Friday, September 26, 2008
Assistive/Adaptive Technology
The device that I demonstrated was the Partner Two and the Hip Talk Plus. These two devices go hand in hand with one another. Both these devices can be used as a form of communication for those who have trouble expressing their thoughts. As I was doing more research on the internet, I have come to find out that the Partner Two has been discontinued, however, the Hip Talk Plus is readily available and costs an average of about two hundred dollars. The Hip Talk Plus is very neat because it works the same way as the Partner Two but programed into a pouch style. This is very convenient so that not everyone will know that you are wearing a communication device. You can program the Hip Talk Plus to carry up to twelve different expressions. There are three different layovers which consist of three, six and twelve different slots. All you would have to do is record your voice to a particular picture and when you press it, the words will communicate your desire. I personally feel that this communication device is very useful for an individual who is having a difficult time expressing their wants and needs.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Summary Research Articles
Helene S. A. Cruz
Fall 2008
Summary Research Articles
ED443 G
Dr. Jacqui Cyrus
Assistive Technology Organizations
1. Technology and Disability – The Family Center on Technology and Disability: Assistive Technology Works:
http://www.fctd.info/
I really enjoyed this website because it was established to be a resource center for parents, students and anyone involved with a child with a disability needing assistive technology. Another great feature about this site is that there are various other links that you can go to, to get your needed resources. A good example of the resources is that they create monthly newsletters that have various topics being discussed. Another good link on this site is the AT Fact Sheet. It explains the definitions, laws and IEP. Overall, I think this will be a useful site for those who have students with disabilities using AT devices.
2. Technology and Disability – Dreams for Kids. Inc. Assistive Technology Solutions
http://www.dreamms.org/
When I was searching for websites, I came across this one which is an organization that is funded by parents of children who have Down syndrome. The mission for this organization is to help those with disabilities increase the use of technology in their classrooms, homes and also their workplace. This organization facilitates the technology access by increasing technology awareness. The design of the organization is geared towards parents and teachers to better design their child’s academics.
3. Technology and Disability – Nathaniel H. Kornreich Technology Center
http://www.kornreich.org/
The Nathaniel H. Kornreich Technology Center (KTC) works hand in hand with Abilities, an organization working on creating a world simple enough for people with disabilities. The KTC is a non-profit center designed for assistive technology, demonstration, education and evaluation. Through this center, people with disabilities will gain the knowledge they need to use assistive technology at their home, school, work or the community. I believe this center is good because it caters to people with disabilities and teaches them the skills necessary for them to know how to survive in a technological world.
4. Technology and Disability – ALL Tech: Where Technology is About People
http://www.alltech-tsi.org/
This organization is great because like many other organizations, it helps to provide the necessary technological training that people with disabilities need to survive. Not only does this organization work with the people with disabilities, but they also work with the agencies that will be accepting these people in the workplace. Overall, as I browse through the website, I really enjoyed that fact that there are many different links that we can go to, to enhance our knowledge on the laws of Individuals with disabilities and how we can better serve them.
5. Technology and Disability – Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America
http://www.resna.org/
The purpose of this organization is to help improve how people with disabilities achieve their goals through technology. Although this organization is geared to help those with disabilities, the organization opens its doors to the professionals, consumers and the students themselves to help increase their knowledge of the use of assistive technology in today’s society. Upon reviewing the site, I found out that certification can be obtained by completing several trainings. I enjoyed looking through the site, although it was very minimal because it was very informative.
6. Technology and Disability – The Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT)
http://www.cforat.org/index.htm
This organization works with everyone involved in the success of individuals with disabilities. Upon reading further I came across the fact that they also work with the school system to ensure that the teachers and aides are knowledgeable with the assistive technology devices their students will be using. It was also very nice to read that they also work with consumers to help find ways for individuals with disabilities retain jobs that they currently have. Overall, I think there should be more organizations like the one I just described.
7. Technology and Disability – CAST: Transforming education through Universal Design for Learning
http://www.cast.org/
This organization was created in 1984 and designed to expand the learning, primarily for those with disabilities, through research. This is basically an organization that allows provides resources and strategies to teach individuals with disabilities. What I found very interesting is that this organization provides (K-12) professional development to the faculty and staff of an educational institute. Another aspect of this organization is that I found very interesting is that they work hand in hand with the educational system to provide practical applications of Universal Design for Learning.
