Assistive Technology in School Aged Children

   This past week I have been reviewing a website, http://www.atinternetmodules.org/mod_list.php to learn more about AT with school aged children. The process of finding the correct type of AT for a student includes many checkpoints to go through. Here is a list of some concerns to consider when choosing appropriate AT:

• Which tasks to target
• The environment(s) in which the tasks will be performed
• The evaluation of the student's needs and abilities
• Matching features of AT to the needs of the student
• Interpreting the information
• Narrowing the options to select and try
• Obtaining AT options
• Conducting trials
• Interpreting the data collected from the trials
• Selecting the AT tool or service that the student will use
• Progress monitoring to ensure the selected AT tool or service is effective and remains appropriate

It is important to put al of these concerns into consideration. It was interesting to me to see the whole list because I would have never thought of half of those ideas when considering AT for a student. 

I also learned that the IEP team is responsible for carrying out the AT process. There should be an Assistive Technology specialist as well as the rest of the IEP members. This was new to me I never heard of an AT specialist before. 

While reading, I stumbled upon a website that allows users to identify potential AT solutions by creating a customized search based on the selected features. This website is specifically developed for finding technology options for students with special needs. I think this website is a wonderful resource to have and use as a future classroom teacher. You may not always have an AT specialist with you all the time to help and guide you and this website could come in handy.  Here is the link: http://techmatrix.org

Another item I learned about is the SETT framework. The SETT Framework is a tool that helps teams gather and organize information that can be used to guide collaborative decisions about services that foster the educational success of students with disabilities. SETT is an acronym for : Student, Environments, Tasks, Tools. The team needs to review each of the parts of the SETT framework before making decisions for the student. I was really glad I was able to learn about this because it opened my eyes to how to begin even looking at a student and getting them the help they need. I believe this is an easy tool to incorporate into my own classroom as a future teacher. I am excited to be able to put all of my new information I am learning to use in my own classroom!