Russ Holland
Program Director, Alliance for Technology Access
High Incidence disabilities by definition are those involving the largest numbers of students, by many counts more than one in ten in the average classroom. They are also the students most likely to be in mainstream educational environments with a range of interventions and tools including assistive technology. It is also the grayest area in terms of definition between students who have a disability and those who do not - and a lot of effort is put into tests, and concern as to whether the tests are accurate, accommodate language, cultural and ethic differences and really help us improve education.
One might suggest that this is also the group that should be easiest to accommodate in a well designed educational environment with robust technology tools and scaffolding to support the wide variety of learning styles that are found in all classrooms. It is the group for whom universal design for learning is most appropriate. The wider range of natural abilities that can flourish in this environment might well lead to far fewer students ever being identified as perhaps needing to take one of the aforementioned tests, and most definitely should lead to a richer educational experience for all.
The one-room schoolhouse might have been the environment where individualized instruction, cooperative learning and teaching each student where they are at any given day were the most critical skills. The technology options were very different, but perhaps a lot about these skills model what we are talking about when supporting high incidence disabilities today.
Dr. George Peterson-Karlan
Associate Professor, Department of Special Education, Illinois State University
Where Have We Been?
It is now mandated that educational teams consider the need for assistive technology (AT) in the development of every student’s IEP. Projections indicate (Golden 1999) that assistive technology could be expected to be used with up to 35% of students with learning or cognitive disability or health impairment, up to 75% of students with autism or traumatic brain injury, up to 100% of students with physical or multiple disabilities, students who are deaf or hearing impaired, or students who are blind or visually impaired. Given the emergence of AT to support reading, writing, math and personal management, the estimate of 35% for students with learning disabilities is probably very low.
Where Are We Going?
Mandates without much detail leave considerable room for interpretation. What does it mean to consider? How do we demonstrate to parents of students with high incidence disabilities that indeed we are considering AT? It’s probably insufficient to merely add a question to the IEP, such as “Does the student need assistive technology” because, if the answer is “Yes,” then what (Watts & O’Brian, 2001)? IDEA mandates no specific procedures for the consideration of AT. How then do we know when our consideration is adequate? Addressing these questions for students with high incidence disabilities involves two basic issues: our conceptual understanding of AT and our goals for AT use. Conceptual understanding focuses on what parents and professionals understand AT to be and how AT relates to existing special education services and instructional practices. Goals for AT use focuses upon the relationship between skill instruction and enhancement of functional performance in the classroom.
Conceptualizing Assistive Technology
AT has its roots in the technologies developed for people with physical, sensory or severe communication impairments; with this focus it is easy for parents, teachers and administrators to understand AT. Communication wallets, electronic devices, wheelchairs, prone standers, adapted eating utensils, large print or books-on tape, Braille watches, CCTV units, hearing aids, sound filed amplification systems, and alternatives to the mouse or keyboard are distinct items of AT. For such items, the person’s function that is lost or impaired and the function the technology provides is clear
But research and development has evolved to include those students with mild, or learning, disabilities (Behrmann & Jerome, 2002; Edyburn, 2000). This evolution has broadened the scope of what may have once been conceptualized as “AT;” this in turn has generated instances where confusion and miscommunication in the case conference, the classroom, the building or the district begins. When the focus shifts to that which is involved in instruction or evaluation of learning the distinction between the function impaired and the function enhanced is not so clear. There is a range of technology that can support reading, writing, math, information acquisition, organization, and cognitive processing, but what, how, and when to use these technologies remains unclear.
To reduce confusion and enhance communication among parents and professionals, the role of AT in relation to instruction in the general education curriculum needs clarification. It is necessary to understand how AT relates to adaptations and accommodations that may already be in use. It is necessary to understand how AT relates to instructional technology being introduced into the classroom. It is also necessary to understand how the goals for the use of AT may differ from the goals of education and special education as we now view them.
Please see my first post for an expanded discussion of AT and Adaptation and Accommodation, AT and Instructional Technology, and Goals of Assistive Technology.
Dr. Brian Friedlander
Editor, Inclusion Times
It is truly an exciting and challenging time to be involved in the field of assistive technology. As a practitioner, I am well aware of how schools are dealing with the introduction of assistive technology into their programs. On the other side of the coin, as a faculty member teaching graduate courses in assistive technology, I am able to hear first hand from teachers in the trenches as they deal with the diversity of learners in their classrooms. For some of my students, it is the first introduction to assistive technology that they have had, and it is refreshing to hear their stories as they work with a wide range of students. Many of the teachers that I work with are eager to employ assistive technology but are also faced with old computers, poor technical support and small budgets to work with. It is within this context that we must all think about how we implement assistive technology for a growing population of students with mild learning disabilities. With estimates of nearly 8-10 million students that may be eligible for assistive technology no wonder we are beginning to dialogue about this issue.
When many of us think about assistive technology, we immediately think of those students with visible disabilities. However, the trend is certainly shifting and today more than ever, students with high incidence disabilities are being educated in the mainstream. With the emphasis on access to the general education curriculum and mandates for the least restrictive environment, teachers are now faced with educating all of our children in the mainstream classroom. How do we make our classrooms more accessible for those students with high incidence disabilities? As a practitioner, I would hope that teachers and special educators would look to the assistive technology tools and strategies that can help students increase their functional capabilities. With that said, the challenges are quite overwhelming even for the most prepared schools to handle the load of students with high incidence disabilities that are being educated in their home schools.
With the increase of computers in the schools and connection to the internet, both educators and parents are looking to technology to help students close the achievement gap. In this day and age of computer technology it is clear that all of our students need to be able to read and write to be full participants in our society. Students with high incidence disabilities who have access to assistive technology are clearly at an advantage in their post-secondary experiences whether that be work or in their college studies.
As educators and parents we are faced with the challenge of schools having to provide more services with less resources. During this Assistive Technology Institute I trust that we will be able to look toward best practice and have a dialogue on how schools, students and parents can effectively work together to fulfill the mandates for assistive technology. I look forward to the discussion. |
