• Categories of Assistive Technology

  • Aids for Daily Living
    Augmentative or Alternative Communication (AAC)
    Computer Access
    Environmental Control Systems
    Home/Worksite Modifications
    Prosthetics and Orthotics
    Seating and Positioning
    Service Animals
    Aids for Vision Impaired
    Aids for Hearing Impaired
    Wheelchairs/Mobility Aids
    Vehicle Modifications

• Assistive Technology Assessment: More Than the Device

   

  By: Andrew R. Beigel (2000)
• the support provided by AT can be a way to level the learning/living playing  field (Galvin & Scherer, 1996). The question is, how do we prevent students  like Anna from abandoning devices?
• Effective AT assessment leads to finding devices that build on the strengths of  the learners in their various environments in order to ameliorate the weaknesses  in their environments.
• 1990 (IDEA) requires that all learners evaluated for possible special education  services undergo an evaluation for AT use
• This article presents a set of questions that can be used to frame the  assessment process.
• Scherer (1993) pointed out that the foremost reason for abandoning AT is the  failure to consider the learner's ideas and desires for the purposes and uses of  the device.
• definition of AT as stated in the federal regulations is that it helps to  maintain current functioning or improve functional skills (Technology-Related  Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988).
• examination leads to goals for the learner in the academic, psychomotor, and/or  social arenas. Regardless of the content, the goals must have the intent to  include and integrate all learners in the traditional classroom milieu to the  maximum extent attainable.
• goals and their attendant short-term objectives must be clearly articulated and  relate to the use of AT,
• For older learners, long-range planning leads to the creation of the  Individualized Transition Plan (ITP),
• learner's strengths and abilities squarely at the forefront of the assessment  and to use these to ameliorate potential difficulties in the classroom
• Involving the learner at this point means providing the learner with a voice  through interview and discussion. Asking learners what goals they might have for  AT in a non-clinical setting and method is the preferred approach.
• Key in examining the academic area is remembering that the device should not be  used to replace interactions with the teacher or peers, nor should it be used to  replace instruction (Garner & Campbell, 1987). The device should enhance  interactions and learning.
• The assessment process has three strands-the learners, their environments, and  the technology-which are directly connected.
• areas directly involving the learner that affect abandonment: the learner's  personal style and the learner's physical strengths and needs.
• questions should be addressed when the assessment process begins.
• 1. What purposeful motoric movement does the individual have?
• 2. How willing is the learner in trying new activities or tasks?
• 3. What does the learner desire from the use of AT?
• 4. What supports will the learner require in using the device?
• 5. What level of training will the learner and others who interact with the  learner need?
• 6. What impact will the learner's socioeconomic status and cultural background  have on the use of AT?

  • cultural differences also needs exploration. All too frequently, learners who are not like their teachers face lowered teacher expectations. Again, teachers tend to expect low-level responses, which does little to promote the use of AT. There is also the question of the intrinsic impact that a learner's culture has on the learner's acceptance of AT and the acceptance of AT by the learner's family.

  • established that low socioeconomic status lowers teacher's expectations (Knapp, 1995). This lowered expectation frequently leads to fast-paced, skills-based instruction designed to imprint skills in the minds of the learners (Knapp, 1995). This type of learning can be seen as memory work and does not require learners to develop higher level cognitive skills. The emphasis is on rapid, low-level response, which does little to encourage the use of AT.
• The following questions can be used to guide examination of the school.
• 1. How do the teachers of learners using AT present information to the learners?
• 2. What is the preferred learning-teaching interaction style of the classroom-a  cooperative learning style, an individualized style, project driven, or small  independent and dependent groups?
• 3. What is the primary method of assessment in the classroom?
• 4. How receptive is the teacher to having a learner who uses AT in the  classroom?
• 5. What is the physical structure of the classroom and school?
• Only after examining the learner and the school environment should possible  devices be examined.
• 1. How durable is the device?
• 2. How easy is the device to update and/or repair?
• 3. What is the willingness of the vendor of the device to provide a trial or  loaner period of use for the learner?
• 4. What is the general reputation of the company in terms of construction,  service, training, and reliability?

  • examining the various publications dealing with AT, such as TeamRehab, the TAM Connector, or the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Journal; or by contacting any one of a number of organizations involved with AT, such as The Arc or the Council for Exceptional Children, the Center for Applied Special Technology, and the Trafford Center for Technology and Learning Disabilities at Frostig Center; or by asking others who use AT.
• 5. Does the AT user have the psychomotor skills needed to use the device in a  functional manner where benefit is gained, or merely on an operational level  where the learner can turn the device on and off?
• 6. Is the device aesthetically acceptable to the learner?
• 7. Will the device meet the needs of the individual in the school environment in  a manner that is transparent or easily understood by those who interact with the  learner?
• 8. How portable is the device?

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