Chapter 15: Technology n Special Education

For most of us, technology makes things easier. For a person with a disability, it makes things possible.

Introduction
* Education for students with special needs encompasses strategies for both those with physical and/or mental deficits and those with special gifts or talents.

* Although technology can be used to enhance education for both popluations.

* When an impairment limits an individal from performing an activity in a manner normally expected for human beings (communicating with others, hearing, movement, manipulating objects, etc.), we refer to this as a disability.

* A student who has lost the the function of his right arm has an impairment; this condition will have little or no impact on a variety of life functions.

* The fields of special education and rehabilitation have had a long-standing interest in technology.

* Historically, the emphasis on technology for individuals with disabilities has been thought of as assistive technology, that is, extending the abilities of an individual in ways that provide physical access and sensory access.

Issues and Problems in Special Education
* Special Education, more than other areas of education, is governed by laws and policies. This means that teachers, administractors, and special education technology specialists must be well versed in federal and state laws, policies, and procedures.

Implications of the No Child Left Behind for Special Education
* The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is beginning to have a significant influence in special education, as it has in all other areas of education (see http://www.ataccess.org/resources/nochild.html).

* Perhaps one of the most important components of the law focuses on Annual Yearly Progress (AYP), which requires documentation that eash school is meeting specific performance criteria the law has established.

Need for-Trained Personnel
* Considerable effort has been devoted to identifying the knowledge and skills needed by teachers and specialists to use technology in special education.
* Despite efforts of most universities to improve the preparation of teachers to use technology in the classroom, most teachers begin their career with minimal experience in using technology in ways that (1) ehance their own productivity, (2) enhance the effectiveness of instruction and the success of all students, or (3) enable them to acquire and use assistive technology for students in need of performance support.
* Another issue regarding the adequacy of personnel trained in special education technology centers on the use of interdisciplinary teams for evaluating the need for assistive technology and decision making in the selection of appropriate devices and services.
* The sheer size of the high incidence population requires a rethinking of service delivery systems.

Requirements for Inclusive Classrooms
* During the 1990s, a major change occurred in how special education services were delivered.
* Rather than placing students with disabilitie in separate classrooms (self-contained special education) and allowing them to participate in selected classes in general education, a process called mainstreaming, efforts were made to include them in the general education classroom, an activity known as inclusion.
* Although students with disabilities have gained physical inclusion into general education, access to the general education curriculum is still limited.
* Likewise, when the bulk of subject matter content is contained in teacher-made materials and textbooks, a significant portion of the students do not have access to the information they are expected to learn.

Universal Design for Learning
* Principles of universal design have emerged from our understanding of the design of physical environments for individuals with disabilities.
* Originally designed to improve mobility for people with disabilities within our communities, curb cuts not only accomplish that, but also improve access for people with baby strollers, roller blades, bikes, etc.
* Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) feels universal design is a critical issue if students with disabilities are going to be able to access the general education curriculum.
* Teachers working with students in inclusion settings face a relentless demand to modify curricular, instructional, and assessment materials.
* This means that students with disabilities often experience a delay in obtaining information that is readily available to their peers without disabilities.

Technology Integration Strategies for Special Education
* This section provides information about general approaches to using assistive and instructional technology for students with special needs and describes specific products that are commonly integrated into curricula for helping achieve academic, behavioral, or social goals.

Foundations of Integration Strategies
* Special educators must be concerned with two types of technology: assistive technology and instructional technology.
* Historically, the emphasis on technology for individuals with disabilities has been thought of as assistive technology.
* The assistive technology evaluation process generally seeks to identify solution on a continuum involving no-technology ("no-tech"), low-technology ("low-tech"), and advanced technology ("high-tech").
* The obvious advantage to solutions involving no technology is that they are available in any environment at any time.
* These solutions tend to be relatively inexpensive but quite flexible fo renhancing individual performance.
* Professional practice in special education calls for the evaluation of potential solutions to begin with no-tech, and continue to low-tech, and then go to high-tech, as the needs dictate.
* Two common approaches for technology use by individuals with disabilities involve remediation and compensation.

General Integration Strategies for All Students
* All of the technology integration strategies discussed in the book have important applications for students with disabilities.
* However, an essential consideration for all educators when planning for the needs of students with disabilities involves ensuring that the curriculum is accessible.