8. Technology and Disability – Vermont Protection & Advocacy
http://www.vtpa.org/PAAT.html
This is an organization that provides assistance to persons with disabilities in the Vermont. The organization advocates for people with disabilities in acquisition, utilization or maintenance of their assistive technology device. This organization was established when the US was told they were not doing enough for persons with disabilities. This organization, although established for Vermonters, is a great organization. I am really please to know that they have made a difference and expressed interest for persons with disabilities.
9. Technology and Disability – United States Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication
http://www.ussaac.org/
This is an interesting site. It may not be directly involved with Assistive Technology, but it does take care of the Augmentative and Alternative Communication. This organization is designed to support the needs of individuals who need Augmentative and Alternative Communication. This organization establishes support for individuals needing AAC by providing quarterly magazines and annual conferences. USSAAC is the only national association that addresses the needs of the hearing impaired. I think this is a great organization and beneficial to everyone, especially the hearing impaired.
10. Technology and Disability – Perkins School for the Blind
http://www.perkins.org/assistive-technology/
This school, not only for students, but also for adults with disabilities provides assistive technology services. They offer a wide range of educational materials that will enhance a person’s learning ability. The use of assistive technology is their basis of being here. For example, this school has a library for the visually impaired. If a person is blind, their library has a variety of talking books and Braille material that they could use as their resource. I liked this site and recommend that you visit it just to see what more they have to offer.
Research Articles
11. Research – National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
This website is one of the first ones that I had looked at when I was researching my topic, which is Autism. The reason that this is one of the sites that I chose to write about is because it gives you a lot of information, not just on Autism but all the disabilities or strokes. In regards to Autism, this site will give you information that will be helpful to anyone. If you want to learn what Autism is, the treatment, symptom and any other information, this is the site for you. Not only is this site for information, but it also gives you different links that pertain to Autism.
12. Research – Understanding Autism: A Guide to the symptoms, causes, and early warning signs http://www.helpguide.org/mental/autism_signs_symptoms.htm
For someone who doesn’t really know much about Autism, I am pleased that this site was created because it does give us a sense of understanding about Autism. This site focuses on understanding exactly what Autism is. Social skills, communication and repetitive behavior are all typical problems that children with Autism face. This site goes into great detail about how to deal with having a child with Autism. Notes to parents on treatments that are provided are also mentioned in this site. Overall, this site is a very informational site that will be useful to anyone who would like to learn more about Autism.
13. Research – Six Common Signs of Autism
http://www.healthmad.com/Children/Six-Common-Signs-of-Autism.96866
This site is very basic, but informative as well. The site talks about six common signs of autism that can appear as early as infancy. The six common signs are as follows: 1) obsessive focus or behavior, 2) repetitive movements, 3) name and emotion recognition issues, 4) speech problems, 5) withdrawal from social interaction and 6) reduced sensitivity to pain and a higher sensitivity to sound. The site goes into detail about each of the common signs. This is very helpful if you suspect that a child you have or know of may have Autism.
14. Research – Autism Research Institute: Defeat Autism Now
http://www.autism.com/index.asp
This site is great. It allows someone with no knowledge on Autism to view this site and find all the information that is needed for them. This site also contains many useful links for parents to keep track of their child’s progress. This research institute was established to find out what triggers Autism and the method of diagnosing and treating it. I find that this site is very useful for someone who is interested in Autism, as I am.
15. Research – Autism Society of America
http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_home
I really enjoyed this site because it is very easy to read. Another reason that I really enjoyed this site is because it is only geared towards Autism. For someone who strictly wants to learn about Autism, this is the site to be at. There is a wide range of information that is useful. This site also provides an online course that will help you with everything you need to know about Autism.
16. Research – LDA: Learning Disabilities Association of America
http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/research/index.asp
As I was browsing the internet for research articles, I came across this one which I thought was interesting. This Association has many thousands of members who are all a part of the association to advocate for students with learning disabilities. This association also is doing research to try and lower the incidence of learning disability in America. Today, this association has local affiliates in more than half of the United States to include Puerto Rico. What I enjoyed about this website is that it has different links for different people, for example, it has links for teachers, parents, students and so forth. This association accomplishes their goal many ways, to include: services, collaboration activities, position papers etc. This is a very informational site that all parents, educations and students with LD should look at.
