I am still learning the best path the help my child. His 1st IEP meeting is Friday afternoon. He is 8 and dyslexic/dsygraphic. From reading this board is appears that they should automatically do a AT evaluation on him, as per federal law. Is this correct? If so, no one from the school has mentioned that to me as of yet. What should I be asking for? I see alot about the DANA and Alphasmart, is this age appropriate and in what situation could I get this approved? Any advice would be appreciated.
Re: when to request
If you’re having your 1st IEP, welcome to a long journey. They will probably tell you if your son qualifies for OT. If so, it is possible he could benefit from an AT evaluation and they should bring this up at the meeting. If they don’t, I would mention it myself.
My daughter began using a Alphasmart in at the end of 2nd grade. She soon graduated to a Dana and also uses a laptop in gifted class. The Dana is nice, but only a computer offers the auditory feedback that she so strongly relies on. The Dana also has a “palm pilot” feature which is good for organization.
Assistive Technology
I am an Assistive Technology Specialist and I would like to encourage you to go the GPAT (Georgia Project for Assistive Technology) website. Type GPAT into the search engine and it will take you to the site. There are forms under the resources page, particularly the Considerations Checklist which would greatly assist your team in considering whether your child needs assistive technology. I would encourage you to ask for an Assistive Technology Evaluation from your school district. It is important to follow a systematic evaluation such as the SETT (Student Environment Task and Tools) by Joy Zabala to identify the students strengths and areas of need in regards to assistive technology. It is very important to find out what the needs are first, before you start looking at tools. Another great resource is the QIAT (Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology) website and list serve. They are the best practices web site that set the standards for the new field of Assistive Technology. Good luck in your pursuit. Assistive Technology can be an awesome tool for students with learning disabilities.[/b]
Re: when to request
Shannon, Thank you for the GPAT website. I downloaded the forms. I am a teacher and parent. I have my 16 year old son in a private LD school, but they are not very tech savy. I want to work with them to improve their AT offerings, but it is a daunting task. My son has learning disabilities that impact both reading and writing. I have incorporated a number of AT devices into his day, but finding the most effective ways to accomplish his academic tasks is still so time consuming. He tape records some assignments, has a little digital recorder for messages and reminders, uses audio books, and is learning to use speech recognition. Still, I am his main source for reading and writing-his secretary. I want him to be independent, but it seems so slow in coming. We have made progress, but I find it all very hard. He had an AT eval. in middle school-lots of recommendations-no implementation. Now that we are at a private school, it is hard to get public school help with AT. I suppose it is possible. I’ll have to check with our public school district. I feel AT will really be a help for him, but I feel like I am in OZ….Where is that wizard?? Anyway, thanks for listening.
Re: Assistive Technology
Shannon,
I am new to message boards. I am conducting research on the use of assistive tech for LD students. Could I interview you via the net?
-Valerie
[quote=”Shannon”]I am an Assistive Technology Specialist and I would like to encourage you to go the GPAT (Georgia Project for Assistive Technology) website. Type GPAT into the search engine and it will take you to the site. There are forms under the resources page, particularly the Considerations Checklist which would greatly assist your team in considering whether your child needs assistive technology. I would encourage you to ask for an Assistive Technology Evaluation from your school district. It is important to follow a systematic evaluation such as the SETT (Student Environment Task and Tools) by Joy Zabala to identify the students strengths and areas of need in regards to assistive technology. It is very important to find out what the needs are first, before you start looking at tools. Another great resource is the QIAT (Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology) website and list serve. They are the best practices web site that set the standards for the new field of Assistive Technology. Good luck in your pursuit. Assistive Technology can be an awesome tool for students with learning disabilities.[/b][/quote]
Stacy,
Good question especially if you are getting the impression that your son should “automatically” be receiving an AT evaluation. Federal law states that ALL (emphasis mine) students on an IEP must be “CONSIDERED” for AT. Consideration is open to interpretation, but at a minimum AT should be discussed at his IEP meeting and the team will make a decision about where to go with this. They should discuss your son’s strengths and areas of need and develop an appropriate educational plan. That information will then be used for considering AT and will provide the basis for further exploration of AT if it is recommended. There are a variety of options available but it will be important to identify the factors that limit your son’s academic success to then make the appropriate recommendations.
Hope this helps.