AT Reflections

Where to begin? I was surprised by the many options for students with learning disabilities. I feel I should have known more about these products, especially with my having a child on the autistic spectrum, who has significant learning impairments. I also worked for BOCES for 6 years and have seen some AT tools, like the Dynavox communication system for students who are unable to speak in a functional manner. I have also used the touch screen mouse alternative with computers. But there are so many other useful tools to help students learn. Even the Smartboard is a great interactive type tool to engage students who have attention issues and benefit from visual and auditory presentations. I myself find that a great way to learn new things, as it is not always easy to visualize things you are not familiar with. I was better able to understand some of the AT tools after watching a power point I found on these items through one of the many websites and links I perused.

I liked that some of the AT tools are available right in your browser and I plan to try that out for myself. Items such at the Intel reader and other text to speech tools do not seem to be used in any of the learning environments that I have been in. In my SLMC interview at the Bay Trail M.S., they don't use much assistive technology. I was told that the special ed. dept. is in charge of these items. He did say that they have used the FM Sound Sys., where he has worn a microphone clipped to a cord around his neck and the student had a hearing devise in his ear. Something like that could be quite useful for students with auditory sensory differences, that prevent them from staying focused on a speaker, because they are completely distracted by something like the sound of the florescent lights-sounds crazy, but they really can hear these things! I also asked about the use of filters and whether they present any problems for the students trying to access information. The answer was a resounding "no, not at all". In a few cases he has requested that a sight on say "breast cancer" be unblocked, but otherwise, they have not had problems accessing information. Makes me wonder if this is as big an issue for school libraries as I have been reading about? He also said they have social networking sites blocked, but not YouTube, as there are many educational videos they use with the students. I imagine the filters may be a greater problem in the high school, unless they allow greater access. Well, I need to move on to the next topic in this weeks' podcast. Adios.