My one concern with the use of assistive technology comes with the funding. I have noticed that assistive technology can help students who do not have disabilities as well. The problem is that school systems may not be able to afford and offer all students assistive technology. In the future, I hope we can find a way to make assistive technology more accesible for more students.
Please check out the following links to learn how to use assistive technology in your classrooms!
The NCLD site is a tremendous resource! I was required to take a special education class for my teaching certification and have been teaching for the last 4 years at a school with 14% of students receiving special education services, and yet this is the first time I've been steered to this website. I think a lot of teacher training related to special education barely skims the surface, and does not seriously explore assistive technology. It is good to know there are resources like this out there, but I very much understand your concerns about putting the necessary funding and focus behind such technology. My county has an office devoted to assistive technology that I hadn't realized existed until this week. Hopefully, we can become advocates in our schools and districts and can help build awareness.
ReplyDeleteBrian, I agree with you that there is an issue with funding, and the technology that students have, at least in Howard County, seems to be old and behind the times. As you said, this kind of technology could benefit all students, and I hope that my district is moving towards a more 1:1 approach were students would also not have to feel as conspicuous about having access to a laptop or special device because everyone has one.
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