Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

Promising Changes for Special Education Under ESSA : Under NCLB, special education students often lacked resources and were forced to take inappropriate standardized tests. Things are about to change. One of those changes is students: "Students must have access to appropriate accommodations, such as the ability to use assistive technology, for assessments." Click on the link above or here to read the full article from NEA today.

Shared by: Carrie Portrie, EC-SEAT project coordinator ** The Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATiA) offers many free webinars to increase our understanding of AT and how AT devices and solutions can bolster daily living, learning and playing opportunities for individuals regardless of age who have special needs. Starting in October ATIA is offering four free webinars focused on: Keys to Classroom Success Parts 1-4 by folks at  Tobii Dynovox . The list and content description are described  at this link.  One in particular that caught my eye was:  Keys to Classroom Success Part 2: Using Snap Scene to Support Language, Communication and Literacy for Emergent Learners. Snap Scene looks like a promising application that can be used at home and school. Embedded is a video from the Tobii Dynovox  YouTube Page . If you are a provider or parent of a child with a disability, there is a free trial available with ten free scenes. It is always a good...

By: Carrie Portrie , EC-SEAT Project Coordinator Last year, Erin Phillips, a former EC-SEAT scholar now preschool special educator in Laconia, NH wrote about Bookshare in the post "Bookshare an Untapped Resource." . After re-reading this post this morning, I began to search for Assistive Technology for young children and accessible instructional/education materials (AIM, AEM). I found a blog post shared on Reading Rockets (a website coordinated by WETA Public Television ) by June Behrman a former special educator for children Pre-K through 6th grade titled, "Aiming for Access."  The post highlights webinars from the April 2016 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)'s "Week of the Young Child." The webinars were presented by Beth Poss of the Center on Technology and Disability.   As I continued down a rabbit hole of information, I wondered how best to share all these great resources for teachers, families, and resear...

By: Laura Kazmierczak, EC-SEAT Scholar This summer I had the opportunity to join and assist Dr. Therese Willkomm, PhD, ATP,Clinical Associate Professor at University of New Hampshire and Stacy Driscoll,Assistive Technology Specialist at University of New Hampshire and private consultant, the topic presenters and coordinators, with Camp CreATe.   “What is Camp CreATe, " you ask?   I’ll be happy to tell you!   Camp CreATe is a week long conference presented by ATinNH offered to individuals of multiple human services professional backgrounds.   Everyone from educators to family members, therapists, vocational rehabilitation counselors, service providers, and individuals with exceptionalities are welcomed to gather for an intensive hands on experience exploring and making AT.   The best part of this week is, what you make, you get to take!   This year’s Camp CreATe included five sessions, one for each day.   Day One focused on Creating...

By: Katie McCormack , EC-SEAT Scholar Assistive technology is defined as “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability” (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004). To the average person, the term “assistive technology” may be associated with expensiveness, technicality and complication. Unquestionably, assistive technology is a great concept, providing opportunities and opening previously closed doors to individuals with disabilities. Yet when thinking about the process of creating assistive technology, it can seem a bit intimidating… don’t you need a computer science or engineering degree? Don’t you have to use expensive tools and materials? Don’t you need to work in a special factory or lab? Well, yes. Sometimes. However, it is a little known fact that anyone (yes even YOU) is capable of creati...

By: Carrie Portrie , M.Ed, EC-SEAT project coordinator Selecting AT for young children birth to age 8 takes time, creativity and collaboration. While searching through current AT related articles and websites this morning, I found myself at Understood.org reading articles by Amanda Morin . She reminds parents of their role and provides resources to support AT device and service selection for children. Creating an opportunity for parents and educators to talk together about AT, is essential to successful implementation and consistency. Morin (2014) provides a checklist of questions for parents to ask when AT is being considered for their child. A few questions she lists are: "How will AT help my child learn more successfully? Will it help him become a more independent learner? Which of my child’s issues will this tool address? How will it help him work around his challenges? What strengths does he have that will work well with certain tools or devices? (For example, a ...