources from the Web:
 Technology can be a very important ally for students with
special needs in a Science classroom.
 Georgia science standards focus on the idea of inquiry.
Computer simulations and other programs are available for
Science teachers.
 These computer programs allow students with special needs
to perform to maximum capacity in simulations, labs, and
day-to-day instruction.
 http://science.nsta.org/enewsletter/2003-08/ss0303_50.pdf