Assistive Technology: What's Up
So
many parents have asked me about how Assistive Technlogy might
help their child in regards to accomdations for their special
eduation IEP.
Assistive
technology for children with learning disabilities is defined
by the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) as any item, piece
of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially
off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase
the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.
Public
Law 94-142, Section 300.532, outlines that in the student assessment/evaluation
process the child is assessed in all areas related to the suspected
disability, including where appropriate, health, vision, hearing,
social and emotional status, general intelligence, and that the
use of technology should be considered to facilitate maximum potential
of the disabled student.
In
the 1990 amendment to the IDEA, P.L. 94-142, the student’s
need for assistive technology devices and services is to be considered
and addressed when the Individualized Education Program (I.E.P.)
is planned. The school can either provide the services as part
of special education, or these devices and services can be provided
as related services.
Assistive
technology is not technology that helps students practice new
skills that they are learning. It is not software to practice
spelling words or math facts. However, if the child’s problem
is handwriting, assistive technology might be technology that
allows him to have a keyboard to produce more legible spelling
tests or math problems. Other examples of devices that would help
a student with writing could be spell-checkers, grammar checkers,
speech synthesizers, speech recognition, outlining programs, mind
mapping programs, and word predictions. For math computation,
the use of a calculator, or even a talking calculator in some
cases, could help a student having difficulties in math. It helps
a student to do a task that he either cannot perform without it
or cannot perform as well without it.
Assistive
technology can be used in a variety of environments and can help
a child with a task that might be done at school, at home or out
in the community. At some point in your IEP meeting, there should
be a discussion about assistive technology usually after you have
agreed upon the goals that your child will be expected to attain
in the next twelve months. It isn’t really possible to make
a decision about assistive technology until you can talk about
the specific tasks that your child will be trying to accomplish.
If
your IEP team decides to complete an assistive technology assessment
because there isn’t enough information, it should be written
in the IEP. Training of your child, members of your family and
school personnel on how to use the assistive technology and other
supports might be necessary for the device to be appropriately
used.
In
all, assitive technology is something of which those of us who
work with children in this 21st century, certainly need to keep
abreast.
November
25, 2002
