1. Sumter School District Two Assistive Technology Lab Valeska Gioia – Assistive Technology Consultant, M.S. Sumter School District Two 5415 Oakland Drive Sumter, S.C. 29150 803-469-6900 Ext. 525

2. WHAT MAKES A GOOD EVALUATION/ASSESSMENT FOR ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY?  A good assessment matches a person with a disability to the best assistive technology and usually requires more than one evaluation.

3. Team Members May Include:  Assistive Technology Consultant  Physical Therapist  Occupational Therapist  Speech Language Therapist  Special Education Teachers

4. We Cannot Forget to Include:  The Student  Family Member

5. Assistive Technology Loan Lab:  We currently have a loan lab and continually update equipment and software

6. We plan on adding various items for loan, such as:  Books on various disabilities  DVD’s on various disabilities

7. The referral source  This is the person that contacts the assistive technology assessment center. The referral source may be a family member, school teacher, employer, or anyone else who interacts frequently with the student and has specific information about the needs of the students.

8. Demonstration of Assistive Technology is constant …  Training of teachers is conducted at school in-service  Services are offered training on a daily basis  Teachers are trained on child specific devices/schedules

9. Everyone Benefits from AT Demonstrations…  Teachers, and school staff  Parents/caregivers  Students  Administration

10. Technical Support…  Is given as needed

11. Biggest Challenges in Developing an AT Team:  Funding

12. Special Service Funds AT Equipment, Other Options Include:  Grants  Fundraising

13. Successes:  Ability to get the students the help they need to have success in the classroom and to carry that success over in daily life  Our AT lab  Parent meetings  Teacher, parent, and staff trainings  Training special educators in the use of all technology

14. Future Endeavors: High school compute lab with assistive technology equipment and software for students in special services to use daily

15. Special Thanks To:  SCATP – The best resource that’s available to us  Our wonderful administrators that had the vision to make out AT lab a reality  To all the wonderful students that make our positions so worthwhile and rewarding