17. Research – OAR: Organization for Autism Research
http://www.researchautism.org/about/index3.asp
This is an organization that specifically does research for Autism. It is funded by parents and grandparents of children with Autism. This research is set out to answer questions about Autism that arise. This is the only organization that has a single focus, in this case, Autism. Currently, the OAR has six programs that they are engaged in. Based on the goals that I looked at for this organization, I have come to see that this organization is doing well. They were able to raise one million dollars for Autism research during their “Run for Autism”. I enjoyed looking at this site and seeing what research has been done.
18. Research on Mental Retardation – Health line: Mental Retardation Health Article
http://www.healthline.com/adamcontent/mental-retardation/2
19. Disabilities Research – The Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies; Syracuse University
http://disabilitystudies.syr.edu/default.aspx
This is a great site because it does research on disabilities. This center focuses on the inclusion of students with disabilities into society. Their findings results in publications of books, policy developments, journals and community education. Overall, I thought that it was interesting. This university provides students with information on how to accept persons with disabilities into society. Just by going through the site, it seems that there is a lot of focus put on inclusion of students with disabilities. I think this is great and I look forward to reading more about the university and its findings.
20. Disability Research – National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
http://research.nichcy.org/default.asp
NICHY is one of the greatest sites to go to for information on disabilities. There is a variety of research that is available and ongoing. This is a great site to go to, to find research based information on a particular disability. Everything you need to know is on this site. I strongly recommend this site to everyone, especially if you are working with students with disabilities. Although there are many other helpful sites, this is one site that has all the information needed to get by. This is definitely one of my favorites to go to. I know you will be just as overwhelmed with all the information this site has to offer.
Assistive Technology Devices
21. Devices – LS & S: Learning, sight and sound made easier
http://www.lssproducts.com/category/assistive_technology
This is an online catalog that enables one to order whatever device is needed. This catalog contains devices ranging from low tech to high tech. A person needing assistive technology could look at this site and find the necessary device needed for them to function normally.
22. Devices – Edutopia: What works in Public Education
http://www.edutopia.org/autism-handheld-technology
In this article, a special education teacher gives her students who have Autism a palm T|X to use throughout the school year. As they use this palm device, they input information that helps them and take pictures as well. At a later time, the teacher has the students explain what they took pictures of, which helps with their social skills. I enjoyed reading this because although the device is great for the students, the parents still expected more. For example, they wanted the palm to talk to the child. What they didn’t understand is that this is just an assistive device to help the child. I recommend that everyone reads this article. I found it interesting and I know you probably will to.
23. Devices – South Carolina Assistive Technology Program
http://www.sc.edu/scatp/mr.htm
This site was a good site because it provided information that relates assistive technology and mental retardation. Assistive Technology helps students with Mental Retardation in communication, environmental control, mobility, education, activities of daily living, employment, and sports and recreation. I really enjoyed going over this site because it provided great information on exactly how assistive technology devices help students with mental retardation. Those studying mental retardation should go to this site and find all the information with regards to mental retardation and assistive technology.
24. Devices – Assistive Technology for Children with Autism
http://www.specialed.us/autism/assist/asst10.htm
I really enjoyed going over this site because it provided some devices that can be used to work with students who have Autism. There are a wider range of devices that can be used for students with Autism ranging from low tech devices to high tech devices. This site shared what different devices we can use as educators to better help our students. It also provided us with some examples of when we can use these devices. For example, a white would be considered as a low tech device that can be used to show a student with Autism their daily schedule. Overall, I really enjoyed looking through this site because it provided me with great information.
25. Devices – Assistive Technology to meet K-12 Student Needs
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te7assist.htm
This is a very helpful site because it gives you various examples of what can be used for assistive technology with students with various disabilities. Overall, it gives you great examples of what can be used but keep in mind that these are just suggestions and not just limited to these devices. I enjoyed this site because it gave good tips on what we can use to better accommodate our students. Just by looking at these devices, we could use everything around us and make it an assistive technology device.
