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.
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