For Presentation Monday Night

My Final Post- Reflecting on a Semester of Assistive Technology

It is hard to believe that I am so close to completing my semester of the Assistive Technology Course at Carbini College. After this semester I hope to get a job in the special education field. This course and these blog posts are definitely a great resource for me to use as a special education teacher. Although I would like to work with more mild to moderate disabilities, I am still able to pull from this wealth of knowledge that I have learned over the course of this semester.

Before coming to this class, I have very little knowledge of Assistive Technology and the process involved in getting one for a student. I also have very little experience or knowledge of different products out on the market for different needs. I had little expose to augmented communication devices, single message output devices and choice boards. One cool thing that I realized as I was going through this course is that some of the tools that I use in my classroom are considered AT, although they are low tech. The 5 point scale for self regulation, Michele Garcia Winter's zones of regulation and break cards are all ways that I am implementing assistive technology in my classroom without even knowing it!

I really enjoyed learning about the adaptive keyboards, the different computer programs that allow text to speech, speech to text, screen magnification, and even the different companies that provide the software. Knowing I have these blogs in my arsenal, feel more comfortable in recommending AT for any of my students.

I also liked learning about the processes involved ( SETT) with identifying a student's need, identifying the type of product that may help the student, identifying the environment in which it will be used and finding different alternatives before going to the high tech devices. I think that the low tech devices are just effective strategies good teachers have been employing for years, such as maps, charts, visuals, graphic organizers, stations, choices etc.

And as much as I am sick of hearing about UDL, I can see how this buzz word plays into the AT process. Good teachers are employing lots of UDL strategies, and only until you have exhausted all of the low tech strategies, should the teacher and the IEP team be considering higher tech devices. I can finally see how the AT process, can come back to connect to UDL, the first couple of blog posts I had created.

Finally, as always this course has taught me that the student need is the most important thing in special education. The need takes precedent over the student's classification of disability, the parent's wants, the school administration demands and even the teacher's agenda. If  the student is getting  exactly what he/she needs than nothing else matters, not the price of the device, the headache of the paperwork, the bureaucracy of the process. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS BUT THE CHILD'S NEED! Sometimes I wish this was the case in all aspects of life....

What a journey! And I'll continue on this journey and see where it takes me..... so long for now.

AT: Assisting young adults with autism, congnitive disabilities or multiple disabilities achieve independence

Before I get into AT devices that help adults achieve independence, I should talk about the four main areas students must develop in order to achieve independence with the device.

Operational Skills-  the skills needed to operate the device

Functional skills- knowing how to perform the tasks in which the device is intended and including how the AT helps with the task.

Strategic Skills- involve the ability to decide which tool or strategy is used for a specific task.

Social Skills- the context in which the assistive technology is used.

In school, teachers help students learn these different skills so that they become independent in the use of the device. Once the student is using the device independently, the device can help him/her become a more independent individual in daily life.

AT can help teach functional skills that will help the student become more independent. Instructional applications from Laureate Learning Systems are available to help with functions such as early vocabulary, cause and effect, and cognitive concepts. Such programs can help students learn essential vocabulary of his/her surroundings with the My house, My town, My school programs. Attainment company also makes available customizable applications that help build functional skills of counting money, telling time, and making change.                                          

Assistive Technology for Students in College

Although I have been focusing on students in a prek-12 program in my blog posts, I want readers to know that AT does exist for students who go to college. In fact all of the things I have posted about, graphic organizers for writing and reading, text to speech and speech to text technology, overlays on keyboards, adaptive keyboards, software and applications for computers and iPods are all Assistive Technologies that can help students with disabilities in a College setting.

Reasonable accommodations are also made for students who have disabilities and who have a need for them. A student who is hearing impaired can use an assistive listening device. A student who is blind will be given access to a Braille reader, printer and translation programs. These students might also need a screen magnifier to help with on screen work. For students who may struggle with reading and writing, text to speech software may be used as an auxiliary aid. 

One thing to point out, is that although the college may be required to provide auxiliary aids and services, they are not mandated to give the most sophisticated technology. Therefore the brand of  technology requested may not be the technology that the student receives. As long as the college does provide equivalent services, then they can not be deemed as negligible. 