26. Devices – School of Public Health and Health Professions
http://atto.buffalo.edu/
The School of Public Health and Health Professions established a project called: The Assistive Technology Training Online Project (ATTO). This is basically an online training that helps you to deliver the most appropriate education for students with disability using assistive technology. It gives you the basics as to how you can modify the curriculum and the devices used to better serve the students. Overall, I think that it is great this site is available so that both new and veteran teachers can prepare their class accordingly and make learning just as interesting for students with disabilities.
27. Devices – Read the Words.com
http://www.readthewords.com/
This is not necessarily a website, but it is a tool that I think is great. I tried it out and I feel that it would be beneficial for students to learn how to use this. This could also be something that the teachers can probably prepare ahead of time for the students who have a hard time reading. I think that it is not just useful for students with disabilities, but for everyone. I highly recommend that everyone sign up for this, and it is FREE.
28. Devices – Assistive Technology: A Special Education Guide to Assistive Technology
http://www.pluk.org/Pubs/MT/MT_AssistiveTechGuide_378K.pdf
This is an overall guide for Assistive Technology in Special Education. It is 37 pages long but very informative. This guide will really help a special education teacher who needs technology for their students. One of the pages gives you the IEP Process to include Assistive Technology. I believe this is a great resource to have. It may be specific to Montana, but if you really read it, it can be applied everywhere. This is a very useful resource, especially because the use of Assistive technology is becoming popular.
29. Devices – Early Intervention: Assistive Technology Guidelines
http://www.state.il.us/agency/dhs/earlyint/eipdfs/eiatg.pdf
This is a good site because it gives you a basis of what technology to use in the classroom to meet the needs of students with disabilities. This site is the early intervention and provides you with the different examples of what type of device to use for a specific disability. I personally enjoy reading things like this because it helps to know what device to use in the classroom. Overall, this is a good site because like the title, it is a guideline that we could follow.
30. Devices – Education World: The Educator’s Best Friend
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech086.shtml
This website shares information on assistive devices that are intended to help kids with disabilities get the most out of learning. Yes, the latest technology in assistive devices are great learning tools that can help maximize and make learning easier, but it isn’t completely fool proof. The down side is that the child, as well as school staff needs to be trained on how to use it, otherwise it probably wouldn’t be as successful as it was intended. I think that this was very informative and keeps educators alert that they too need to learn to use the device.
Fall 2008
Summary Research Articles
ED443 G
Dr. Jacqui Cyrus
Assistive Technology Organizations
1. Technology and Disability – The Family Center on Technology and Disability: Assistive Technology Works:
http://www.fctd.info/
I really enjoyed this website because it was established to be a resource center for parents, students and anyone involved with a child with a disability needing assistive technology. Another great feature about this site is that there are various other links that you can go to, to get your needed resources. A good example of the resources is that they create monthly newsletters that have various topics being discussed. Another good link on this site is the AT Fact Sheet. It explains the definitions, laws and IEP. Overall, I think this will be a useful site for those who have students with disabilities using AT devices.
2. Technology and Disability – Dreams for Kids. Inc. Assistive Technology Solutions
http://www.dreamms.org/
When I was searching for websites, I came across this one which is an organization that is funded by parents of children who have Down syndrome. The mission for this organization is to help those with disabilities increase the use of technology in their classrooms, homes and also their workplace. This organization facilitates the technology access by increasing technology awareness. The design of the organization is geared towards parents and teachers to better design their child’s academics.
3. Technology and Disability – Nathaniel H. Kornreich Technology Center
http://www.kornreich.org/
The Nathaniel H. Kornreich Technology Center (KTC) works hand in hand with Abilities, an organization working on creating a world simple enough for people with disabilities. The KTC is a non-profit center designed for assistive technology, demonstration, education and evaluation. Through this center, people with disabilities will gain the knowledge they need to use assistive technology at their home, school, work or the community. I believe this center is good because it caters to people with disabilities and teaches them the skills necessary for them to know how to survive in a technological world.
