EDT 6030
Narrative #2
Heather Young
April 25, 2010
The topic I chose was assistive technology. I wanted to create a
survey for school employees, students, parents, and community members to
determine how aware they were about assistive technology. Until I had the
opportunity to work with a student with a disability, I was not aware of the
many tools and resources available. My intention for the webpage was also
to make the audience aware of the positive outcomes of assistive technology
and how it can help the user.
My webpage was initially created for educators to learn more about
assistive technology. Many educators are scared to include students with a
disability into their classroom because they aren’t sure how to work with
them. Assistive technology allows the student to be more independent. I
hope this webpage gives educators a better feeling about assistive
technology and including students with a disability into their classroom.
Although I originally created this webpage for educators, it is also beneficial
for parents, students, and community members to learn more about
assistive technology.
I began my webpage with a definition of what assistive technology is
as an introduction to the topic. I used the results from the survey to
enhance my webpage. I created a bar graph to display how much people
believe that assistive technology contributes to the independence of the
user. I included some information about assistive technology contributing to
the independence of the user and the types of assistive technology available
in schools. In the survey, many types of assistive technology that are used
in schools were listed and I added to the list with other types I found
through research. It is important the educators, parents, and community
members are aware of the different types of assistive technology that are
available.
The YouTube video is a great asset to my webpage because it gives a
brief overview of assistive technology and gives some examples of the types
of assistive technology and how they can be used. On the right side of my
webpage are a link to the survey and some helpful links for educators and
parents. The pie chart I included was very interesting because only 50% of
the 34 people survey were aware of the assistive technology available in
their school district. This is an alarming number, which was the main reason
I wanted to create this webpage.
When I began researching and looking into this topic, I asked some
teachers at my school what they knew about assistive technology and what
they wanted to know. This helped me formulate my survey to collect the
best results. After looking at the survey results, I knew I need to research
the basic information about assistive technology because my educators were
not informed about this information. I began to research the types of
assistive technology used in school districts and how it is beneficial. These
two topics helped me narrow my search.
All of the resources used to create this webpage and the rest of my
website can be found in the references tab, along with the Creative
Commons License.
Survey Results & Analysis:
34 people completed the survey
1. Indicate who is completing this survey.
 3 were students
 27 were educators
 1 was an administrator
 2 were community members
 1 was an advocate
2. Are you aware of the assistive technology available in your
school district?
 50% said yes
 50% said no
3. Do you know or work with a person who uses assistive
technology?
 50% said yes
 50% said no
4. How



old is the person who uses assistive technology?
15 users are 4-22 years old
2 users are 23-59 years old
1 user is 60 years old +
5. What disability best describes the person who uses assistive
technology?
 5 users have a physical disability
 4 users have a visual disability
 3 users have an intellectual disability
 4 users have a learning disability
 1 user is legally blind
 1 user has a psychiatric disability
 1 user is deaf
 4 users are hard of hearing
 3 users have autism or Asperger’s Syndrome
 1 user is cognitively impaired
6. Does the person who uses assistive technology have difficulty
with any of the following sensory-motor functions?
 29% seeing
 47% learning
 41% remembering
 18% lifting
 18% speaking
 24% walking
 41% interacting with others
 24% hearing
 6% long term emotional, psychological, or psychiatric condition
7. What types of assistive technology does the person use?
 2 – bean bag chairs
 1 – floor sitters
 10 – computers
 2 – modified keyboards
 5 – hearing aids
 3 – personal FM units
 0 – closed-captioned TV
 1 – screen readers
 4 – audio books
 1 – large-type books
 1 – braillers
 1 – scanners
 5 – wheel chairs
 1 – self-propelled walkers
 1 – scooters
 1 – communication boards
 2 – electronic communication devices
 0 – adapted feeders
 1 – specially designed toilet seats
 0 – aid for tooth brushing, washing, dressing, and grooming
8. To what extent do you agree that assistive technology
contributes to independence of the user?
Living
Independently
Working
Learning
Strongly
Agree
15
Agree
Disagree
11
1
Strongly
Disagree
2
17
20
9
6
2
0
1
2
REFERENCES
Assistive technology. (n.d.). PaTTAN. Retrieved April 25, 2010, from
http://www.pattan.net/supportingstudents/AssistiveTechnology.aspx
Assistive technology. (n.d.). Your dictionary. Retrieved April 20, 2010, from
http://www.yourdictionary.com/computer/assistive-technology
Assistive technology helps all kids learn. (2005, August 9). Education world.
Retrieved April 20, 2010, from
http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech220.shtml
Kelker, K. A. (n.d.). Family guide to assistive technology. Parents, let's unite
for kids. Retrieved April 20, 2010, from
http://www.pluk.org/AT1.html#2
Pennsylvania's initiative on assistive technology. (n.d.). Institute on
disabilities at temple university. Retrieved April 25, 2010, from
http://disabilities.temple.edu/programs/assistive/piat/
Raskind, M., & Stanberry, K. (n.d.). Assistive technology for kids with
learning disabilities. Greatschools. Retrieved April 24, 2010, from
http://www.greatschools.org/LD/assistive-technology/assistivetechnology-for-kids-with-learning-disabilities-anoverview.gs?content=702
SC curriculum access through at. (n.d.). University of south carolina.
Retrieved April 24, 2010, from
http://www.sc.edu/scatp/cdrom/atused.html
lewjdaddy. (2008, April 15). Assistive technology. Youtube. Retrieved April
25, 2010, from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXchQnJ6PoE&feature=player_em
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