2. Special Needs Students with disabilities are eligible for special services that provide individualized education programs or IEPs. Parents work alongside educators to develop the IEP if it is needed. The IEP lists the goals that the team set for a child during the school year, as well as any special support needed for the child to achieve them.
3. Who is eligible for an IEP? Any child that has difficulty learning in school and has been diagnosed with one of the following learning disabilities: ADHD Emotional disorders Mental retardation Autism Hearing impairment Visual impairment Speech or Language impairment Developmental delay
4. Developing an IEP Once the student becomes eligible for an IEP, a team including a psychologist, physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a speech therapist, a special educator, a vision or hearing specialist, or others, depending on the child's specific needs goes about determining whether or not the child needs assistive technology.
5. Assistive Technology for ADHD According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can result in behavioral and cognitive problems. For example, children with predominantly inattentive ADHD or combined hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive ADHD can have problems sustaining attention, make careless mistakes, and have trouble finishing work. Many assistive technologies available for students with ADHD target the symptoms of the disorder. For example: Students with a time management problems can utilize timers. These timers can be set for a specific time and beep or buzz when the time is up. For math children can use math worksheet software or talking calculators that give immediate feedback to the students. For reading and writing: word processors, audio books, and speech recognition programs can be used.
6. Assistive Technology for the Hearing Impaired Students with hearing impairments are required by law to have accommodations provided for them in order to gain access to education. Here are some assistive technology available to the hearing impaired: Hearing aids Cochlear implants Closed Captioning A Hearing Loop - a coil of wire that amplifies sound and reduces background noise. Text Telephones - are the telephones that deaf people use to communicate with others on the telephone. Visual Alert Signalers - are devices that use flashing lights to alert the deaf person to the ringing of a phone or fire alarm.
7. Assistive Technology for Mild Disabilities Students with mild learning disabilities cover a wide array of disabilities and students with a wide-array of capabilities. Some low-tech solutions that teachers can use include using flow-charting, task analysis, webbing, and outlining. Students can use these strategies to organize their thoughts better. High-tech solution include possibilities such as the outline function of word processing software, which lets students set out major ideas or topics and then add subcategories of information. Using the Internet or LCD projection systems enables students and their teachers to network and modify these applications, on the fly, either as a group or individually at different times.
