Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

By:  Caitlyn Pagnottaro, ECSEAT Scholar There’s a lot of things that children tell us every day and a lot of messages that they send us, even if we don’t receive those messages verbally in a way that we can understand. That’s why as educators it’s important for us to have the ability to recognize whether a child can’t do something simply because it’s too difficult, or because we haven’t provided them an environment where they’re comfortable and capable of doing the work. That’s the whole idea behind flexible seating. More and more educators in grades K – 3 are adding this into their practice where children get to choose their own workspaces. Traditionally, children would be introduced to their desk space labeled with their name, but instead teachers are introducing them to spaces that they can choose to work from such as crate chairs, exercise balls, kneeling tables and much more. It’s up to the student to choose where they think they’re going to do their best work. For a lot of ch...

By:  Caitlyn Pagnottaro, ECSEAT Scholar So much has changed since I was a young child starting school. Looking back I can see what we valued then compared to what we value today. I remember that I played a lot. If we had circle time and other structured parts of the day I don’t remember it. I remember playing. I remember playing with my friends at the time inside and outside of the classroom. The preschool/kindergarten that I attended was private and the play area that we had behind our building was amazing. At least from what I recall as a small child it was because everything around me seemed so much bigger. There was a huge climbing structure that I used to hang off of, or climb to the highest point as if I were on the top of the world. We had this playhouse that you could climb up to which my girlfriends and I would all go up to together and hangout and giggle. I can’t remember anything academic that we ever did in preschool unless it involved a book and that was a...

By:  Melissa Giconda , EC-SEAT Scholar                             App Name:  TouchChat HD Where:  Google Play Store Link: https://touchchatapp.com/apps/touchchat-hd-aac Cost:  $149.99 (USD + tax) About the app:  TouchChat HD is an app that functions as a communication tool for those with communication impairments. This app is used to help children or students who may be non-verbal. It helps students to be able to communicate without actually being physically verbal . It has many options to edit vocabulary and is limitless with flexibility; you are allowed the opportunity to add familiar people, places, snacks, and much more. It is simple enough for a student who has the ability to read written language but also accommodates students who are pre-reading (or not reading at all) and allows them to select icons based on pictu...

By:   Kimberly Chouinard , EC-SEAT Scholar App Review : SeeSaw Learning During this time of remote learning, as of April 2020, it is important to consider a few features in selecting the right app for your program's needs and students in presenting, monitoring and assessing student performance: 1. How easy is this SeeSaw Learning app to use for teachers? This app is easy to navigate. It offers tutorials and support pages for teacher to support its use. 2. Ease of use for families and security of information? Parents are invited by teacher to join SeeSaw via email using their email and student code.  For remote learning, parents need to join as the "student" in order to complete work and share with teacher on the app. Compatible with several devices including, Chromebooks, computers, iPads, iPhones, Android tablets, Android phones, and Kindle Fire. 3. What ways or modes will this app give teachers to share learning experiences? The app contains a library of activiti...

By: Kimberly Chouinard,  EC-SEAT Scholar This week started with a bang! It’s hard to believe it still the same week, actually, it is a blend of 2 weeks. On Friday 3/13 the state of NH announced that all schools would be closed and move forward with a remote learning model during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Friday (3/13), my school district sent an email asking staff to work from home on Monday (3/16) and to review options and ideas for beginning a remote learning model for their grade level.  On Monday (3/16) we had the first of many, preschool team Zoom meetings. We collaborated, shared, planned, and came up with a plan to begin to move forward planning for remote learning. 1.     We agreed to create an activity calendar, with four developmental subheadings to work on for both the 3- and 4-year old programs. 2.     We planned how we wanted to explain to parents how to implement these suggested activities at home. 3.     We divided th...

Watch Dr. Therese Wilkomm create a simple light box! A great idea for classrooms and work with young children! Other ATinNH videos demonstrating Assistive Technology solutions can be found here -  https://www.youtube.com/user/ATinNH.

By:  Melissa Giconda , EC-SEAT Scholar                             App Name:  Dictate2us Where:  Google Play Store Link: https://www.dictate2us.com/ Cost:  Free Trial About the app:  Dictate2us is an app that functions as a recorder with transcription. This app is used to help children or students with hearing impairments. It helps students to be able to speak and record simple phrases and have it transcribed into written text . It could be beneficial to someone with a hearing impairment who has the ability to read written text. The app itself has an interface that is easy to navigate. It is also able to record lectures and songs and transcribe for those with hearing impairments. This app is also used by special educators, support professionals, and medical professionals as a note-taking tool.   Positive:  Any ch...