Assistive Technology Implementation: Working Together to make a difference

One of the resources my textbook provided me with was the Texas Assistive Technology Network Modules. This is a place for Special Education teachers, administrators, and students can come to find modules on different parts of the Assistive Technology process. Different modules include consideration process of AT, implementation process, the legal process, the administration process and the evaluation process among others. Each module will bring you to a page that describes the Purpose of the module, the description with basic summary, and objectives that users will learn about.

The modules consist of presentation slides and presenter notes. Some of the modules also include videos and other resources for the user to check out. What I liked about this website was the different processes that were broken down for me with a wealth of information and facts about each process. I will definitely come back to this site and print out some of the slides for my own collection.

Augmentive Communication devices desgined to meet the communication demands in the community

Augmentive communication boards are a great tool for a student who is unable to communicate verbally. They can use it in school, but as I stated in the last post, the eventual goal is to have the student use them at home and in the community.

Luckily, communication devices are very versatile in the their function. Most boards are able to switch out overlays and change the verbal output to match different activities/social situations. It as if you were to bring an Easter Basket to a Christmas party. That wouldn't fit, so you wouldn't use a overlay designed for a Christmas party, for an Easter Dinner with family. There are also lots of programs out there that can create custom overlays for special occasions. As a special education teacher, you should be able to access Board Maker, a computer program that allows you to create a board using visual pects. Some other resources such as I Can Cook, Too! and Art for Me, Too! are two collections that have activities and board overlays customized for the activities.

In order to maintain that the student will be successful at home and in the community, it is imperative that teachers arrange for family members to be instructed on how to use the device. This will help the student to continue to learn the independent use, and in case the family needs to trouble shoot any problems with the device.

Supporting Augmented Communication in the home and in the community

Supporting students with augmented communication devices is just as important at home and in the community as it is at school. By using the communication device within the home and community will reinforce the skills learned in school and helps then transfer and generalize them into other settings. Because the transfer of skills would greatly benefit the student, it is very important that school and home communicate effectively with each other. First off, training of the device should be provided to the family so that they know how to operate the device and troubleshoot if something goes wrong.

Other tips for implementing the communication device in the home and community are below:

• Provide Direct instruction on using the system 
• Identify key vocabulary relevant to the student's home and community
• Teach Family Members to provice opportunities for communication
• Provide simple data and evaluation sheets for home/community
• Give permission to parents to expand studnet's communication
• Keep it simple

For ways to help the child communicate with people who are less knowledgeable about the device, you as a teacher should plan assemblies, field trips or other special activities that will get the student to communicate with unfamiliar people.

Integrating Augmentive Communication into the IEP

Once the IEP team determines a child needs a communication device, The components of the system should be included in the IEP. Also specified in the IEP is how the student will use the communication device within his/her educational program. The student's academic goals are written with the Augmentive Communication Device in mind, as the student will be using the device to achieve his/her academic goals. IEP teams should also create goals and objectives that cater to the use of the communication device.

Below are a few examples of IEP goals for communication:

• The student will increase his or her spontaneous use of appropriate communication with familiar partners for at least three communicative purposes.
• The student will independently navigate the augmentive communication device without assistance or prompts.
• The student will communicated more complex messages by selecting a three-icon sequence.  

Below are Sample IEP goals to support instruction:

• Jess will participate in social studies class through a specifically designed overlay that is developed for her augmentive communication device for each unit. She is expected to volunteer answers to at least two questions per lesson.
• Bob will participate in cross-content unit of study such as a class play about the state of New Jersey by using preconstructed messages on his communication device. 

There are additional components that must be included in an IEP for student with a communication device. One is a list of services to be provided by related service personnel and the other is the identification of the party responsible for maintenance of the device. 

