3.4: Adaptive & Assistive Technology:
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Artifact
Assistive Technology Implementation Plan Reflection During the Multimedia and Web Design course, I developed an Assistive Technology Implementation Plan (ATIP) for a student on Tier 3 of the Response to Intervention (RTI) protocol, an evaluation tool identified as a potential measure of student needs for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) (Questions and Answers on Response to Intervention (RTI) and Early Intervening Services (EIS), 2007). The ATIP format, as created by the University of Kentucky National Assistive Technology Research Institute, required that I collect student information, establish the specific role of each member of the implementation team, determine software and hardware to be used during our sessions, delineate training needs and equipment tasks, and relate implementation goals to Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals. In order to facilitate the student’s use of adaptive and assistive technology relevant to his learning needs, I had to first identify those needs through parent and student interviews. The student had no documented assistive technology needs, but findings during the interviews revealed that he has difficulty reading and writing at grade level except in one-on-one settings without distractions. The cumulative impact of the lack of one-on-one reading and writing practice was beginning to show in his test scores. Thus, a need for remediation and compensatory assistive technology was identified. The ATIP I developed incorporates both remediation and compensatory assistive technology. To remediate his reading difficulties, we used Construct-A-Word, a tool that teaches phoneme pattern awareness through gaming. To compensate for his difficulties writing, we used Blabberize.com, a web tool that records and plays back speech through funny images. Because he was able to create a story orally using the phonemic blends we worked with but lost track of his thinking during the actual writing down of that story, we used the Blabberize.com playback version he created as a dictation tool to help him write. During the development and implementation of the ATIP, I learned that struggles with developing skills early on in school can snowball into problems increasingly difficult to address as students get older and are pushed into subsequent grades. Early identification and implementation of remediation and compensatory strategies is critical to helping all students find equitable success in school. To improve this ATIP, I would include a follow-up meeting with his parents and train them to use the same web tools to help further remediate the student’s reading skills and compensate for his difficulties paying attention to his writing. These tools were fun and simple to use, and they really seemed to help him. The student was able to create an original story that demonstrated developing phonemic pattern awareness, incorporating reading, writing, and technology skills appropriate to his age range in one sitting. Further use of these free web tools as assistive and adaptive technology would impact this and other students’ learning, and this is a strategy worth sharing with elementary school faculty during faculty development sessions. Impact could be assessed through the use of pre- and post- reading and writing assessments for students utilizing the assistive technology strategy. References Fox, L., Carta, J., Strain, P., Dunlap, G., & Hemmeter, M.L. (2009). Response to intervention and the pyramid model. Tampa, Florida: University of South Florida, Technical Assistance Center on Social Emotional Intervention for Young Children. Retrieved from http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/do/resources/documents/rti_pyramid_web.pdf. Questions and Answers on Response to Intervention (RTI) and Early Intervening Services (EIS). (2007). Retrieved from http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/,root,dynamic,QaCorner,8,. |