Assistive Technology

 
How Assistive Technologies Enable Dreams

By edutopia

Assistive technology refers to the devices and services that are used to increase, maintain, or improve the capabilities of a student with a disability (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2012). Students who are able to access these technologies are very fortunate because it is to help assist their needs and it should be considered with all students with special needs. In the video, How assistive technology Enables dreams, a student from the University of Washington uses assistive technology such as her wheelchair to move freely or easily, and a computer to grant her access to the internet for completing her assignments. She says that assistive technology is the foundation of her life (edutopia, 2005).

“It could be easy to get frustrated or discouraged when it comes to educating students with disabilities. But that’s because there are too often artificial barriers and roadblocks that limit your ability to focus on meeting their individual needs.” I found this quote by Betsy DeVos, an American politician and United States Secretary of Education (2017) article on The Washington Post to be relevant to the topic of students with disabilities. As a future educator, the first thing I would do to help assist a student with special needs is to do research on their disability. Finding out what they can do and can not do, I believe is the most important factor because using their abilities will most likely benefit them to learn and get more involved with education. Also, setting up appropriate goals throughout the school year will help me keep track of improvements of the student.
To assess the appropriateness of the revised activities for the inclusion of students with disabilities, I would look for various ways and ideas of teaching the content area. I believe breaking down through a lesson would help them understand more by using pictures or finding multiple games online that would most benefit them. Also, keeping track of their work will help me understand what are they best at and look for their weak points so I will be able to assist them.
In the video above, was a classmate of mine in choir who was blind, but had the most ambitious goals. Her name is Maria Bontogon, she attends the University of Guam now and her goal is to become a post-secondary teacher. Despite of her disability of being blind, she uses braille to read her books and her cane to avoid bumping into objects or people. Usually in high school, I would see her with an assistant to help guide her, but in school I noticed she would walk by herself to the library, and sit down and read using braille. Her assistive technology and her ambitious mind has made her more involved in education and an independent woman. She sets a great example for all students with disabilities.



Reference:

Dell, A., Newton, D., & Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive technology in the classroom: Enhancing
the school experiences of students with disabilities (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Edutopia. (2005). How Assistive Technology Enables Dreams. Retrieved from   

Strauss, V. (2017). The deep irony in Betsy DeVos's first speech on special education. The   
Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/07/18/the-deep-irony-in-betsy-devoss-first-speech-on-special-education/?utm_term=.dc0ada0c584f

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