Helping Students Overcome Learned Helplessness

Students who have moderate to severe disabilities are more prone to having what is known as "learned helplessness". Learned helplessness is when a student learns to be dependent upon other through years of disempowerment. Here are a list of strategies to help teachers help students overcome learned helplessness:

• Build daily expectations for students to communicate through different ways, i.e. choosing the activity for recess/break time, choosing a book for a read aloud, or choosing their seat during a lesson or at lunch time.
• Help the students conduct a brief daily report of things that had happened during the day, i.e.  a list of subjects that were taught, special (art, gym), what he/she ate at lunch, which book was read etc.
• Allow natural consequences to occur and provide ways for the student to rectify the situation. 
• Provide choices for student to exhibit control over environment, assignments, and will provide opportunities for students to communicate their wants/needs
• Provide powerful words or phrases on the communication device that will allow students to show support/approval, disgust/disapproval or emotions/feelings

Holding high expectations for students with disabilities is imperative to ensure that they will not developed the "learned helplessness" syndrome that could be a potential threat to living life independently.

Adding More Math REsources to Your Portfolio

In previous posts I had blogged about different math educational applications for the computer. These were all resources I had found in my text book. In this blog I will explore other resources I was able to find on the internet and even ones that my district uses.


Xtra Math- This is a program my district uses and it helps students build addition and subtraction facts. Students use the number keys to type in answers to the problems. Each question is timed for a response. If the student does not answer in time or gets the wrong answer, the correct answer appears. Students get immediate feedback on answers and it will have students repeat facts that are not memorized.

IXL- This is a fantastic website for teachers to use to help reinforce skills that are learned during whole group/small group instruction. Students use this program individually on the computer, and can be performed independently. Students are able to click the speaker button to have questions and answers read to them. Content is broken up into categories such as addition, subtractions, measurement, geometry etc. Categories are broken down further into sub categories which the user can click on to access the questions. The student's progress is tracked by the number of questions they answered correctly and there is instant feedback with explanations if a student got the question wrong.


Interactive Sites- This site is a great resources for interactive sites for math concepts. This website has sourced interactive material from all over the web and made it available in one place. The content is broken up into categories such as algebra, graphing etc. and once the user clicks on the categories a whole wall of games appear for the user to browse.

Low and Mid-tech adaptations for Math Assignments

If you are getting concerned reading the list educational applications for math and how you will use assistive technology in a math lesson, have no fear! There are lots of ways to incorporate low tech and mid tech adaptations to math lessons that will come naturally to any good teacher! 

Manipualtives, a low tech aid, which any good teacher should use and would have at his/her disposal are a great way to adapt any paper/pencil lesson. Make it hands on and fun! Students will be much more engaged if they have base ten blocks in front of them, instead of just a worksheet.

Onion Mountain Technologies produces lots of useful manipulatives such as number lines, fraction rubber stamps, addition/multiplication tables, and a special ruler with different unit overlays.

For students with fine motor disabilities, a calculator with oversized buttons will help them to input numbers easier. A talking calculator is great for students with visual impairments.

Touch Math is a great low tech curriculum for students with an Intellectual Disability. They have curriculums for touch addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and money.

Tools for Math concepts, math skills, and problem solving

It is essential for students to learn math concepts jut as they learn math computation. Learning math concepts helps students transfer previously learned procedures to more advanced procedures and skills. To help students understand math concepts, experts agree that the use of manipulative help all students, not just students with disabilities. Manipulatives help all students understand even the most abstract of math concepts. Imagine trying to teach regrouping in subtraction, without the use of ones and ten blocks!? Both concrete and virtual manipulatives are useful for establishing an understanding of a math concept or problem solving. In order to make sure that students get the most out of the manipulative, the teacher must understand the use and how the student can access the manipulative. For students with a fine motor disability, it may be harder for them to access standard manipulatives available in the classroom. Luckily, there virtual applications that can provide access to manipulatives online/on the computer.

National Library of Virtual MAnipulatives- This site is operated by Utah State University and provides access to a number of virtual manipulatives for all levels and concepts in math, from base ten blocks, to fractions, to geometric shapes to measurement.

Math Playground is another resource to help support math concepts and problem solving. there are free online activities that are separated into math categories.

Destination Math is a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Learning Technology resource that helps to develop skills in math reasoning and understanding and problem solving for students in K-12. It provides step-by-step instruction and opportunities to practice skills.

