Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

By Danielle Vachon , Third Grade Teacher and EC-SEAT Scholar Since being part of this program I have become more aware of assistive technology in the classroom. I have a few children at my school who use their chromebooks for text to speech. This allows them to participate during writing time because they can get their thoughts down without struggling with spelling or forming letters. However, this is only helpful if the child can talk and speak clearly into the computer... I recently stumbled upon a new invention! Two students at the University of Washington have created a pair of smart gloves that can translate American Sign Language into automatically into text or speech. They were designed to bridget the communication gap between the Deaf and hearing communities. The gloves use sophisticated sensors to recognize ASL gestures. The SignAloud gloves are equipped with sensors and connected via Bluetooth to a computer, which analyzes and translates gestures. When a gesture matc

By: Katie McKay, EC-SEAT Scholar In a recent report from the Center for Family Policy and Research at the University of Missouri, Splett and Hawkins (2011) stated preschool expulsion is the, “single best predictor of adolescent delinquency and adult imprisonment,” ( p. 1, pp.3 ) an alarming fact when paired with high rates of preschool expulsion occurring in the United States today. On average, Gilliam ( 2005 ) reported the preschool expulsion rate is over three times the rate of K-12 expulsions across the U.S (Figure 1). Parents are confused why preschools are kicking out their very young children. Teachers feel as if they have no other choice but to expel children with challenging behaviors. And national advocacy and professional groups have come together to stand against preschool expulsion and suspension .     Figure 1. Preschool versus K-12 expulsion rates per state. Adapted from “Prekindergarteners Left Behind: Expulsion Rates in State Prekindergarten Sys

Too Small to Fail aims to help parents and businesses take meaningful actions to improve the health and well-being of children ages zero to five, so that more of America’s children are prepared to succeed in the 21st century. The U.S. Department of Education collaborates and  Follow the link below to learn more about their mission, blog and videos.  Let's Talk, Read and Sing About STEM : Because we want big things for our kids - and our country The White House, in partnership with the U.S. Departments of  Education  and  Health and Human Services  has worked with Too Small to Fail  to develop tip sheets. Read more here . 

By:  Erin Phillips , EC-SEAT Scholar Screenshot from Let's Participate Website While doing research in preparation for my final graduate exams, I came across an organizational project that I feel deserves to be highlighted and recognized. This project, known as Let’s Participate! Project , acknowledges the importance of Assistive Technology in an early childhood educational setting. It informs the public on how beneficial AT can be in regards to a child’s ability to participate. Let’s Participate! is supported by the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Special Education Programs and as outlined on their webpage, is designed to “assist IDEA Part C and Part B preschool programs in implementing and sustaining promising practices in the effective use of assistive technology (AT) by infants, toddlers, and preschool children with disabilities and, as a result, improve their functional outcomes (USDOE/OSEP, 2013). Currently, this project is only occurring in the st

By:  Lauren Pasquazzi, EC-SEAT Scholar There is a student in our classroom that has some delays in certain areas of development. One developmental domain that is a challenge for him is cognitive skills. When we do activities that involve numbers, this student has trouble remembering and will confuse the numbers. I have observed that this child is a sensory learner. He gravitates towards any of the sensory play centers and enjoys using his hands. I decided to try the iPad with this student. I downloaded some math apps and first showed the student how to use them. The iPad was a success! The student was engaged and getting the right answers when using the apps. Every week we have been using the iPad at a certain part of the day to help this child. We have seen a lot of progress. A couple apps we used: I chose Monkey Math by THUP Games . This is an app that helps to strengthen math skills by counting strategies and number recognition. Here is a video showing the app. Monkey