ASSISTI

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TECHNOLO

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IN T

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CLASSROOM

By: Macie Taylor

WHAT IS ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY?

Assistive Technology is any item, piece of equipment, or product

system that can be used to enhance or improve the

functional capabilities of children with disabilities.

*The term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, or the replacement of such device.

THE LAW ON ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

The law regarding Assistive Technology states that

students are guaranteed a free public education and the school must ensure that all students have access to any assistive

technology that they need to be successful.

LAW AND IDEA CONTINUED

The federal government recognized the importance of assistive technology for students when it revised the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1997 and again in 2004. IDEA states that school districts must consider assistive technology for any child in special education. That means that for any child receiving special education services, the educational team must ask if there is a device that will “increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities” of that child. If the answer is yes, the school district must provide certain services.

ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AND IEP’S

Individualized Education Programs (IEP’s) are written plans that meet the unique educational needs of a

child with a disability.

IEP’s are a vital component in determining the Assistive

Technology a student receives.

FOUR DISABILITIES THAT BENEFIT FROM ASSISTIVE

TECHNOLOGY • Hearing Impaired• Seeing Impaired• Learning Disabled• Physically Disabled

HEARING IMPAIREDA FM Systems empower the hearing aid wearer with their own light weight, portable, flexible and discrete equipment that they can use in a great variety of daily situations where additional hearing assistance is required as hearing aids alone, mainly due to background noise and distance, are not sufficient.

SEEING IMPAIRED Supports that give a student with

visual difficulties access to information. This includes large-print books, books on tape, magnifiers, talking computer software, and braillers.

LEARNING DISABLED

Speech Synthesizers/Screen Readers can display and read aloud text on a computer screen, including text that has been typed by the user, scanned in from printed pages (e.g., books, speech synthesizers or text appearing on the Internet.) These can enhance the learning disabled child.

PHYSICALLY DISABLED

A mouth stick is a device that enables physically disabled users to control input through a stick that they manipulate with their mouth.

REFERENCESAssistive technology Devices . Learning Disabilities . Education | PBS Parents. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/learning-disabilities/strategies-for-learning-disabilities/assistive-technology-devices

FM Systems, How FM Systems Work, Receivers & Transmitters. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.hearinglink.org/fm-systems/how-they-work

GMC | Assistive technologies for people with physical impairments. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.gmc-uk.org/accessibility/assistive_technologies/physical_impairments.asp

IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/,root,statute,I,A,602,1

Product Search Results | AbleData. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.abledata.com/products?search_api_views_fulltext=talking%20computer%20software&field_product_status=All&items_per_page=20&page=2

Search | Section508.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.section508.gov/search/node/assistive%20technologies

Speech Synthesizers/Screen Readers | GreatKids. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/speech-synthesizers-screen-readers/