1. Assistive Technology Teresa Shaver ED505 Dr. Beverly Ray

2. Assistive Technology
Historically thought of as extending the physical abilities of an individual (wheelchairs, braces, etc.)
Also extends sensory access (Braille, closed captioning)

3. Assistive Technology
Now we can use technology to extend abilities of individuals and create opportunities for learning, productivity and independence

4. Assistive Technology Laws
Technology-Related Assistance Act for Individuals with Disabilities
(Public Law )
IDEA- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Public Law )
Provides funding for statewide systems and services to provide assistive technology devices and services to individuals with disabilities
Mandates technology be included in the individualized education program (IEP) for an individual with a disability

5. No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Assistive Technology
No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Focuses on the needs of all children and brings attention to those with physical and other disabilities.

6. Assistive Technology-Laws
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 requires that people with disabilities have equal access to public programs and services. According to this law, no otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities shall, solely by reason of their disabilities, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination in these programs.
Besides elevators in buildings, reserved spaces in parking lots, and lifts on buses, the ADA accessibility requirements also apply to Internet-based programs. As the United States Department of Justice clarified, “Covered entities that use the Internet for communications regarding their programs, goods, or services must be prepared to offer those communications through accessible means as well.”

7. Assistive Technology Sensory Disabilities
Hearing
A person is considered deaf if they have a complete loss of hearing
Hearing impaired is the term used to define those with some hearing
Vision
A person is considered blind if they have a complete loss of vision.
If a person has some visual acuity they are considered partially sighted.

8. Assistive Technologies
Hearing Impaired- Deaf
sound amplification tools
alerting devices that use flashing lights or icons on the computer screen rather than sounds to signal users
close-captioning for videos
TTY (TDD) also known as Telecommunication for the Deaf

9. Assistive Technologies
Hearing Impaired
Smart boards can help all students but can give those who are hearing impaired a sense of independence to be able to share their thoughts and ideas with everyone without signing!
This allows all students to be fully engaged and included in the learning process.

10. Assistive Technologies
Visually Impaired- Blind
Canes and sensors: help provide mobility and orientation assistance to navigate a variety of environments.
Optical character recognition (OCR) convert printed information into audio.
Screen readers read any text that appears on the computer screen. Screen readers can convert braille to typed words and provide some audio. (

11. Assistive Technologies
Visually Impaired-
Partially Sighted
Left: an example of a Desktop CCTV; Right: an example of a Portable CCTV. (
Enlarging the text often allows the partially sighted to see the text on their own.
CCTV- closed circuit television can be used to place materials below a camera and have them magnified onto a monitor.
Computer, laptop and tablets can be activating the built in magnification controls.

12. Assistive Technologies
Learning Disabled
Speech-Recognition software: Students dealing with physical limitations that prevent them from typing on a keyboard, can use text-to-speech devices (mobile and otherwise) to compose their assignments. When using these programs, students speak into a microphone, which then translates their words into typed documents. The most well-known of the software programs that perform this task is Dragon Naturally Speaking, which also recognizes voice commands such as “insert exclamation point.”

13. Assistive Technologies
Learning Disabled “Texthelp provides literacy software solutions for individuals, K-12, higher education, and publishers. Texthelp's solutions include: Read&Write, Fluency Tutor, and SpeechStream. Read&Write provides literacy support on the Desktop, in the Cloud, and on an iPad. Read&Write Gold for PC or Mac are Desktop solutions with customizable toolbars that integrate with common applications giving users access to reading, writing, studying, and research tools. Read&Write in the Cloud includes Read&Write for Google Docs™, a Chrome Extension to make Google Docs accessible, and Web Apps that work in browsers on iPads, iPhones, PCs, Macs, and more. iReadWrite for the iPad benefits struggling readers and writers with text-to-speech, word prediction, phonetic spell checker, dictionary, and picture dictionary supports. Fluency Tutor is an online solution for developing and measuring oral reading fluency and comprehension. SpeechStream allows publishers to deliver digital talking ebooks, assessments, and online content with support tools to make their content accessible to all.”

14. TextHelp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPOfJPVxZUo&feature=youtu.be

15. References http://www.low-vision.org/services/assistive-technology

16. Assistive Technologies
By Teresa Shaver