My ITEC project

1. Meeting Student’s Needs Resources to enhance the varying abilities of all students By Marie A. Beach

2. What is Assistive Technology and why is it important? According to the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (www.nectac.com) Assistive Technology (AT): can be thought of as any item that supports a child’s ability to participate actively in his or her home, childcare program, school, or other community settings. It is a broad term that includes items ranging from something as "low tech" as a foam wedge for positioning to something as "high tech" as a power wheelchair for independent mobility. Other examples of assistive technology for young children include items such as switch-operated toys, laminated picture boards, head pointers, specialized drinking cups, adapted spoons, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices, apnea monitors, computers, crutches, and more. ACC Device http://www.atohio.org/devices.html

3. Achieving Success Under the IDEA Act (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), disabled students are entitled to be taught in and with the “least restrictive environment,” LRE, in mind: “school districts are required to educate students with disabilities in regular classrooms with their nondisabled peers, in the school they would attend if not disabled, as much as is possible. This is the educational setting that maximizes a child's ability to receive maximum educational benefits while participating in a regular educational environment as much as possible.” http://specialed.about.com/od/specialedacronyms/g/lre.htm

5. Learning Disabilities

6. Emotional Disorders

7. Mental Retardation

8. Autism

9. Hearing Impairment

10. Visual Impairment

11. Speech & Language Impairment

13. IEP Team Meeting Support services might include special education, speech therapy, occupational or physical therapy, counseling, audiology, medical services, nursing, vision or hearing therapy, and many others. The IEP will be reviewed annually to update the goals and make sure the levels of service meet the child's needs. However, IEPs can be changed at any time on an as-needed basis. The team will discuss your child's educational needs and come up with specific, measurable short-term and annual goals for each of those needs. Parents may take an active role in developing the goals and determining which skills or areas will receive the most attention.

14. Assistive Technology and Hearinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistive_technology Devices include hearing aides, like the one above, teletypwriters for the the deaf, voice recognition services, special keypads for typing, mind-mapping software, and wheel chairs Hearing Aide A term that includes assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities to help promote greater independence by enabling the use of technology to accomplish tasks that they would not be able to complete otherwise.

15. Assistive Technology: Helping Communication http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXchQnJ6PoE A powerful video of a young lady named Ellen who has a debilitating illness who uses assistive technology to communicate. In this video, she “speaks” with her assistive technology explaining how she would change the world if she could: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6KoQkg9Sms&feature=related http://www.burke-eisner.com/practice-areas/medical-malpractice/cerebral-palsy.html

16. Resources for Dyslexia Dyslexia A learning problem occurring due to the brain jumbling and mixing up words and letters making it difficult to read, write, and spell. Children and adults with dyslexia may have poor memory of spoken and written words. Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic www.rfbd.org sells audio educational materials to schools systems and individual schools for blind and dyslexic students. However, most text book series purchased by school boards do offer audio cd’s for blind students and students who are ESL/ESOL http://www.revolutionhealth.com/healthy-living/parenting/dyslexia?msc=ehdlp_dyslexia&section=section_00 Brochure for recordings: http://www.rfbd.org/SiteData/docs/02_SAP%20Pro/aa74c1cd7617f4bd/02_SAP%20Program%20Flyer%20Web%20PDF.pdf

17. A.T. and ADD/ADHD Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Between 3 & 5% of children have ADD/ADHD: 1 in 25 students. Symptoms of ADD/ADHD become apparent in early adolescence as the children are unable to control their behavior or have difficulty paying attention. Three types: Predominantly hyperactive: does not show significant attention Predominantly inattentive Combined type: both hyperactive and inattentive According to Amazon.com and recommended by ldonline.com, this book is an amazing resource for identifying technology for people with disabilities. The amazon review reads: “Completely updated, with 40 percent new material, this is an indispensable guide for people with disabilities who wish to improve their lives through computer technology. It lists what's available and how best to use it; provides names of organizations, vendors, and online resources; and tells the stories of real people of all ages who are using technology successfully.” http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0897934334/ldonlinelearningA http://www.understanding-add.com/adhd-facts.php?keywords=adhd+facts&referrer=yahoo&camp=understanding-add&group=adhd+facts&keyword=what+is+attention+deficit+disorder http://www.flipkart.com/computer-resources-people-disabilities-alliance-book-0897934334

18. DOE Recommended Aides for Struggling Readers According to the GA DOE website, there are a variety of resources available to our students who are struggling readers. http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/DMGetDocument.aspx/AT_Devices_to_Support_Reading.pdf?p=6CC6799F8C1371F6430622907ED6387EFF83C5F2F5DEB61663F1F60267BFC9BF&Type=D A specific site listed by the DOE is www.wordtalk.org.uk. This is a free text-to-speak software for microsoft word. It offers the following options: Adjust the highlight colors Change the voice and the speed of the speech Convert text to speech and save as a .wav or .mp3 file so that it can be played back on an iPod or mp3 player.

20. For ADD/ADHD resources: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/901.html

21. For students with visual impairments, The American Foundation for the Blind: http://www.afb.org/section.asp?sectionid=4

22. For hearing impairments, The Adaptive Center for Technology of New Jersey: http://adaptivetech.tcnj.edu/links.html

23. A general site for assistive technology: http://www.greatschools.org/special-education/assistive-technology/assistive-technology-for-kids-with-learning-disabilities-an-overview.gs?content=702