By: Alicia Giannelli, EC-SEAT Scholar Goal: The audience was able to create videos using Screencastify   My team was given no time to get ready to teach online. The preschool team had a lot on their plates with determining how to teach three and four-year-old students. They were not sure how to use videos, apps, and other online materials. Many of them were feeling very nervous to create videos and share them. Others were ready to create videos but did not know where to start. This is why I decided to host a zoom meeting and walk them through the process of Screencastify . Screencastify is a way for teachers to create videos and share them easily with their students. Screencastify allows for a person to upload a video and edit it, create videos, and share them easily with a link. I walked the Deerfield Community School Preschool staff members through the process on how to download Screencastify for free while on the video. I also demonstrated how to record from your computer, how...

By Alicia Giannelli, EC-SEAT Scholar When I think of Autism as an educator, many questions come to mind. Mainly, how are children diagnoses, and how does their age at diagnosis affect them? Also, does a diagnosis change the situation for families and adults? “The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that ALL 18- and 24-month-olds be screened for ASD during regular health visits” (Stenberg, 2014, p255) because autistic behaviors can sometimes be observed as early as one year old. When the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT) screening takes place, there is a 23 yes or no questionnaire that parents answer and six critical items. These items are “‘imitation’, ‘interest in other children’, ‘initiative to joint attention (point for interest)’, ‘response to joint attention (follow point)’, ‘show objects to others’ and ‘response to the name” (Stenberg, 2014, p256). If a child fails 2 out of the 6 critical items they are labeled as at risk for autism. It is shown “that scree...

By Alicia Giannelli, EC-SEAT Scholar Education has always shifted. It has changed and evolved based on current socio-cultural values and goals. Over time, these goals have changed based on societal needs and desires. When early education began it was very different than what we have today. That is because society’s needs and learning opportunities have changed. In the past, children needed to be home to help the family and did not need simple educational skills, but now education is for all children to allow them to explore the world around them and to get the skills needed to support themselves and their families later. “The modern human mind has evolved with the history of the human species” (Bodrova, 2007, pg 11). Today there are many cultural influences that affect the early childhood education practice. Some of these include the push-down method and behavior management. These two influences are changing the nature of teaching and what the early childhood classroom looks like. Wh...

By: Alicia Giannelli, EC-SEAT Scholar The following blogpost includes sample emails and a reflection about how to teach with the Novel Effect App. Read the sample emails, the reflection, and follow the links to learn more.  Using the Novel Effect App - https://noveleffect.com/  - to Enhance Reading Online Location: Screencastify Videos and Emails Audience: Preschool Team Members and Preschool Families Book: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-dHeNfXtgc Sample Email to Preschool Families: Hello Everyone, I have an app called Novel Effect that I want to share with you all! It is an app that adds sound effects while you read. I feel as though you and your children will love it as much as I do. Check out my video on the Novel Effect app  here .   The website also has great information for you to explore: https://noveleffect.com/  I have also created a read-aloud of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive The Bus, by Mo Willems f...

By: Maria Mazzola, EC-SEAT Scholar Experience: During my field experiences exploring Assistive Technology, I visited local stores to find devices that can help individuals with disabilities with daily tasks at home. I decided to explore Home Depot and Best Buy. Information about each device is pictured and described below. 1. The first device I explored was the Motion Activated Light Bulb (FEIT Electric Intellibulb). I found this device at Home Depot in the “lights” section. This device costs $8.99 (60 W). This device is used to light up an area in your house or anywhere that can support electricity. It lights up instantly when activated by motion (such as walking by or just waving your hand. This device can accommodate those who cannot physically turn on a light by themselves. The light turns on when it detects motion (up to 19ft away) and turns off automatically when there is no motion in the room of the light for 10 minutes. This device is great because it is hands-free and doe...

By: Maria Mazzola, EC-SEAT Scholar What is Assistive Technology? Devices and services that help individuals with special needs. They help people with disabilities: remember, read, see, communicate, and listen. iPad/iPhone Stands iPad/iPhone stands are a great assistive technology to use in the classroom and at home. These stands help children or individuals keep their device in place without having to hold it up. This assistive technology can be helpful especially to children or individuals with physical disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy or Muscle Dystrophy. Materials: coro-claw, exacto knife, sharpie corrugated plastic, double sided foam tape scissors, ruler. Sandwich holder A sandwich holder is a great assistive technology device to use with children and individuals with disabilities. This device allows an individual to eat a sandwich without having to use their hands. This device can be mounted onto a wheelchair as well. Materials: corrugated plastic, Coro-claw, loc-line, double-...