2. Children struggling in school with delayed skills or other disabilities
may qualify for support services, allowing them to be taught in a special
way.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004 is a law
ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation.
IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early
intervention, special education and related services to more than 6.5
million eligible infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities.
The goal of IDEA is to keep students in the least restrictive
environment so an effort is made to keep students in the general
classroom as much as possible.
=
Reference http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/learning/iep.html
For more information about IDEA, visit http://idea.ed.gov
3. 1. Teacher, parent or doctor initiates communications regarding a
student having difficulty in the classroom
2. Teacher notifies school counselor or psychologist
3. Information is gathered and compiled regarding the student's
progress or academic issues
4. Child may be tested for a specific learning disability or other
impairment to help determine qualification for special services.
1. To be eligible for special services, the disability must affect
functioning at school.
2. To determine eligibility, a multidisciplinary team of
professionals will evaluate the child based on their
observations; the child's performance on standardized tests;
and daily work such as tests, quizzes, classwork, and homework
5. Evaluation team develops a comprehensive evaluation report
(CER) that compiles their findings, offers an educational
classification, and outlines the skills and support the child will
need.
4. If a child is identified as a special needs student:
1. Team develops an Individualized Development Program
(IEP). IEPs provide specific, measurable short-term and
annual goals for each of the student’s needs.
1. Review the IEP annually to update the goals and make sure the
levels of service meet the student’s needs. IEPs may be
changed at any time on an as-needed basis.
2. Support services may include special education, speech
therapy, occupational or physical therapy, counseling,
audiology, medical services, nursing, vision or hearing
therapy, and many others.
Reference: Kid’s Health from Nemours. Individualized Education Programs
Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/learning/iep.html#
5. Differential Instruction (sometimes referred to as
differentiated learning) involves providing students
with different avenues to acquiring content; to
processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and
to developing teaching materials so that all students
within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of
differences in ability. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differentiated_instruction
Additional Resources:
TeachNology at
http://www.teach-
nology.com/tutorials/teaching/differentiate/planning/
Partners in Learning at
http://performancepyramid.muohio.edu/Differentiated-
Instruction.html
6. •Children with disabilities often require assistance to enhance
social, emotional and cognitive growth.
•Many technologies are available from low to high tech, but
they are often under utilized.
•Assistive technology (AT) helps students participate in
activities as independently as possible.
•Technology helps students move, communicate and
participate.
Reference: LD Online at http://www.ldonline.org/article/8088
7. Assistive technology or adaptive technology (AT) is
an umbrella term that includes assistive, adaptive, and
rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and also
includes the process used in selecting, locating, and using
them. AT promotes greater independence by enabling people
to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to
accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by
providing enhancements to or changed methods of
interacting with the technology needed to accomplish such
tasks.
Reference: Assistive Technology - Wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assistive_technology
8. "No-technology" or "no-tech" refers to any assistive device
that is not electronic. No-tech items range from a piece of
foam glued onto the corners of book pages to make turning
easier to a study carrel to reduce distraction. "Low-
technology" or "low-tech" devices are electronic but do not
include highly sophisticated computer components, such
as an electronic voice-recording device or a "talking watch"
(Behrmann & Schaff, 2001). "High-technology" or "high-
tech" devices utilize complex, multifunction technology
and usually include a computer and associated software.
Reference: Education.com at
http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Assistive_Technology/
9. Step 1: Collect child and family information. Begin the discussion
about the child’s strengths, abilities, preferences and needs. What
strategies have been found to work best?
Step 2: Identify activities for participation. Discuss the various
activities within the environments that a child encounters throughout
the day. What is preventing him/her from participating more?
Step 3: What can be observed that indicates the intervention is
successful? What is his/her current level of participation and what
observable behaviors will reflect an increase in independent
interactions? What changes (e.g., number of initiations, expression
attempts, responses, reactions, etc.) will you look for?
10. Step 4: Brainstorm AT solutions. With the activity and desired
outcomes established, you are now ready to discuss possible solutions
with educators, family members, physical therapist, and other people
with whom the child interacts on a weekly basis. Do the child’s needs
include supports for movement, communication and/or use of
materials? Start with what is available in the environment (what other
children use) and consider adaptations to those materials. A range of
options that address specific support areas should be considered.
11. Step 5: Try it out. Determine when the AT intervention will begin and
create an observation plan to record how the child participates with the
AT supports.
Step 6: Identify what worked. Selecting AT interventions is a
continuous learning opportunity. Reflect on your plan and discuss what
worked. What didn’t work? What should be done differently? Make
modifications as needed and try again. Only by trying the AT can
certain factors such as technology placement, amount of force,
mounting, number of choices, etc. be determined and adjusted.
Reference: LD Online at http://www.ldonline.org/article/8088
12. You are a teacher who has a few students that require you to
differentiate your instruction. Three have been diagnosed
with ADHD, while one has an auditory disability, and
requires a special device in order to hear. In addition, you
have a number of students that have mild learning
disabilities that impact all areas, especially reading and
writing. As you prepare for the school year, you ask
yourself, "What resources do I have in order to help me
meet my students' needs?"
13. Children with ADHD often have difficulty adjusting to the
structured environment of a classroom, determining what
is important, and focusing on their assigned work. They are
easily distracted by other children or by nearby activities in
the classroom. Resources should be individualized.
ADHD – High Tech
Built on technology originally used by NASA and the U.S. Air Force, the
solution–called “Play Attention”–reportedly taps into brain waves
through a red bike helmet lined with sensors. The sensors send
information to a computer that in turn controls the outcome of
scenarios on the computer screen. As the brain waves change, the
outcome on the computer screen changes.
Reference eSchoolNews at http://www.eschoolnews.com/2004/07/29/new-technology-
offers-help-for-adhd-students/
14. ADHD – No/Low Tech
•Assign student a seat with the least distractions while in close
proximity to the teacher
•Eliminate excessive noise
•Eliminate excessive visual stimuli and classroom clutter
•Keep directions short and to the point
•Provide an individualized written schedule
•Allow student to chew gum to burn excess energy and keep their
mouth engaged
Reference LO Online at http://www.ldonline.org/article/8797#instructional
15. Auditory– High Tech
•Personal FM systems can send a teacher’s voice from a wireless
microphone worn by the teacher through FM radio waves directly to a
small receiver worn by the student with hearing loss.
•Soundfield systems send the teacher’s voice from a microphone to
one or more speakers positioned close to the child or mounted to a
wall. This allows more than one student to use the system
simultaneously.
•Infra-red (IR) systems through which sound is transmitted using
infrared light waves.
Reference: American Speech Language Hearing Association at
http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Hearing-Assistive-Technology-for-
Children/
16. Auditory – Low Tech
•Translation Services are available which allow the words of a
speaker to be transcribed, by a trained individual using a
keyboard, into text displayed on a monitor, screen, or laptop
computer, used by the students who are hard of hearing or
deaf.
•Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) may be a
consideration as hearing loss can impact competency in
reading.
Reference: American Speech Language Hearing Association at
http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Hearing-Assistive-Technology-for-
Children/
17. Mild Learning Disability– High Tech
•Word Processing /Proofreading Software
•Speech Recognition Software
•Audio Books and Publication
•Optical Character Recognition Devices
•Alternative/Overlay Keyboards
•Paper-Based Computer Pens
Reference: Great Schools at http://www.greatschools.org/special-education/assistive-
technology/702-assistive-technology-for-kids-with-learning-disabilities-an-overview.gs
