Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

Watch the following 5-minute interview with Dr. Therese Willkomm, ATP to learn about the difference between Assistive Technology vs. Instructional Technology and how it relates to Universal Design for Learning.  Dr. Therese Willkomm, ATP - Assistive Technology vs. Instructional Technology and Universal Design for Learning from Carrie Smart on Vimeo . Links to Interesting articles and materials to inform our thinking: AT in NH -  Website  and  YouTube 29 U.S. Code Chapter 31 – Assistive Technology for Individuals with Disability Assistive Technology and IDEA: Regulations Assistive Technology Laws What is Assistive Technology? How is it Funded? Assistive Technology Act Universal Design and Technology Universal Design for Learning and Assistive Technology Evaluating Apps – Instructional vs. Assistive Technology

A couple days ago the U.S. Department of Education proposed a new rule "to improve the equity in the the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)," and made it public in a February 23, 2016, press release . You can visit the press release and listen or read the transcript explaining the proposal. The recording provides the voices of many national actors speaking about racial and ethnic disparities in education for students with special needs. I recommend listening to the recording in its entirety as well as the questions fielded at the end. The recording begins with Acting Secretary of Education John King stating: " Today, we are taking a critical step to support students of color with disability, and more broadly, to improve equity in our country. We have a moral and a civil rights obligation to ensure that every student has the opportunity to succeed regardless of background or whether the student has a disability. Our laws exist for the purpose of...

By: Erin Phillips , EC-SEAT project scholar Throughout my course work while in the EC-SEAT program, I have been introduced to a wonderful online resource called Bookshare , and to my amazement, this online resource is not nearly as well known as it should be, and deserves to be. Bookshare works to assure that individuals with print disabilities have access to the same materials as everyone else.                   Over the years, this organization has created the world’s largest online accessible library of copyrighted content for individuals with print disabilities, and they have been able to make it so this resource is free to all qualified U.S. students. Students who are unable to read “traditional” printed books due to a disability are given the opportunity to gain access to over 385,000 titles in a variety of accessible formats.          ...