As a parent
to a child with multiple challenges; what emotions does Assistive Technology
(AT) invoke within you? What is AT? What types of AT do I need for my child? Where do I even begin? Deciding on what types of AT would be most
appropriate for your child is an ongoing process. As your child grows and changes, so does your
choice of AT. Assistive technology devices are identified in the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004 as “any item, piece of equipment or
product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or
customized, that is used to increase, maintain or improve the functional
capabilities of children with disabilities. AT can be as basic as a weighted
spoon to a complex communication device.
What is assistive technology?
- AT can be
low-tech: communication boards made of cardboard or fuzzy felt.
- AT can be
high-tech: special-purpose computers.
- AT can be
hardware: prosthetics, mounting systems, and positioning devices.
- AT can be
computer hardware: special switches, keyboards, and pointing devices.
- AT can be
computer software: screen readers and communication programs.
- AT can be
inclusive or specialized learning materials and curriculum aids.
- AT can be
specialized curricular software.
- AT can be
much more—electronic devices, wheelchairs, walkers, braces, educational
software, power lifts, pencil holders, eye-gaze and head trackers, and
much more.
Assistive technology helps people who have difficulty speaking, typing,
writing, remembering, pointing, seeing, hearing, learning, walking, and many
other things. Different disabilities require different assistive
technologies. The purpose of this
article is to find the appropriate AT for your child learn academics and show
what he has learned, for example the use of a smartboard, tablets, computers,
etc.
There are some basic questions that ought
to be asked when considering AT for your child in the classroom.
- What difficulties is my child
experiencing in the school environment for which assistive technology
intervention is needed?
- What are
her strengths? AT should utilize your child’s abilities to help compensate
for her disability.
- What
strategies, materials, equipment and technology tools has my child already
used to address the concerns?
- What new or
additional assistive technology or accommodations should be tried?
- What will
the criteria be for determining whether my child’s needs are being met
while using assistive technology during the trial period?
Your role as a parent in developing the
AT part of the IEP is to articulate your ideas and feelings about the AT being
considered. You can offer information about what you see at home and bring up
any concerns you have. It is imperative
that every IEP team member keeps in mind the long-term vision for your child
and takes steps toward that vision.
Deciding and choosing what AT is appropriate for
your child doesn’t have to be an overwhelming and complicated task. Every guideline I have found for parents and
educators has explanations like this one; “Selecting an appropriate AT tool for
a student requires parents, educators, and other professionals to take a
comprehensive view, carefully analyzing the interaction between the student,
the technology, the tasks to be performed, and the settings where it will be
used. Keep in mind that AT assessment is an on-going process, and it is
critical to periodically re-evaluate the “match” even after a technology tool
has been selected. This will help ensure that the student receives the maximum
benefit from AT and is able to reach her full potential.” (Raskind, 2006)
Granted as
parents we need to understand our schools protocol when it comes to asking for
AT to be used in school. However, at home, exposure is the basic “assessment’
tool to determine what will work for your child. As an educator to exceptional students, it
is important for me to understand assessment and implementation of AT for any
given student. But as a mother to one very exceptional child with Angelman
Syndrome, I have allowed my son, Scotty to show me what AT works best for him
through exposure.
Your child is not too young or too old to start
using AT. Obviously at home it is not a
formal assessment, just start introducing your child to a tablet with
appropriate apps for academics, coloring, reading, or just fun games. For the school setting ongoing communication
with his educational and therapeutic team is critical. You also need to know your rights and your
child’s rights under the Individuals with disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Be aware of the school’s role and
responsibilities in implementing AT into his IEP (Raskhind, 2006):
“Assistive
Technology: Rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Under IDEA, AT must be considered for children with disabilities if it is
needed to receive a “free and appropriate public education.” It is the school
district’s responsibility to help select and acquire the technology, as well as
provide training to the student in the use of the technology, and, at no cost
to parents. This is done on a case-by-case basis. It is the IEP team (including
parents and students) that decides as to the necessity of AT. It is also the
IEP team, (or any individual member) that initiates a request for an AT
assessment. The assessment may be performed by school district personnel, or an
outside consultant working in conjunction with the IEP team. Parents should
know that at present, there are no standard policies, procedures, or practices
among school districts for conducting AT assessments. This is more reason for
parents to be informed as to the critical elements in conducting a quality AT
assessment”
I would
like to tell you the process from start to finish is smooth going. It is not a straight path from assessment to
implementation. There most likely will
be hesitation and opposition. This is
where you get to show those special needs parent muscles. Stay strong in the pursuit of AT
implementation. Take video of your child
using AT at home. Take screen shots of
your child’s work on the laptop. Bring
best practices academic articles to the team. I know you are proficient in
operating in that flux of cooperation and unrelenting advocacy.
In the early days, Scotty, couldn’t sit still long
enough to watch 90-minute movie. His
processing of the world around him was scattered and at times
overwhelming. Through learning what
sensory processing disorder is and what an intense amount of sensory input he
needed to organize his neurological system helped us to get Scotty to focus
long enough to watch music videos and parts of movies on YouTube. Starting at 5 or 6 years old he enjoyed
playing on our personal computer and laptop. He could navigate the systems to
find his games, videos, and channels on the internet. At first it was difficult to maneuver the
mouse or keypad with his tremulous hands.
Scotty received his first iPad at 8 years old. Touch screen was critical in how Scotty used
AT to show us what he can do on these devices.
