Description

This blog was created to present information regarding the use of technologies with learning disabled students.

According to Wikipedia:

Learning Disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors.

Technology is the usage and knowledge of tools, techniques, and crafts, or is systems or methods of organization or is a material product of these things.

Review of Important Information

Students with disabilities are placed through the IEP (Individualized Education Program) on a case-by-case basis, this is based upon the child’s individual needs. When creating an IEP a variety of personnel should be included, the student, the student’s parents, teachers, and administrator’s. Well thought out IEP’s should form the foundation for an individually designed education program. The range of placements for a student include, full time general education classrooms, special classes, special school’s, home instruction, and instruction in hospitals and institutions. The Special Education classroom is often referred to as “self-contained”. Student’s with sever disabilities are educated in these rooms. The well trained special education teacher uses a variety of instructional methods while monitoring the progress of the student. The student can focus on functional skills and daily living skills in the “self-contained” classroom. The IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) mandates that general educators must participate in the IEP process. The general education teacher needs to actively participate in the IEP process because many objectives come from the general education requirements. Classroom teachers can integrate real life topics of current or future importance into the existing curriculum. This makes the instruction meaningful and relevant. Before the special educator writes objectives and goals for the student, a variety things should be reviewed. The educator should review current classroom grades, district and state testing, and other assessments conducted during the year as well. An annual review is required of the IEP to ensure the student is progressing on the individualized goals created. New goals and objectives need to be created to ensure progress with the student. The goals need to be measurable, positive, student oriented, and relevant.

Types of Assistive Technologies for students

We received an email from a director at USD 501 regarding the types of devices and technologies used in this district. The following was taken from the email, "First, you want to remember that Assistive Technologies are the tools and strategies that enable all students access to curriculum that will assist interactions and learning....Here is a list of Assistive Technology you may find in our classrooms: pencil grips, slant boards, dycem (no slip material), visual schedules, communication books, books on tape, portable word processer, file folder games with velcro to meet Kansas standards, communication devices, switches, alternate keyboards, numerous software (start to finish, choose it maker, switch maker, boardmaker plus, accessibility Suite, Co-Writer, Write Outloud, Draftbuilder, classroom suite, word maker, bookshelf etc....), access to computers and parallel curriculum items (Unique learning). These are just some of the items available for use in our classrooms".
Many of the devices she lists are everyday resources that are often over-looked by students who don't use them or don't need to use them.


The following video was taken from YouTube. The teacher displays the importance of using technology in the special education classroom.

Interactive Website

This list of Interactive Websites, can be very useful in a Special Education classroom. This is a list of sites for pre-k all the way through 12th grade. Each student has a different need and different disability and with this site a wide variety of needs can be met.

Trends to help meet needs

Trends in meeting the technological needs of students with disabilities

Research indicates to best meet the educational needs of students with disabilities and to ensure their access, participation, progress and assessment within the general education curriculum, teacher technological competence should be viewed as a critical teacher skill for addressing and meeting student’s educational needs (Sylvia S. Martin).

• NCLB –look for scientific evidence that an approach works better than another choice in a given situation.

• CEC- Council for Exceptional Children list the following as priority in addressing the needs of disabled students

• Technology should be address way to improve academic achievement for all children and to expand academic achievement to include domains beyond academic such as outcomes related to functional skills, development, and transition.

• The social domain (Including areas of social skills, social relationships, social behaviors, emotional regulation), the career domain (including post-secondary transitions, post secondary outcomes), and other critical outcomes for students with disabilities related to responsible citizenship.

• Involvement of family and cultural /linguistic considerations, as well as race, ethnicity, poverty, limited English proficiency, disability and family circumstances.

• Each of these areas has a relationship to the use and the impact of technology either at the teacher level or learner level.

Reflective Response to Technology with Special Education Students

The importance of technology in the area of special education cannot be underestimated. Through technology general education curriculum can be more easily adapted for students with learning difficulties. For the teacher, technology allows for a change in the format of assignments that have been designed for general education students, no longer is it necessary to cut and paste when text and spacing can be altered all in one setting. Text can be enlarged;, fonts can be changed to make text more readable for the struggling learners. Beyond the basic ext design, most standard computers available in the general education classroom are equipped with magnification programs as well as read aloud, write aloud, and talking capacities. Outside of the standard applications, there are a wide variety of adaptive curriculum's available; these have been professionally developed by text book companies as companion instructional material for general curriculum. These adaptive programs are especially designed with the special education student in mind and some are even designed as interactive, self-graduating programs.