Strategies for Students with Mild Disabilities
* Mild disabilities are considered to be the most prevalent type of disability and include learning disabilities, serious emotional disabilities, and mental retardation.
* Typically, the important issue for these students is not physical access to the technology, but reading, writing, memory, and retention of information.

* Reading skills. A characteristic associated with many disabilities is difficulty in learning how to read and develop grade-level reading skills.
* Writing skills. Many tools have been developed to support students who struggle in various phases of the writing process.
* Math skills. Calculators are an important intervention for students with disabilities.

Strategies for Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities
* A variety of conditions may impair an individual's cognitive abilities. Such disabilities are often referred to as cognitive disabilities, developmental disabilities, or mental retardation.
* Teachers working with students with moderate and severe cognitive disabilities need to be familiar with an array of devices that provide an alternative means for accessing the computer since the typical keyboard may be problematic for many students.
* To simplify the physical or cognitive demands of interacting with the computer, alternative keyboards, such as the Intellikeys keyboard can be used to create customized keyboards.

Strategies for Students with Physical Disabilities
* Physical disabilities typically impact a person's mobility and agility. Difficulties in motor movements may involve gross- or fine-motor movement and frequently exist concurrently with other disabilities.
* Assistive technology for individuals with severe physical disabilities may take the form of a power wheelchair operated by a joystick, a device with a handle that moves in all directions.
* Switches are also commonly used for controlling and getting input to the computer as well as activating environmental control systems.
* Assessing the need for assistive technology involves a team of specialists including occupational therapists, physical therapists, rehabilitation engineers, and assistive technology specialists.

Strategies for Students with Sensory Disabilities
* Sensory disabilities involve impairments associated with the loss of hearing or vision.
* An individual is considered partially sighted if there is some visual acuity.

For the blind. For an individual who is blind, three kinds of technology facilitate independence and access to environments and information:

* Canes and sensor technology - these are used to provide the person with mobility and orientation information when navigating various environments.
* Tools to convert printed information - other essential tools convert printed information into audio so that a person who is blind can gain information by listening rather than reading. This is accomplished through the use of a scanner, optical character recognition (OCR) software to scan and translate print into a word-processed file, and speech synthesis.
* Screen readers-Screen readers work as utility software, operating in the background of the computer operating system and reading any text that appears on the screen, for example, menus, text, web pages.

For the partially sighted. Partially sighted individuals must have text information enlarged, or the contrast altered, in order to perceive printed information. When information is in printed form (e.g., books, magazines, flyers) a closed-circuit television (CCTV) magnification system can be used. Many partially sighted individuals can see print on a computer screen by simply activating the built-in screen magnification control panel.

For the deaf. Individuals who are deaf often can use most technologies without significant modifications. When designers provide essential information only in audio form, this information is inaccessible to deaf individuals. Individuals with hearing impairments need few modifications to be able to use computers. A new technology is finding increasing acceptance in classrooms: FM amplification systems. These systems involve the teacher wearing a wireless microphone, and students with hearing impairments and some students with learning disabilities involving auditory processing difficulties wearing receivers that amplify the teachers voice and serve to focus attention.

Strategies for At-Risk Students
* Students at risk for school failure are not considered disabled in the sense of the federal definition of disability.
* However, their lack of success in school often parallels the low performance of students with disabilities.
* The use of assistive technology by students with disabilities has helped the profession understand the types of academic challenges students face and the kinds of technology tools that allow them to be successful.

Strategies for Students with Gifts and Talents
* Heward (2000) says that, according to the Gifted and Talented Children's Act 1978, gifted and talented students are those "possessing demonstrated or potential abilities that give evidence of high performance capability in such areas as intellectual, creative, specific academic or leadership ability, or in the performing or visual arts, and why by reason thereof require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school.
* The primary issue surrounding and shaping education for gifted students is how to identify students who merit these special "services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school."

* Electronic communities - communicating with people from distant and differing cultures and languages encourages and provides new avenues for expression.
* Research - using global resources (e.g., on the internet) to research topics allows gifted students to explore ideas and events more quickly and in greater depth.
* Interactive and multimedia presentations - developing presentations based on their research allows students to display their discoveries in ways that make them more independent learners.

Finally, when gifted students engage in cooperative group work on products such as websites and multimedia presentations, they are working in a motivational environment in which they can learn important social skills required for them to be effective and productive in the world of work.