Week 10 Reflection

Posted on March 29, 2008

There is so much to learn about technology. It is great that technology is such a part of our lives because it allows students with special needs to fit in and to access the world. I support a student who is going to college next year. We have been preparing the student for the past few years for this transition. The student is visually impaired along with ADHD and some other stuff. The student uses ZoomText which magnifies the computer screen, including the text, menus, icons, background color, etc. They also use a Closed Captioned TV (CCTV) to enlarge text books and other material that may be handed out. We do order some books in enlarged print, but I find that they doesn't like to use them. We enlarge handouts and test. The school just received MP3 players and the student recently listened to Hamlet this way. We provide the student with a note taker and writing organizers such as Inspiration. With all this the most important part is teaching the student to be a self-advocate. This can be the hardest thing that we teach some of our students. This student is still learning to tell teachers that the lights need to be on or I can't see the pink chalk on the board. The student needs to be able to communicate what is working and not working so that corrections can be made in the supports she receives.

Other students in our school use a variety of switches, Access Suite Talking, Dragon Naturally Speaking, Boardmaker, Victor Reader, Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic, Kurzweil, Universal reader, Alpha Smart, IntelilKeys, Smartboard, etc. A teacher is looking into a trial of a Dynavox for a student with ISE needs.

For many students we are continually searching for technology to assist them to become more independent. With so many different choices out there and the money involved, I can see that it is important to have people available who can help in this search. The problem is there are not that many people in VT that have the expertise or knowledge of the variety of AAC/AT out there. And the people that do are overloaded, taking weeks to get back to teams. They also have to have a clear understanding of the needs of the student, along with their strengths and weaknesses, before they can suggest the best tool and this takes time. We can talk with the SLP who has some experience with AT, but it would be helpful to have several people in the state who could have this knowledge and could keep up with the changes. I see this as an area of need.