4. Technology and Disability – ALL Tech: Where Technology is About People
http://www.alltech-tsi.org/
This organization is great because like many other organizations, it helps to provide the necessary technological training that people with disabilities need to survive. Not only does this organization work with the people with disabilities, but they also work with the agencies that will be accepting these people in the workplace. Overall, as I browse through the website, I really enjoyed that fact that there are many different links that we can go to, to enhance our knowledge on the laws of Individuals with disabilities and how we can better serve them.
5. Technology and Disability – Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America
http://www.resna.org/
The purpose of this organization is to help improve how people with disabilities achieve their goals through technology. Although this organization is geared to help those with disabilities, the organization opens its doors to the professionals, consumers and the students themselves to help increase their knowledge of the use of assistive technology in today’s society. Upon reviewing the site, I found out that certification can be obtained by completing several trainings. I enjoyed looking through the site, although it was very minimal because it was very informative.
6. Technology and Disability – The Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT)
http://www.cforat.org/index.htm
This organization works with everyone involved in the success of individuals with disabilities. Upon reading further I came across the fact that they also work with the school system to ensure that the teachers and aides are knowledgeable with the assistive technology devices their students will be using. It was also very nice to read that they also work with consumers to help find ways for individuals with disabilities retain jobs that they currently have. Overall, I think there should be more organizations like the one I just described.
7. Technology and Disability – CAST: Transforming education through Universal Design for Learning
http://www.cast.org/
This organization was created in 1984 and designed to expand the learning, primarily for those with disabilities, through research. This is basically an organization that allows provides resources and strategies to teach individuals with disabilities. What I found very interesting is that this organization provides (K-12) professional development to the faculty and staff of an educational institute. Another aspect of this organization is that I found very interesting is that they work hand in hand with the educational system to provide practical applications of Universal Design for Learning.
8. Technology and Disability – Vermont Protection & Advocacy
http://www.vtpa.org/PAAT.html
This is an organization that provides assistance to persons with disabilities in the Vermont. The organization advocates for people with disabilities in acquisition, utilization or maintenance of their assistive technology device. This organization was established when the US was told they were not doing enough for persons with disabilities. This organization, although established for Vermonters, is a great organization. I am really please to know that they have made a difference and expressed interest for persons with disabilities.
9. Technology and Disability – United States Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication
http://www.ussaac.org/
This is an interesting site. It may not be directly involved with Assistive Technology, but it does take care of the Augmentative and Alternative Communication. This organization is designed to support the needs of individuals who need Augmentative and Alternative Communication. This organization establishes support for individuals needing AAC by providing quarterly magazines and annual conferences. USSAAC is the only national association that addresses the needs of the hearing impaired. I think this is a great organization and beneficial to everyone, especially the hearing impaired.
10. Technology and Disability – Perkins School for the Blind
http://www.perkins.org/assistive-technology/
This school, not only for students, but also for adults with disabilities provides assistive technology services. They offer a wide range of educational materials that will enhance a person’s learning ability. The use of assistive technology is their basis of being here. For example, this school has a library for the visually impaired. If a person is blind, their library has a variety of talking books and Braille material that they could use as their resource. I liked this site and recommend that you visit it just to see what more they have to offer.
Research Articles
11. Research – National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm
This website is one of the first ones that I had looked at when I was researching my topic, which is Autism. The reason that this is one of the sites that I chose to write about is because it gives you a lot of information, not just on Autism but all the disabilities or strokes. In regards to Autism, this site will give you information that will be helpful to anyone. If you want to learn what Autism is, the treatment, symptom and any other information, this is the site for you. Not only is this site for information, but it also gives you different links that pertain to Autism.
12. Research – Understanding Autism: A Guide to the symptoms, causes, and early warning signs http://www.helpguide.org/mental/autism_signs_symptoms.htm
For someone who doesn’t really know much about Autism, I am pleased that this site was created because it does give us a sense of understanding about Autism. This site focuses on understanding exactly what Autism is. Social skills, communication and repetitive behavior are all typical problems that children with Autism face. This site goes into great detail about how to deal with having a child with Autism. Notes to parents on treatments that are provided are also mentioned in this site. Overall, this site is a very informational site that will be useful to anyone who would like to learn more about Autism.
