Episode 64: Assisting Teachers with Assistive Technology

How is it possible to go through 27 years of teaching and not be more knowledgeable about assistive technology??

I thought I was doing what I needed to for my students by determining if they needed special pencils or scissors. Or maybe they needed a large button keyboard or a slant board for writing. But I was today years old when I found out that there is sooooooo much more to assistive technology than I thought.

When I heard this quote, “At least one person on the IEP team must have some knowledge about assistive technology because you cannot consider something about which you know nothing," it really hit home.

And I think there might just be a lot of truth to that statement for many special educators.

As a part of  IDEA, the IEP team is required to “consider” the Assistive Technology  needs of every student receiving special education services regardless of the type or severity of their disability.

On today's episode, Rachel Kuberry, an Assistive Technology Specialist for a public school system in Massachusetts, shares with us so much good information. She digs into what that "consideration" should look like, who it's for and why it's important.

She answers questions about:

• What Assistive Technology actually is 
• The different types of assistive technology
• What an AT assessment/evaluation looks like
• And the barriers to providing assistive technology like we should

Throughout the show, Rachel drops little value bombs on us and shares so many great resources.

Check them out below!

AT Consideration Checklist

Assessing Students’ Needs for Assistive Technology manual by WATI

SETT Framework as developed by Joy Zabala - an example worksheet

You can connect with Rachel on Instagram
Exceptional Special Ed

Email her at exceptionalspecialed@gmail.com

And listen to her podcast Exceptional Special Ed on your favorite podcast streaming tool

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