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December 1, 2002
Technology and Students with Special Needs
By Barbara Bray
Assistive technology helps level the field for both learning and physically challenged students, and opens doors for them to the wider world. By learning about assistive devices and other technology available, professional developers can help point to appropriate resources to support student learning and communicating.
TACLE
In 1992, the Bridge School in Hillsborough, Calif., began to look for ways to expand its TACLE (Technology for Augmentative Communication and Learning Enhancement) program. The educational program is dedicated to ensuring children with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative and alternative communication and assistive technology (AT) applications. The TACLE program is now implemented in the Oakland Unified School District serving K-12 students. Redwood Heights Elementary is one example.
The school has 11 students, eight using wheelchairs. AAC (Alternative Augmentative Communication) teachers suggest candidates for TACLE. They are students who cannot speak but have some sense of symbols and what words mean. Determining what students need to succeed academically can take up to two years of observations and experimentation with different devices.
Teachers Stephanie Taymuree and George Rehmet determine appropriate resources for the students based on physical needs. Some use a digitized speech device from DynaVox. A mainstreamed student in a wheelchair uses a 12-inch screen and transparent overlay with holes that help her touch the correct area on the screen. Without these devices, it's difficult to know what the students understand. This classroom also uses Intellikeys and a program called Speaking Dynamically. Dynamo, an 8-inch portable, allows students to answer questions specific to them. The teacher inputs messages and communication pages about students using over 3,000 symbols, a touch screen, and speech quality in any language. Students start out the year barely making eye contact. But when they begin communicating and getting a response, they become motivated to learn -- they have more control over their environment.
In January 2000, five students competed in a citywide oratory contest honoring Martin Luther King. They prepared a poem where each student learned a separate stanza and included hand gestures and facial expressions to convey the full meaning of the poem. They placed first in the grades 3-5 category.
George Rehmet's students would like to go skiing in April 2002. If you'd like to help make the trip happen, contact TACLE by e-mailing him or call 510/879-1480.
Creative Resources
At Bret Harte Middle School, students in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing class used photography and journal writing to educate the community about social change. Elizabeth Chiment, program director, and Kaho Kingsland, instructional assistant, borrowed two digital video cameras and a G3 with iMovie and interviewed the students on how communication difficulties isolate people. The amazing video "Language of the Listening Eye" won Best Overall Secondary School entry in the media category of the 2001 California Media and Multimedia Student Festival. Please also see p.20 for a more indepth look at the "Language of the Listening Eye."
Where to Go
Students who struggle with writing become frustrated easily, write little, and avoid the very experiences that build better writing skills. Co:Writer SmartApplet (Don Johnston, Inc.) is a technology intervention for struggling students. This brings word-prediction writing and spelling support to the AlphaSmart 3000 portable keyboard.
The Center for Accessible Technology in Berkeley, Calif., a technology resource and demonstration center for adults and children with disabilities, provides information and services to support the assistive technology user. They offer Science Access for All Students, a video that provides actual classroom examples of successful strategies for including students with disabilities in science instruction.
Sometimes technologies developed for different reasons can support students with learning difficulties in unexpected ways. The Frostig Center found that voice recognition technology improves dyslexic students' writing, reading, spelling, and comprehension skills. The University of Colorado and Avaya developed voice technology that will be able to detect expressions and interpret gestures. Designed to boost Avaya's customer relations, it is also being used to provide individualized feedback for children with hearing impairments and reading disabilities.
Key Points
Professional developers can facilitate design of a program for students with communicative problems or other disabilities by helping teachers:
- Collaborate with other teachers on a plan for technology that supports the curriculum and their specific needs;
- Consider the student's disability when choosing the appropriate technology and what is realistic for the student to do as part of the curriculum. Assessment needs to be ongoing and part of the student's IEP to assure the technology does have an impact on their ability to communicate and learn; and
- Participate in training from vendors or at specialized conferences on specific technologies. Since many augmentative communicative and assistive devices are specialized, vendors provide tailored training for the teachers plus extensive manuals and materials.
Email: Barbara Bray is president of Computer Strategies, LLC and My eCoach. She moderates the CUE techstaffdevelop listerv and writes PDQs for TechLearning.com where you can also submit tips.
Gail Lovely is a consultant specializing in the wise use of technology for learning in elementary grades.
Copyright 2002, CUE, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
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