Assistive Technology (AT) - Week 1

Types of Disabilities & Accommodations

1. How would you approach the introduction of learning Braille in your classroom should you have a blind child in your class?

The first activity I would do with my seventh graders is read and discuss a couple of biographies of successful blind adults. There are quite a few links to blind scientists at National Center for Blind Youth in Science

After a class discussion on these famous scientists, I would have the students work in partners or small groups and have them practice with the Braille alphabet codes. It might be fun to have them decipher a short message or have the small groups write Braille messages to one another.

2. Were you able to find any information that would improve your teaching abilities for improving assistance to LD students?

After looking through the Especially for Teachers section on The National Center for Learning Disabilities technology). The website, I was happy to see that some of the accommodations that I have made this year for my RSP students seem to be appropriate. For instance, I have two students who suffer from severe dyslexia. During class notes, both boys use an AlphaSmart (assistiveAlphaSmart allows the students to clearly copy the notes. It actually helps in their visual processing of what they are seeing on the overhead and their ability to transfer the information to their notes. For in class, timed writing tests they also use the AlphaSmart. This allows them to get their ideas completed much faster than if they were hand writing it.

For the dyslexic students I have also made accommodations for our independent reading book, which is an assignment that requires my students to read one independent book per quarter. One student takes turn reading his independent book with his dad. They sit together and his dad will read one page and he reads the next so not only is he practicing auditory skills, he is also practicing his decoding and reading skills. The other student reads along with an audio book, so he is using multiple skills simultaneously as well. I feel these accommodations have really boosted their self confidence and they are excited to share what they are reading with the rest of the class.