Research Activity: Assistive Technology Articles Websites

• Simplified Technology for Persons with Severe Disabilities
National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education; http://www2.edc.org/NCIP/library/ec/Burkhart.htm

This website features a collection of overviews of Linda J. Burkhart’s books on assistive technology for children with expressive language disabilities. Amongst her published books include discussing about total augmentative communication in the early childhood classroom, which talks about how parents and teachers can aid their children and students with communication disabilities such as expressive language delays in learning through their environment. With the agency of low-tech and high-tech assistive technology devices, they may be prepared to learn sign language, mathematics, and other subjects. This book also includes vivid direction along with illustrations to demonstrate the strategies suggested. Linda Burkhart also published books that tackle home-made toys or assistive technology that works with batteries as means for education. These may be utilized by parents and special education teachers and is practical because it is inexpensive. It also includes directions and illustrations. Another book that Burkhart published involves using computer s and speech synthesis to facilitate communicative interaction with young and/or severely handicapped children. Burkhart suggest using devices such as tape recorders, and computers to train people with severe disabilities how to interact through assistive technology.

• Learning Disabilities and Assistive Technology
Learning Disabilities and Assistive Technology; http://www.gatfl.org/ldguide/default.htm

This website features on its main page an article written by Christopher Lee as its introduction regarding the link between learning disabilities and assistive technology. He introduced this link by including anecdotes on how people with learning disabilities appear short-handed in handling daily tasks that other people consider simple such as reading, counting, and identifying. These are some tasks that we take advantage but people with learning disabilities need assistance with. Lee furthermore explains how even low-tech assistive technology devices such as markers and planners may affect a person with a learning disability’s life. Also, with the continuous evolution of technology, more high-tech assistive technology are now available such as speech synthesizer devices that scans text or prints and reads them back. He emphasized how, assistive technology, however, does not solve everything in a person’s life but rather just make his or her way of living more efficient especially for a person with disabilities such as a learning disability. This website also features a selection of assistive technology devices that is appropriate for learning math, reading, writing, and social studies. These articles contain an overview of the learning disability within each specific subject and what types of low-tech and high-tech assistive devices may be utilized to cater each need.

• Assistive Technology for Students with Autism
Assistive Technology for Students with Autism; http://www.specialed.us/autism/assist/asst10.htm

This website features an article written by Susan Stokes, an autism consultant. Strokes emphasized how assistive technology akin to students with autism is not receiving much attention in comparison to other disabilities. She believes that assistive technology may aid students with autism in developing skills in better understanding of their environment, attention, social interaction, motivational, academic, attentions s, organization, self-help, and overall independence. Strokes provided examples of scenarios in which a student may need a sort of assistance through assistive technology. As emphasized in many other various articles, assistive technology may be low-tech or high-tech and in other cases, low-tech devices such as using visuals are good enough to use. In this particular article, Strokes discussed how students with autism find it difficult to identify or distinguish certain images and label them correctly because their focus is off. Strokes suggested using a software, called Picture This, which allows for the presentation of real photos without the confusion of other background images. This website also gave definitions to distinguish between low-tech devices, mid-tech devices, and high-tech devices.

• Sensing the Way of the Future
Sensing the Way of the Future; http://teapot.dit.ie/files/pdfs/Irish_Times_article_from_Ability_Awards_supplement.pdf

This website features an article published by the Irish Times from their June 15, 2007 issue. It discussed the progress of assistive technology as an aid to people with severe disabilities that are unable to communicate verbally or are incapable of mobility from the neck down. Researchers at Dublin Institute of Technology are figuring out ways in which technology can provide a solution to people with severe disabilities’ inability to communicate. For years, these people have been deprived of communication but recent development in assistive technology have found a solution in which they may be able to convey their thoughts and answer questions through sensors and computers. These sensory devices will be attached to the person’s head, eyelids, fingers or other parts of the body that are able to move and will serve as the control device, which shall allow him/her to spell out what he/she wishes to convey or say through the screen. Their research still continues as to how they can minimize the cost of these devices in preparation for public availability.

• Technology Puts More Pupils in the Mainstream
Technology Puts More Pupils in the Mainstream; http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2008/04/21/technology_puts_more_pupils_in_the_mainstream/

This website features an article that boasts the advantages of assistive technology devices in allowing students with disabilities become a part of general education. It is mentioned that due to the availability of assistive technology devices in some schools in Boston, Massachusetts, students who may be disadvantaged in performing regular school work are now able to actively participate in general education classrooms. Assistive technology devices such as computers, mp3 players, voice-output devices, portable and enlarged keyboards, and text-to-speech software had tremendously impacted the way students with special needs had been working in fulfilling school tasks. It has helped them overcome challenges in academics and had boosted their means of social interaction through technology. More students with autism, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and other disabilities can now possibly be mainstreamed with the proper selection of assistive technology.