Technology Tools for Visual-Spatial or Motor Control Difficulties

Students with Visual-Spatial or Motor control dissabilities may experience difficulty writing numbers, aligning digits in computation problems, and creating visual representations suchs as shapes, or angles. These students usually have a hard time writing work down with pencil and paper, and when they do it is very difficult to read. It is especially difficult for these students to write down computation problems with numbers in the correct place value space. Keeping numbers in the respective ones, tens and hundreds place is exceptionally difficult. Luckily there are applications that help students with these types of issues.

Math Pad- This application is a talking math worksheet program that allows students to perform computations with whole numbers on the computer. It is much like performing computation using a pen and pencil. This allows students with fine motor disabilities access the curriculum by allowing them to click the mouse and use the key pad. Customizable speech output can allow students to access this  who have visual impairments.

MAth Pad Plus- This application extends the features of the Math Pad to computation with decimals and fractions computation. Studetns have th option of viewing the problem as a pie chart, fraction bar, and decimal grid. Students are able to manipulate numbers and computation directly on screen.

Virtual pencil- This application helps students work through basic operations of whole numbers, fractions and decimals. If it is paired with a screen reading software it provides speech feedback for students who are blind or visually impaired.

Math Talk/Scientific Notebook- This application must be used with Dragon Natural Speaking voice recognition software because when the student speaks the math problems, it writes and records the equation or problem. It can be used with prealgebra, algebra, trig, calc, stats, and graduate level math courses.

Educational Applications to assist automaticity/math fluency

Student automaticity and fluency in math is extremely important, especially in today's world of high stakes testing. Automaticity is the student's ability to recall math facts fast and accurately. Computational fluency- the ability to compute and accurately conduct math procedures, depends on the student's ability to recall basic math fact information (automaticity). Educators are putting more emphasis on achieving fluency and automaticity with addition, subtraction, multiplication and  division because fluency with these operations help students achieve computational fluency in later grades and with harder math content.

A few applications to assist students who are having difficulty to achieve automaticity with math facts:

FASTT Math- A math intervention program that helps students gain math fact fluency by assessing their response time, and then generates customized activities based on the student's score. Teachers can monitor student's progress and creates reports based on progress.

Timez Attack- This application solely teaches multiplication facts from 2 to 12 times tables. This application is produced by the team that created Sony Playstation and is engaging to students as it feels like a video game.

Arcademic Skill Builder- These are math games designed to help students acquire automaticity with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts, integers, fractions and ratios. It allows for up to 4 players, is fully customizable allowing the user to work on area of need.

ArithmAttack- is an online or downloaded game that helps students build automaticity with basic subtraction, addition, multiplication and division fats.

Key Questions when Selecting Educational Applications

When selecting a educational application for a student with a disability, it is important for teachers to consider certain aspects , mainly the needs of the child and their learning objectives/goals that are included in the IEP. The educational Application should naturally fit with the learning objectives and goals and should be appealing to the student's interests. When selecting an educational application it is best practice to use a user-centered approach, meaning the program fits with what the students needs.

Here are some key questions to consider that will help you better fit the educational application to your intended student.:

• What is the intended outcome of the application? i.e. rote memorization for speed and accuracy or working on problem solving skills

• Is the educational applications likely to fulfill its purpose (identified by the first question)? will the child receive feedback in said problem solving skills, or will it just assess whether the question in right or wrong

•  Can the applications be used as an alternative to traditional classroom activities to enhance child's participation? will the student be able to better access online manipulatives than traditional manipulatives

When a teacher considers these questions, and selects the application with the child's goals in mind, the teacher will be following best practice and the student will be getting the greatest benefit because it will be meeting his/her needs. 

Assistive Technology and Math

Up until now, I have been blogging about general assistive technology
and also assistive technology that would help students access content
and curriculum in Reading and Writing. Now it is time to switch focus
onto helping students through Assistive Technology for Math. I would say
that I have not really ever focused on, or heard of students receiving
AT for Math as it is more focused on Reading and Writing. But since this
is new to me I am excited to learn more about it.