Specialized Writing Tools

An assistive technology device can be an item, software system, or piece of equipment used to increase, improve, or maintain the functional capabilities of a student with disabilities. It can help a person with a disability complete tasks they need to perform on a daily basis. Assistive technology services serve to directly assist students with disabilities in the selection or use of an assistive technology device. For some students with disabilities, assistive technology is important because they would not be able to benefit form their educational program. Assistive technology is a part of the Individualized Education Plan for each student. The educational team for the student must ask if there is a device that will improve their functional capabilities. If the educational team discovers that the child could benefit from a device that fits that description, the school district is required to provide the service along with training to use the device (Lewis, 1998).

It includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities. It 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 changing methods of interacting with, the technology needed to accomplish such tasks.

In this artifact, I researched for alternative technological tool(see Assistive technology.doc) for students with disabilities to represent how technology could be a great assistance for them. This assignment represents how technology could be used by all students no matter what they need. Therefore, in this assignment, I looked for tools and ways to implement access to technology resources for students who have neuromuscular difficulties, and/or difficulties of counting with her finger to show that there are varieties of technological tool for all the needs.

In the Overview of Assistive Technology and Implementation Video by Margina Busby, she gives a lecture on what assistive technology is and how it can be used in the classroom. I learned that assistive technology 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 capabilities of individuals with disabilities.” Some examples of assisted technology are calculators, pencil grips, pocket dictionaries, communication systems (with or without voice output), adapted textbooks, and modified utensils. It is interesting to see all of the different forms of assistive technology that can be used in the classroom. I am currently taking a class

This week we read about the history of assistive technology and assistive technology. In addition, we read about the reauthorization of IDEA 1997 and how it changed the individual educational plan (IEP) by requiring that IEP teams consider assistive technology for all students with IEPs. (Grand Canyon University, n.d. Lecture 1) Initially, I thought that I had limited experience with assistive technology. It became clear to me this week through the readings, that many accommodations and methods I have used in the classroom, are actually a form of assistive technology. I am speaking of the low- tech tools, for examples, pencil grips, paper holders, sticky notes and reading guide to name a few. (Dell, Newton, Petroff, 2012, p.6.) In addition,

Just some of the accommodations that a student can be offered is to write with soft tipped pens that allow for less pressure, offered larger lined paper to help with visual difficulties, and classroom notes available either given in chunks or with guided notes, where the key words are missing to allow the student to be active in the lesson but to alleviate some of the writing and to prevent fatigue. (Howard, 182)

Some important work related to “write 2” are “Paragraph Highlighting , Typewriter scrolling , Zoom View,

This weeks reading had us looking deeper into assistive technology. We read not only about different types of assistive technology, but, also about how these technologies can be used by students to gain access to information. Voice recognition technology and pointing devices were introduced this week. Both of these AT allow an individual with disabilities gain access to information. In the case of voice recognition software, students with limited hand movement or control are able to access the curriculum by using speech. They speak into a microphone and the software converts their voice to text. Individuals also have the option to use pointer devices to be able to work a computer. The device can be as simple as a pencil in the grasp of a hand

Assistive technology can support the student by closing the gap between what the student is able to do now and what he/she could do with an Assistive Technology. Assistive technology has been successful to help develop students’ communication skills so he/she may interact with their environment (Bowden-Carpenter et al., 2014).

There many reasons why assist technology (AT) is not used more in schools today, according to the video. One reason is school administration and personnel lack the knowledge of the many different assistive technologies available for students. Likewise, the use of assistive technology is often not excluded in the planning process. I believe most teachers mistakenly assume that the inclusion of AT in the planning and implementation of instructions is more timing consuming then it really is. In addition, I think many teachers mistakely assume that some of these technologies would not benefit students other than students with disabilities. In the video, the first AT device I saw was a electric wheelchair. This AT device allows students who are

Adults need assistive technology because this allows them to overcome barriers and live independently. This is an important issue because people want their freedom and independence when moving from school to the working world. Many different areas come into play when adults are going from high school to the real world, and require AT. Some of these requirements include: transportation, eating and food preparation, and safety. Each of these skills and abilities are required for daily living of any individual. However, many adults with disabilities are require assistive technology to accomplish these same goals.

When I first registered for this course, I wasn’t sure what to expect. A few weeks went by and I received the syllabus on Blackboard. After looking over the syllabus and looking at the assignments that I would be completing, I was excited to see that we would be talking about Assistive Technology. I had known about Assistive Technology and how it can and how it is used in the classroom to help students. The school that I work at uses a lot of low tech Assistive Technology in the classrooms such as fat pencils in the kindergarten classes, pencil grips for students who have finger gripping challenges, and wobble stools for students who have a hard time sitting for long periods of times, to name a few. The school also uses mid-high

Assistive technology has the potential to alter learning opportunities for individual with ASD. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1997), the Technology Related Assistance for Individuals Act (TRAIDA, 1988), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990), and the Rehabilitation Act (1973) define AT as “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 functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities” (Cardon, T., Wilcox, M & Campbell, P.,

Cursive writing has been vanishing from schools around the country (Supon). What once use to be the basis of formal writing has now become another language to most children (Supon). Cursive was the normality for writing loans, deeds, and legal records (Supon). This timeless font is a valuable tool in society, yet it is slipping through our grasp. Cursive writing has been known to further improve one's education and better their test scores (Supon).

If measurable impact is found for the initial groups of students using assistive/educational technology, expand the services to include all SCSU students who want to learn more about/use assistive/educational technology