SEEC 5050: ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
SESSION FIVE
The purpose of this lesson is to begin identifying features of possible AT systems based on what you know about the student's needs, abilities, goals, and tasks. The lesson highlights the importance of recognizing that gathering and analyzing information is an ongoing process, not a single event.
BIG IDEAS : In this lesson, the student will learn about:
 How do to organize and evaluate the information that has been collected
 How to determine if the framed question needs to be revised
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When and how to gather further information
 How to determine if the task requires an AT solution
How to think about features based on student needs and tasks
 The notion that assistive technology evaluation is a circular process that requires revisiting previous steps in the process
ATSTAR – LESSON FIVE
In one of the videos in this lesson, Kelly Fonner clearly states one of the most important concepts you will learn in this course when she says, “Assistive Technology success doesn't mean a tool's been put into place. It could be that through looking at tools, you've come up with strategies, modifications, and accommodations that are less intrusive than an Assistive Technology tool.
When starting the Assistive Technology process, you need to remember that there's not a definitive end, that it's an ongoing process. You look at what the situation is now, you're matching tools to the tasks and environments that are now, but as soon as a student changes class, as soon as they change grade level, school system, classroom teacher, you're back into the process again. So it's an ever-moving, cyclical process and Assistive Technology isn't just one solution and one time, forever.” Keep these thoughts in your mind, not only when in this course, but whenever you are seeking assistance in overcoming barriers to student success.
TASKS:
Assignment 1: ATSTAR Extension
Visit the website of North Dakota Interagency Program for Assistive Technology and read the article entitled “Selecting and Obtaining Assistive Technology”. This article provides another look at the idea of matching features to individual needs. http://www.ndipat.org/products/brochures/select/select.htm
Assignment 2: Complementary Web-based Resources\\
Visit the assistive technology section of the website of the Alief Independent School District in
Houston, Texas. This district has a very mature assistive technology service delivery model which has developed over a period of approximately 12 years.

http://www.alief.isd.tenet.edu/specialed/AT%20page.htm
If you were a teacher in Alief ISD:
- how would you make an assistive technology referral?
- what steps would you expect to be included in an assistive technology evaluation?
- what three steps would you take to create a classroom for communication and participation?
(see Spotlight section of the Alief site)
How could you apply the Spotlight information to make YOUR classroom a more participation and communication friendly place for all students?
Assignment 3: GPAT
After a description of an assistive technology system has been developed, people in Georgia (and anyone with web access) can visit the Assistive Technology Resources section of the GAPY site and seek information about the possible tools whose features might meet that description. List sources of such information that you find at the GPAT site.
Also review the InTech accommodations listed in that section.
Assignment 4: Cumulative Application Case Study
HOLLY, THE GRID I WOULD LIKE THEM TO USE ATTACHED TO THIS LESSON. IT IS
THE SECOND PAGE OF THE SETT FORMS THAT I LIKE, WHICH ARE A LITTLE
DIFFERENT FROM THE ONES ON ATSTAR. I ESPECIALLY LIKE THE SECOND PAGE
- THE GRID.
Use the attached grid to describe ( in just regular “people talk”
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) what an assistive technology system that would be student-centered, environmentally useful, and task-focused for the student in your case study. Fill in all of the descriptors you think would be important to look for based on the information that you have gathered in your SETT Framework. Don’t hesitate to put in descriptors such as “could help the student do the task more independently”, or “can be used is several different environments”, or “doesn’t require a great deal of maintenance”. While these are not DEVICE features, they MAY be very important parts of the description of what a system would be like, depending, of course, on what you know at this point about the student, the environments, and the tasks.
After you have described the tool (BE SPECIFIC!), go back and circle the descriptors that are
“Trap Doors”… the ones that, without them, no matter how many of the others match, it is a no go! An example of this would be, if a student needs a tool that supports written productivity, the system MUST be able to produce a written product. Without that, it would NOT help the student do the task, even if it was lightweight, portable, acceptable to the student, etc.
BE CAREFUL NOT TO SUGGEST SPECIFIC TOOLS YET. Just develop a description! IT IS
VERY IMPORTANT TO DEVELOP A GOOD DESCRIPTION THAT IS MUTUALLY

ACCEPTABLE TO THE TEAM BEFORE SEEKING SPECIFIC TOOLS. Later you find many resources for helping identify out a range of the possible tools that align to the description.
DISCUSSION:
This lesson mentions the importance using assistive technology or other strategies to accommodate the student’s ability to do the same tasks that other students are doing whenever possible rather than changing or modifying the task in some significant way. An example of an accommodation would be when all students are expected to write an essay, though 4 may use pens while one is using a keyboarding device to write. An example of a modification is assigning essays to 4 students, but shortening that assignment to an outline for the student who has difficulty working with a pen.
Do you agree with this approach? Why or why not? What is potentially gained or lost by putting an accommodation in place? What is potentially gained or lost when the students tasks are modified?
PERSONAL REFLECTION:
Tell about one “Ah, ha!” moment you have had during this course. What impact has this had or do you anticipate it having on your professional practices?