hi, im just wondering if there has been any kind of assistive technolgy used in your childs education. im thinking something like visual aid material. any thoughts. if you have, give names of items and how you got the school to use this for your childs educations.
thank you
My son (being NLD) is not very visually oriented. But there are some good aids that our school uses in general. These are good things for all kids, but they have them in classrooms because they spceifically help different types of learners. Our school is very big on using strategies for all kids that will help keep kids out of SPED. Although it doesn’t always work, and isn’t always enough, I do support the philosophy!
We have a lot of Alphasmarts available. Many SPED kids (like my son) have them written into their IEP’s. But we also have enough in the school system that they are available for most kids who like/need to work on them at least on a share basis.
We have 5 computers in each classroom. Again, most kids share these, but there are enough that even witout home computers, most kids have enough access to be able to do Internet research and final drafts of reports on them.
From 3rd grade up, each child is given an agenda at the beginning of the year. There is a white board in each classroom that exactly duplicates the agenda page layout. This is where the teachers write all homework assignments so that kids can compare and make sure their egenda looks just like the board. (for kids like my son, who have trouble coping from a different plane, or who have organizational difficulties, they also check the agenda for them)\
There is a big TV/video screen in each classroom that is hooked to the teacher’s computer. So the teacher can use this for either lessons on computer use, or other visual presentations. (usually produced in Power Point)
Not all classrooms have them yet, but the school has started investing in “Smart Boards”. These look like white boards, but when the teacher writes on it, or uses it as a touch pad, the information transfers directly into the computer network, wherethe notes or whatever can be accessed by all the students.
Karen