I would like any information regarding a career as a technology specialist. I have a background in graphic design and a strong interest in helping children with learning disabilities as well as physical disabilities.
Check out this page
http://sac.uky.edu/~jszaba0/QIAT.html
This is “A nationwide collegial endeavor dedicated to the Development and Implementation of
Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology Services in School Settings”
It includes a listserv and some of the folks on it are full-time AT people.
THis is the end-user part; getting into the design would be different — but you can figureout the companies that do the stuff you’dl ike to do and go from there.
Re: career as technology specialist
Kristi,
The field is becoming more “mainstream” and you should be able to find a school/program that will fit your career goals. AT practitioners work in a variety of settings and help individuals use technology to improve the quality of life at home, school and work.
Check out:
www.csun.edu
Good Luck!
With basically any career in education, knowledge of technology is a huge plus. There are, also, jobs as “technology specialists” but most school systems don’t have a single person whose duties are just to do assistive technology for disabled students. However, this may be one of thsoe things that will change — it may only be true because there woulnd’t be somebody to hire that would know about it. MOst of the job would be … hmmm… quite possibly fighting tooth and nail to *get* technology for kids, as well as figuring out which technology would match which kiddo.
Your background is in graphic design — what do you envision yourself doing? I’ve got most of a degree in INstructional technology myself (and a M.Ed. in LD).