I’m wading backing into the blogging waters again; this time with a little less trepidation. The online class was very helpful in helping me eliviate some of my anxiety.
This week, I thought I would share a website that I found to be very helpful. It is called the Family Centre on Technology and Disability; it is a US government funded agency that offers resources on AT. I found it when I went looking for an AT video. The video was about Brody, a grade 6 boy who uses AT at school; I found it to be very informative.
Because the video fascinated me, I decided to dig a little deeper into the website. The link is: http://www.fctd.info/ There are a large variety of resources on the website, here's a list of some of my favourites:
1. The AT glossary. It is a glossary of AT terms. As a newcomer to AT, this glossary will come in handy. I have printed a copy of it to include in with my AT resources.
2. Powerpoints: I especially like the powerpoint entitled "Types of AT in the Classroom." The information was easy to understand and informative. For me, there were two notable sections in this powerpoint. First, there is a list of AT categories in the classroom which are broken down into: AT Category; Why Student Would Need; and examples. This is another resource that will be especially helpful for newcomers to AT. While I probably shouldn't be discussing keeping paper copies in an AT course, I will be keeping a copy of these categores as well.
The powerpoint had a slide that examined "at-risk" students and the need for them to use AT: "A large population of “at risk” students need assistance, but because they don’t easily fit into a diagnostic profile, they do not receive assistance; if AT is available to everyone, these students can benefit”.
I found this statement to be powerful and very true. I believe that most of my "at-risk" students can benefit greatly from AT. It is an area I would like to explore further because of my passion for working with "at-risk" students. I may be writing a follow-up blog on this topic.
3. There are listings of several AT organization websites that offer AT resources. I have checked the websites out and they are quite good. They are all U.S. based and I would like to find some Canadian based AT resource websites.
4. Videos: I fell into this website because of the video I found online. There are several videos on it featuring students who use AT. Each is about 4 minutes in legnth and are excellent. I strongly recommend you watch some. Jared's video is powerful. He is a young man with cerebral palsy. I learned about sip and puff technology and I am eager to learn more about AT in this area. I'm looking forward to our next online class. Here's to the journey!
Eleanor,
ReplyDeleteI checked out the website that you discussed in your post. As you mentioned, the AT catalogue is very helpful; especially for someone who does not know a lot about assistive technology and is trying to fit the right technology with a specific set a challenges that a student might have.
The fact that the catalogue separates the technologies into different categories and pairs and technologies with appropriate challenges is very beneficial. I also like that each category provides AT suggestions that range from low, to middle, to high tech.
You also mentioned that there was a section on AT and ‘at-risk’ students. All of the students that I work with fall into this category, so I was interested to see what information this website had to share. I was just wondering if you can direct me to this section? I looked through most of the website but was not able to find the section you were discussing. Thanks!
I’m in the process of setting some of my students up to start using an Ipad for reading and dictation. They seemed quite excited about the idea but I haven’t been able to implement anything yet. The nicer weather has meant that attendance is less of a priority. Also, I have one student who hates the idea of working with AT. He says he likes worksheets and that’s it. I think this has been his routine for a majority of school – “sit until you finish these worksheets” so it is what he is comfortable with. Math worksheets are what he prefers. Just wondering if anyone knows of any websites or Apps that would mimic doing worksheets but at least allow this student to incorporate some technology into his learning and improve his skills on the computer?
HI Eleanor,
ReplyDeleteI thought the website that you discussed in this post was fantastic. As I investigated it after reading about it here; I have now bookmarked it in my favourites. I also like that there was a section about success stories; often we see small progress with stduents but we aren't able to see how it impacts them over a longer period of time and in different environments.