13. Research – Six Common Signs of Autism
http://www.healthmad.com/Children/Six-Common-Signs-of-Autism.96866
This site is very basic, but informative as well. The site talks about six common signs of autism that can appear as early as infancy. The six common signs are as follows: 1) obsessive focus or behavior, 2) repetitive movements, 3) name and emotion recognition issues, 4) speech problems, 5) withdrawal from social interaction and 6) reduced sensitivity to pain and a higher sensitivity to sound. The site goes into detail about each of the common signs. This is very helpful if you suspect that a child you have or know of may have Autism.
14. Research – Autism Research Institute: Defeat Autism Now
http://www.autism.com/index.asp
This site is great. It allows someone with no knowledge on Autism to view this site and find all the information that is needed for them. This site also contains many useful links for parents to keep track of their child’s progress. This research institute was established to find out what triggers Autism and the method of diagnosing and treating it. I find that this site is very useful for someone who is interested in Autism, as I am.
15. Research – Autism Society of America
http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_home
I really enjoyed this site because it is very easy to read. Another reason that I really enjoyed this site is because it is only geared towards Autism. For someone who strictly wants to learn about Autism, this is the site to be at. There is a wide range of information that is useful. This site also provides an online course that will help you with everything you need to know about Autism.
16. Research – LDA: Learning Disabilities Association of America
http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/research/index.asp
As I was browsing the internet for research articles, I came across this one which I thought was interesting. This Association has many thousands of members who are all a part of the association to advocate for students with learning disabilities. This association also is doing research to try and lower the incidence of learning disability in America. Today, this association has local affiliates in more than half of the United States to include Puerto Rico. What I enjoyed about this website is that it has different links for different people, for example, it has links for teachers, parents, students and so forth. This association accomplishes their goal many ways, to include: services, collaboration activities, position papers etc. This is a very informational site that all parents, educations and students with LD should look at.
17. Research – OAR: Organization for Autism Research
http://www.researchautism.org/about/index3.asp
This is an organization that specifically does research for Autism. It is funded by parents and grandparents of children with Autism. This research is set out to answer questions about Autism that arise. This is the only organization that has a single focus, in this case, Autism. Currently, the OAR has six programs that they are engaged in. Based on the goals that I looked at for this organization, I have come to see that this organization is doing well. They were able to raise one million dollars for Autism research during their “Run for Autism”. I enjoyed looking at this site and seeing what research has been done.
18. Research on Mental Retardation – Health line: Mental Retardation Health Article
http://www.healthline.com/adamcontent/mental-retardation/2
19. Disabilities Research – The Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies; Syracuse University
http://disabilitystudies.syr.edu/default.aspx
This is a great site because it does research on disabilities. This center focuses on the inclusion of students with disabilities into society. Their findings results in publications of books, policy developments, journals and community education. Overall, I thought that it was interesting. This university provides students with information on how to accept persons with disabilities into society. Just by going through the site, it seems that there is a lot of focus put on inclusion of students with disabilities. I think this is great and I look forward to reading more about the university and its findings.
20. Disability Research – National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities
http://research.nichcy.org/default.asp
NICHY is one of the greatest sites to go to for information on disabilities. There is a variety of research that is available and ongoing. This is a great site to go to, to find research based information on a particular disability. Everything you need to know is on this site. I strongly recommend this site to everyone, especially if you are working with students with disabilities. Although there are many other helpful sites, this is one site that has all the information needed to get by. This is definitely one of my favorites to go to. I know you will be just as overwhelmed with all the information this site has to offer.
Assistive Technology Devices
21. Devices – LS & S: Learning, sight and sound made easier
http://www.lssproducts.com/category/assistive_technology
This is an online catalog that enables one to order whatever device is needed. This catalog contains devices ranging from low tech to high tech. A person needing assistive technology could look at this site and find the necessary device needed for them to function normally.
22. Devices – Edutopia: What works in Public Education
http://www.edutopia.org/autism-handheld-technology
In this article, a special education teacher gives her students who have Autism a palm T|X to use throughout the school year. As they use this palm device, they input information that helps them and take pictures as well. At a later time, the teacher has the students explain what they took pictures of, which helps with their social skills. I enjoyed reading this because although the device is great for the students, the parents still expected more. For example, they wanted the palm to talk to the child. What they didn’t understand is that this is just an assistive device to help the child. I recommend that everyone reads this article. I found it interesting and I know you probably will to.
