1. Shelly Mitchell Professional Development Workshop

2. WHAT IS ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY? The Case Against AT - YouTube Assistive Technology (AT) is anything that improves the functional performance of an individual with a disability. ~Edyburn, Dave (2003). What Every Teacher Should Know About Assistive Technology. Boston: Pearson Education.

3. WHAT DOES ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY MEAN? AT is used to describe both the products and the services for people with special needs.

4. AT PRODUCTS The term ‘assistive technology device’ means any item, piece of equipment, or product system (whether acquired off the shelf, modified, or customized) that is used to increase, maintain or improve the functional capability of an individual with disability. ~Individual with Disabilities Act of 1990 (IDEA) P.L. 101 - 1476

5. AT SERVICES The term ‘assistive technology service’ means any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device. ~Individual with Disabilities Act of 1990 (IDEA) P.L. 101 - 1476

6. WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF AT DEVICES? AT may be organized into a system of low-tech, medium-tech and high-tech tools and strategies that match a person’s needs, abilities and tasks. Students, teachers and parents pick and choose the appropriate tools for the situation.

7. WHY DO CLASSROOM TEACHERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT AT? As more students with disabilities enter inclusive classrooms teachers are more likely to find themselves working with students thru AT devices. AT is only successful when it is used properly. Thus classroom teachers need to be aware of and have a working knowledge of AT devices and services used by their students.

8. LOW-TECH refers to unsophisticated devices and largely non-electronic devices, many of which can be produced from local materials, such as:  pencil grips  book holders  texture boards  reading stands  educational toys and games

9. MEDIUM-TECH devices are more complicated, many of which can be manufactured locally, such as :  hearing aids  speech trainers  Braille paper and styluses  tape recorders  magnifying reading glasses

10. HIGH-TECH devices involve the use of sophisticated communication and environmental control systems that are electronically based. increasing variety of methods of adapting the computer through the use of special needs peripherals and/or software

11. ACCESS TOOLS SOFTWARE Optical Character Recognition Programmes Reads a text on a page Converts it to digital format Scan/Read software Allow scanning from any book Display on-screen version of printed material Screen readers Read back text from any programme Highlight text as spoken Read downloaded pages from internet, e-mails, text scanned Screen magnification systems Increases size of text or image displayed on the monitor Only prt of the screen can be seen at any one time Voice recognition software Allows dictation of written assignments, notes etc. Vocabulary must be developed for software by the user Switch Access Software Used by many students with physical disabilities who are unable to use a mouse or keyboard due to limited manual control ~Mary Hooker (2007). The Role of Assistive Technology. Dublin, Ireland.

12. AT: NOT A FIX FOR IMPAIRMENT Technology attempts to provide an alternative approach that works around the impairment AT is sometimes called work-around technology

13. LOW-TECH VERSUS HIGH-TECH Low-tech solutions are often more effective and easily integrated High-tech solutions have enormous potential, yet require  careful assessment for ‘fit’ with individual  require considerable specialist training and support to be effective  can be prohibitively expensive

14. AT AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AT should contribute to the achievement of relevant and identified educational goals Goals should be set in accordance with individual’s needs, differences and abilities Students may need support to achieve goals at a slower pace AT interventions should not create unrealistic expectations of what the student can achieve

15. REFERENCES Edyburn, Dave (2003). What Every Teacher Should Know About Assistive Technology. Boston: Pearson Education. Individual with Disabilities Act of 1990 (IDEA) P.L. 101 - 1476 Mary Hooker (2007). The Role of Assistive Technology. Dublin, Ireland. *Images courtesy of Google Images database – labeled for Creative Coomons reuse rights