The Assistive Technology Act Angelica M. Goettl EDU 620 Instructor: Dennis Lawrence November 18, 2013

Provide a description of the Assistive Technology Act and its impact on the field of education. According to the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities the act was first passed by Congress and signed by the President as Technology Related Assistance Act of This act is often called the Tech Act, the most current version of the act has been reauthorized through The Act seeks to provide AT to persons with disabilities, so they can more fully participate in education, employment, and daily activities at the same level as their peers. The Act covers people with disabilities of all ages, all disabilities, in early intervention, K-12, post- secondary, vocational rehabilitation, community living, aging services, etc..

Assess the current state of the Assistive Technology and what influences the act is having on students with disabilities. Due to the large and increasing number of special needs students with disabilities, assistive educational technology is growing in importance. During the past 10 years, the percentage of students with disabilities served in schools and classes with their nondisabled peers has gradually increased. In the school year, US states reported that 97.8 percent of students ages 6 through 11 with disabilities were served in schools with their nondisabled peers, with 94.7 percent of students ages 12 through 17 with disabilities and 87.2 percent of students ages 18 through 21 with disabilities. These figures represent a large increase when compared to just four years before when in the states were serving 43.4 percent of students with disabilities ages 6-21 in regular classrooms. As the percentage of special needs students served in an inclusive setting along with nondisabled students rises, the number of special education and regular education teachers prepared to provide an inclusive environment must also increase (US Dept. of Education 2000, US Dept. of Education 1996).

Explain your position on fostering Assistive Technology to provide full inclusion of students with disabilities in education, employment, daily activities, and in their communities. As an educator my position is to be open and willing to update my trainings in technology in order to be able to serve all my students. I will need to keep up with the changes and the updates in order to help my students and my co-workers with disabilities. I have invited speakers to my classes that have disabilities so my students can see that people with disabilities can and do live normal lives.

Evaluate how the Assistive Technology Act will impact changes to your teaching and learning. As I am reading more and more about Assistive Technology I am becoming more aware as to all the tools available for everyone to be in the same classroom, students with and without disabilities. The classroom that we want to have is an inclusive one where we are all learning and functioning as a whole regardless of our differences. The classroom has to be one where all students are set for success.

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