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Welcome to the Special
Education Assistive Technology page. On this page you
find technology
resources and information about assistive technology
and computers for special education staff and students.
Assistive Technology -
IDEA 1997 and 2004 established the process of Assistive
Technology Consideration
for every student
with an IEP. The Department of Special Education
has developed guidelines and training for staff
in implementing
this consideration.
Parent Purchase (new!) -
MCPS has worked with Don Johnston Inc., the makers
of SOLO to provide the SOLO suite of tools to parents
of Montgomery County Public Schools students at a reduced
price. SOLO includes four modules, Write:Outloud, Co:Writer,
DraftBuilder, and Read:Outloud. Download
the SOLO order form with the current price. To
learn more about SOLO, check the Don
Johnston website.
Tools seen in MCPS Assistive
Technology Video -
In 2005, MCPS produced an informational video demonstrating
some of the tools used in MCPS schools. While the complete
range of Assistive Technology tools is far beyond
what is
mentioned
in the video, listed below are some of
the more common resources available:
- Low Tech Tools - There are many simple and inexpensive
assistive technology tools that can help a wide variety
of students. While many of these can be found at
the local office supply store, a nationally recognized
resource is the Onion
Mountain Technology website.
This site contains a wealth of simple and useful
tools and gadgets to assist students with the common
tasks
of learning. Onion Mountain is the creator of the
'Lottie' kit (Low Tech Tools for Inclusive Education),
a complete low tech demonstration kit for AT trainers,
but contains many simple and inexpensive tools.
- Mid Tech Tools - Tools such as
calculators, electronic dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries
and electronic
spell checkers have shrunk in both price and
size making it easy for
students
to carry this tools from class to class. One
of the leaders in this field is Franklin,
and their website has many tools that can offer
support for students.
- Computer Software
Tools - The tools mentioned in
the video supported students in the areas of reading
and writing.
- Writing
- Write:Outloud by Don
Johnston, Inc. is a talking word processor that provide
spoken output as students type. This output can
often help students self-correct and produce
more writing. A spoken dictionary and spell checker
add to this program's value.
- Writing - DraftBuilder by Don
Johnston, Inc. is a writing organization and
draft writing tool. This program leads the student
through the writing process in an organized manner,
helping the student to easily add detail and supporting
facts. Once the organization and details are completed,
these can be easily moved to a first draft of writing.
An online bibliography tools supports accurate
resource citation.
- Writing - Co:Writer by Don
Johnston, Inc. is a program especially for
students who are having a difficult time getting
the words in their head down on paper. This tool
is a word-prediction program, when the student
types the first letter of the word to be typed,
Co:Writer offers guesses at what word the student
is trying to write. Using language appropriate
dictionaries, grammatical rules and recently typed
words, this program seems to 'read the thoughts'
of students, who in turn, write more words and
more sentences.
- Reading - Kurzweil 3000 by Kurzweil
Educational Systems is a text reading tool
to provide spoken output for text that can be
entered in a variety of forms. While many program
can read text from the computer screen, Kurzweil's
advantage is in its highly accurate scanning
capability of text on paper or in a book. Using
a scanner, students can scan a worksheet and
have it spoken to them in 30 seconds with one
click.
Universal
Design for Learning - The concept of Universal Design
in technology is
one that states
all technology and instructional materials
should be accessible to individuals with disabilities
as well as non-disabled individuals who may benefit
from alternative format materials and tools. One
of the leading resources in the United States is
the
Center
for
Applied Special
Technology
- CAST.
CAST
has many resources to help staff and parents
understand the principals of Universal Design
in both technology
and other educational areas. For more information
on CAST, visit their web site at www.cast.org.
SEAT Project -
The Department of Special Education is implementing
a
multiyear program
to place specialized
assistive technology in schools
with Special Education students. MCPS is
implementing a large scale
countywide project to bring instructional
technology
to all MCPS students that will link all
MCPS classes together to share the ever increasing
wealth of
knowledge available through the Internet.
For Special Educators,
since there is often a unique need for
special
software that will help our students, the
SEAT Project was created
to provide our teachers with specialized
software that could be customized to meet
individual student needs.
High Incidence Accessible
Technology - HIAT services
provides training on accessible technology and software
for MCPS staff serving students with high incidence
disabilities. HIAT can also provide assistance with
assistive technology consideration and technology
trial periods. HIAT works with school staff to determine
types of accessible technology that promote the achievement
of curriculum outcomes.
Maryland Assistive Technology
Cooperative - The Maryland
AT Co-op is a joint venture of
the Maryland
State Department
of Education and the Technology Assistance
Program. The aim of the Co-op is to offer
the power of
cooperative buying to teachers across
the state who purchase
software specific to assistive technology.
The Co-op has recently
opened this purchasing program to parent
groups, for more information, visit their
Parent information
web
site. MCPS Special Education Teachers
may find out more information on our Email
system -
First Class.
For more information on these or additional
Assistive Technology tools in MCPS, please contact your
cluster's Special
Education Supervisor who can answer your question or
direct it to the proper resource. |
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