Pacer Center Videos on AT and Young Children

Below you see - "Introduction to Assistive Technology for Young Learners: Video 1" created by the Pacer Center in Minneapolis, MN. It is the first of four video in a series introducing assistive technology for children with disabilities birth to 5.

These videos were created as part of the Technology to Improve Kids' Educational Success or TIKES, a project of PACER Center funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The TIKES website opens with:

"Assistive technology, whether something as simple as a pencil grip or as complicated as a communication device, has the power to change lives and opens doors of opportunity for people with disabilities. The TIKES Project helps to open these doors for parents and providers by educating them on and promoting the use of assistive technology with children and students with disabilities ages birth to 5. Assistive technology can support young children in building skills, increasing participation in activities, promoting development, enhancing learning, and boosting self-esteem."

You can find out more about the TIKES project and find resources here - http://www.pacer.org/stc/tikes/.

TIKES and many other projects seek to connect parents and providers with AT knowledge to then better support young children with disabilities in school, home and the community. Our project, EC-SEAT seeks to prepare early childhood educators with a speciality in AT, so they will then promote its use and lead others in incorporating it into children with disabilities' lives.

Other federally funded projects include:

• Specialized Centers/online resources (listed here) - http://ectacenter.org/pdev/ectaprojects.asp
• OSEP funded Early Childhood AT projects - http://ectacenter.org/topics/atech/ecprojs.asp. 

These two pages within the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center website provide a wealth of connections to online modules and resources not just about AT and young children but to many topics relevant to parents and providers.