ASSISTIVE AND ADAPTIVE TECHNOLGY CURRENT PRACTICE AND FUTURE NEEDS

1. ASSISTIVE AND ADAPTIVE TECHNOLGY CURRENT PRACTICE AND FUTURE NEEDS Presented by Christopher Giarratano, Stephanie Mathosian, Victor Montemurro S.U.N.Y. at Stony Brook, Fall 2000 EST 571 - Computer Based Educational Technologies Professor Lorraine Tawfik

2. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs What is the intent of assistive and adaptive technology devices and services?

3. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Assistive and adaptive technologies help individuals with learning disabilities bypass, work around, or compensate for their disability, increasing independence, participation, and potential.

4. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs • HIGH TECH • LOW TECH • OR EVEN, NO TECH The assistance and adaptation are designed to help the individual have equal access to learning opportunities and to make life easier and more manageable.

5. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Why use assistive and adaptive technology?

6. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Individuals with Disabilities Act • Originally made law in 1990. • Provides for “free, appropriate, public education.” • Re-authorized in July 1997 after two years of discussion and debate to complete the regulations. • Letter of the law versus the spirit of the law.

7. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs • Learning disabilities are neither cured nor outgrown. • Children with learning differences grow up to be adults with learning differences.

8. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Assistive and adaptive technology can help. • Hard work and helpful tools enable the learning disabled person to work successfully in these areas:

9. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Assistive Technology: • Increases independence. • Reduces over-reliance on others. • Increases self-esteem. • Aids the transition to adulthood • Allow the user to accomplish specific tasks on their own.

10. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs When choosing assistive technology, consider: • The learner • The setting • The task to be performed

11. Table 2.1 Examples of Assistive Technology

12. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Types of Assistive Technology • Written Language Technologies • Reading Technologies • Organization/Memory Technologies • Math Technologies • Listening Technologies • Vision Technologies

13. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Assistive Technologyfor the blind or vision impaired:A different way of seeing.

14. Magnification:

15. Reading Aids: • Closed-circuit television

16. Portable Closed Circuit T.V.

17. Expert Reader: Stand alone text reader

18. Software Readers:

19. ZoomText Xtra 7.0

20. Mountbattan Braille writer:

21. Braille Companion Notetaker:

22. Power Brailler:

23. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Written Language Technologies • Word processors • Spell checkers • Proofreaders • Speech synthesizers and screen reviewers • Speech recognition systems

24. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Inspiration: visual and graphic organization

25. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Co: Writer 4000 and other word prediction software On the third letter of the word interesting, Co: Writer 4000 gave the writer six possible choices. Word prediction software helps the struggling writer.

26. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs AlphaSmart and other alternative keyboards

27. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Reading Technologies • Optical character recognition systems. • Used with a scanner and speech synthesizer computer. • Known as a “reading machine.” • User can both see and hear the words. • Kurzweil 3000 from Lernout & Hauspie

28. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Kurzweil 3000 • Computer as reading machine • Scanned material may be read in highlighted context and listened to. • Various modes of reading may be customized to the individual • Study skills tools included.

29. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Reading Technologies, cont’d • Reading pens • Books on disk • Tape recorders with variable speech control devices • Screen review systems Scan a single word for help.

30. Organization/Memory Technologies Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs • Personal data managers for computers or hand-held: written data entry or spoken. • Free-form databases allow the user to enter data randomly and retrieve it with any single word within the data

31. Math Technologies Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs • Talking calculators • Electronic math worksheets

32. Math Technologies, cont’d Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs

33. Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Listening Technologies A personal FM listening system brings a speaker’s voice directly into the listener’s ear. This device may be helpful to people who have difficulty processing, understanding, or remembering what they hear.

34. Assistive Technology Team Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs • Special education teacher • Regular education teacher • Assistive technology specialist • Speech, occupational, and physical therapists • Itinerant service providers, i.e. vision/hearing • Psychologist and CSE chair • Director of special education

35. Staff Development Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs • Technology training • Integration of devices and software • Multi-disciplinary team approach. • Assessing student needs • Federal and state laws and regulations and local requirements

36. Internet Resources Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs • Closing the Gap http://www.closingthegap.com • National Database of Assistive Technology http:www.abledata.com/index.htm • Alliance for Technology Access http://www.ataccess.org • University of Washington AT Center http://weber.u.washington.edu/~atrc

37. A Webquest for Teachers Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs Assistive Technology 101 By Kathy Lalk http://www.hazelwood.k12.mo.us/~cdavis01/webquests/klw

38. Future Needs Assistive and Adaptive Technology - Current Practice and Future Needs • Staff development • Technology training • Early intervention • Teamwork • Proactive planning • Budgeting