I have been witness to his perseverance through
trial and error. Scotty has shown me
that he has great problem solving skills and is quite adept in maneuvering an
android or apple product. Many well intended therapists and teachers set the
bar low for Scotty. Thankfully Scotty
and I never allowed their lack of awareness and knowledge be the determinant of
what he is capable of.
The first and foremost belief system you must adhere
to is that your child is capable.
Presuming competence is key. The
primary misconception that children with multiple challenges are not capable of
learning. The question is not if your
child can learn. The question is how your child learns and how do you adapt his
environment to allow him to show what he knows.
AT is the means to realize our children’s interests, aptitude, and abilities.
Remember, when it appears your child is
not listening, he is. Your child may not
be able to keep eye contact, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t hear every word
you said to them. Even our children who
seem so distracted are paying attention. Our idea of what it looks like to listening,
paying attention, and learning is not what our children portray. Learning is going on. Now it is up to us to
get our children to show us just how much they are learning. The problem is not our children’s inability
to learn, it is our expectations of what learning looks like. We have been taught that learning is taking
place when a child is sitting still, silent, eyes on teacher (or parent). Our children’s learning does not display
itself in this manner.
Perception of the time it should take for
a child to learn something is also an issue.
What I mean is we give up too soon thinking our child isn’t ‘getting
it’. So, we stop exposing them to learning
tasks and AT. In his younger days,
Scotty has the pictures for communication.
Something like PECS. He particularly
liked the plastic laminate covering on the pictures. He’d crinkle them, put them in his mouth, and
toss them to the ground. Speech
therapist after speech therapist gave up. Yet he was learning. One had the
audacity to tell me that any communication system is “above” Scotty and he will
never be able to use a universal mode of communication. The conversation took a turn. I took the lead from there. She was fired on the spot. I informed her that her inability to assess
all of Scotty’s challenges and address those first made her inept in her
ability to work with my son. My son is
already communicating and has been for years.
Today scotty prefers the iPad over the Dynavox for communication. He is, it is, we are a work in progress. We have some days of incredible communication,
others regression, but we continue. We
never stop the exposure to AT for communication, learning, and showing what he
knows.
Our timeline of when our children will
perform any given task is not appropriate most of the time. Therapists, teachers, and parents need to
step back and reevaluate the environment, the teaching style and tools, and
above all have endurance and patience.
Our children do things on their timeline on their terms. Exposure,
repetition, modeling, practice, exposure, repetition, modeling, practice, and
repeat.
Scotty’s teacher still has learning tasks
at the first-grade level. Scotty is
doing age appropriate grade level (7th grade) lessons on his iPad
and in a method called Rapid Prompting Method (RPM). The burden is on his RPM instructor to equip
Scotty with the skills to show what he has learned during each lesson. The burden is on me, his mother to give him
the tools to gain those skills to show what he knows. The burden is not on
Scotty to prove he is worthy of AT or age appropriate lessons. It is inherent
that he and all children deserve opportunities to show us what they know.
Once we change our expectations of the time
line of learning and what learning should look like is when we finally open
opportunities for our children to step into who they have been all along; a
cognizant learning being bursting to show us what they know and what they
continue to learn. I know Scotty may
have a longer processing time than other children. If it takes him 20 minutes to process input
how can I expect him to be done with at task in 25 minutes? We must acknowledge
what our child’s timeline is different than our expectations and that is ok. Recognize that your child’s learning is
unique to him.
Many factors affect our children’s use of
AT. Our child’s abilities and
difficulties must be considered because of their multiple challenges. Things to consider:
·
Medical
Considerations
Does my
child’s medication affect his learning or recognition systems? Does his level of awareness change in
response to when he receives his meds?
·
Physical
Challenges
Is the seating in his classroom appropriate? My
child needs to be in a position that is best for engagement to occur. If my child has tremulous hands, what can be
used to assist him with that? Do we need
to consider a head or eye gaze for his AT?
·
Cognitive
Challenges (memory, recognition, generalizing learning)
How does my child respond to a new person,
environment, or person? How many exposures does it take for him to retrieve or
remember that information? Does this
recognition only happen in the setting in which the information was learned or
does he have carry over into other settings?
How does he show they know or recognize information? How long does it take him to learn new
information? Take note here that repetition
is ok. Multiple exposures are fine. This is not a sprint. Learning is an ongoing life long process.
·
Sensory
Challenges
How does my child’s sensory system impact
learning? Would a sensory diet benefit
my child? How much and what kind of
sensory input does my child need to be able to learn the task at hand? Is my
child getting enough or too much sensory input at any given time? Do his sensory challenges change throughout
the day?
·
Challenging
Behaviors
What do they look like? Can you
predict when they occur? How do you deal with them? When we address the sensory
and communications needs do the challenging behaviors decrease? Every behavior is a form of
communication. Implementing AT to help
our children communicate will alleviate challenging behaviors.
I know this journey you are on is not an
easy one. I am on this journey with
you. Implementing assistive technology
may seem like just one more thing on your plate to contend with. If you get anything out of this article,
please understand this, you are doing an amazing job. You get up each day and rise to the
challenges of each day and give your all.
Ok some days maybe not your all, but you are still doing what needs to
be done. Balance is key even in
assistive technology. If your child’s
school will not use the iPad for lessons and insists on paper and pencil, maybe
that is a battle you can give up and he can use the iPad at home. However, if your child’s school refuses to do
an AT assessment for a communication device and yet they are complaining of challenging
behaviors, that is a fight you must put those parenting muscles on for.
“For people without disabilities, technology
makes things easier.”
For people with disabilities, technology makes
things possible.
— International Business Machines (IBM) 1991
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