23. Devices – South Carolina Assistive Technology Program
http://www.sc.edu/scatp/mr.htm
This site was a good site because it provided information that relates assistive technology and mental retardation. Assistive Technology helps students with Mental Retardation in communication, environmental control, mobility, education, activities of daily living, employment, and sports and recreation. I really enjoyed going over this site because it provided great information on exactly how assistive technology devices help students with mental retardation. Those studying mental retardation should go to this site and find all the information with regards to mental retardation and assistive technology.
24. Devices – Assistive Technology for Children with Autism
http://www.specialed.us/autism/assist/asst10.htm
I really enjoyed going over this site because it provided some devices that can be used to work with students who have Autism. There are a wider range of devices that can be used for students with Autism ranging from low tech devices to high tech devices. This site shared what different devices we can use as educators to better help our students. It also provided us with some examples of when we can use these devices. For example, a white would be considered as a low tech device that can be used to show a student with Autism their daily schedule. Overall, I really enjoyed looking through this site because it provided me with great information.
25. Devices – Assistive Technology to meet K-12 Student Needs
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te7assist.htm
This is a very helpful site because it gives you various examples of what can be used for assistive technology with students with various disabilities. Overall, it gives you great examples of what can be used but keep in mind that these are just suggestions and not just limited to these devices. I enjoyed this site because it gave good tips on what we can use to better accommodate our students. Just by looking at these devices, we could use everything around us and make it an assistive technology device.
26. Devices – School of Public Health and Health Professions
http://atto.buffalo.edu/
The School of Public Health and Health Professions established a project called: The Assistive Technology Training Online Project (ATTO). This is basically an online training that helps you to deliver the most appropriate education for students with disability using assistive technology. It gives you the basics as to how you can modify the curriculum and the devices used to better serve the students. Overall, I think that it is great this site is available so that both new and veteran teachers can prepare their class accordingly and make learning just as interesting for students with disabilities.
27. Devices – Read the Words.com
http://www.readthewords.com/
This is not necessarily a website, but it is a tool that I think is great. I tried it out and I feel that it would be beneficial for students to learn how to use this. This could also be something that the teachers can probably prepare ahead of time for the students who have a hard time reading. I think that it is not just useful for students with disabilities, but for everyone. I highly recommend that everyone sign up for this, and it is FREE.
28. Devices – Assistive Technology: A Special Education Guide to Assistive Technology
http://www.pluk.org/Pubs/MT/MT_AssistiveTechGuide_378K.pdf
This is an overall guide for Assistive Technology in Special Education. It is 37 pages long but very informative. This guide will really help a special education teacher who needs technology for their students. One of the pages gives you the IEP Process to include Assistive Technology. I believe this is a great resource to have. It may be specific to Montana, but if you really read it, it can be applied everywhere. This is a very useful resource, especially because the use of Assistive technology is becoming popular.
29. Devices – Early Intervention: Assistive Technology Guidelines
http://www.state.il.us/agency/dhs/earlyint/eipdfs/eiatg.pdf
This is a good site because it gives you a basis of what technology to use in the classroom to meet the needs of students with disabilities. This site is the early intervention and provides you with the different examples of what type of device to use for a specific disability. I personally enjoy reading things like this because it helps to know what device to use in the classroom. Overall, this is a good site because like the title, it is a guideline that we could follow.
30. Devices – Education World: The Educator’s Best Friend
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech086.shtml
This website shares information on assistive devices that are intended to help kids with disabilities get the most out of learning. Yes, the latest technology in assistive devices are great learning tools that can help maximize and make learning easier, but it isn’t completely fool proof. The down side is that the child, as well as school staff needs to be trained on how to use it, otherwise it probably wouldn’t be as successful as it was intended. I think that this was very informative and keeps educators alert that they too need to learn to use the device.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Welcome to my Assistive Technology Blog
Welcome to my blog and I hope you enjoy what you read. This is my first time to create a blog and therefore, I am excited and ready to learn more.
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