How to Include Assistive Technology in IEP The Challenge: The individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) stresses that students with disabilities should have the greatest possible access to the general curriculum in the least restrictive environment. And the 1997 amendments to IDEA place special emphasis on using technology to achieve that goal: They require you to consider the appropriateness of assistive technology (AT) devices – like computers and pencil grips – and services – like keyboarding and training – for all special ed students. So your team must understand what AT is, know how to evaluate whether a special ed. student needs AT, and be able to write an IEP that properly includes AT. What the Law Says The 1997 amendments to IDEA require that AT devices and services be considered for all special ed. students. Your IEP team must consider whether AT would help a student with a disability perform a learning-related task more easily or efficiently, in the least restrictive environment, or with less help from an aide, in order to get a free appropriate public education (FAPE). These amendments mark a significant change in how educators view AT. AT used to be considered exclusively in a rehabilitative context. Now, in the context of developing IEPs, AT is considered a useful tool for expanding special ed. students’ access to the general curriculum. AT devices and services may be provided as special education services, related services, or supplementary aids and services. The law defines an AT device as “any item, piece of equipment, or product system…that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.” These devices include commercially available, modified, or customized equipment. Note that you’re generally not required to provide personal devices, such as eyeglasses, hearing aids, or braces that the student would need even if she didn’t go to school. AT services are designed to directly assist a student with a disability in selecting, acquiring, or using an AT device. AT services include functionally evaluating a student, maintaining an AT device, and training the appropriate people – the student, aide, teacher, or parent – to use an AT device. 7 Rules to Follow When Including Assistive Technology in the IEP Rule #1: Consider AT Evaluation When Developing IEP and Upon Parental or Professional Request IDEA requires the IEP team to consider a student’s need for AT when developing the student’s IEP. You should also consider a student’s need for AT when a consultant recommends AT or the student’s parents ask you to make an AT evaluation – but a parental request isn’t necessary to trigger an AT evaluation. You must conduct the AT evaluation in a timely manner to avoid legal trouble. Once you’ve conducted an AT evaluation, you must continue to reevaluate the student’s AT needs in all subsequent IEPs. Although AT may have been necessary to provide the student a FAPE at one point, it may become necessary. Rule #2: Get Parents’ Consent Before Conducting AT Evaluation Before conducting an AT evaluation, your team should notify the student’s parents of when you’ll be conducting it and get their consent to do so. You should send the parents a “procedural safeguards notice” that spells out the parents’ procedural rights under IDEA. After sending the notice, you must get the parents’ “informed consent”. Informed consent means that your team has fully informed the parents of all information relevant to the AT evaluation in their native language or other mode of communication. If the student’s parents disagree with the conclusion the IEP team reaches after the AT evaluation, they can request an independent educational evaluation (IEE). But the parents can’t challenge the methods the IEP team will use to conduct the evaluation before it’s done. Rule #3: Evaluate Whether Student Needs AT to Get FAPE It’s important that your team use the right standard when conducting an AT evaluation. IDEA requires you to provide AT devices, services, or both when the student needs the AT in order to get a FAPE; you aren’t required to provide AT if the student would only benefit from it. This determination is often a source of conflict between the IEP team, who feels that the student doesn’t need AT because she’s getting a FAPE without it, and parents who understandably want their student to have every possible benefit. But remember – IDEA requires you to provide only a FAPE to a student with a disability – not the best education possible. If AT is only beneficial to the student but not necessary for her to get a FAPE, a court won’t force you to provide the AT. When conducting the AT evaluation, the IEP team should consider the following: Inability of student to perform certain tasks or achieve certain goals. Your team should consider whether there are tasks the student is unable to do at a level that reflects her skills or abilities and if there are goals she hasn’t been able to achieve. Availability of appropriate AT. You should consider whether there’s AT available that would help the student academically. Results of student’s use of AT. The team should evaluate whether using a specific type of AT helps the student perform the task more easily or efficiently, in the least restrictive environment, or with less personal assistance. If, after conducting a thorough AT evaluation, your IEP team determines that a student doesn’t need AT to get a FAPE, it’s a good idea to document in the student’s IEP your consideration and rejection of AT, even though IDEA doesn’t require an IEP team to do so. The documentation could prove valuable if a parent challenges the team’s AT decision. Rule #4: Choose Appropriate AT for Student If the IEP team decides that the student needs AT to get a FAPE, it still must decide which AT device and/or service is appropriate. Not every IEP team can be expected to know everything about all available AT devices and/or services. If the IEP team doesn’t have a member qualified to determine what AT device and/or service is appropriate for the student’s needs, the team should consult someone who’s experienced in these matters. Recognizing the team’s limits and seeking additional input is the IEP team’s responsibility and is required under IDEA when considering the student’s AT needs. You should consider simple, low-tech devices whenever possible and move on to more complex, high-tech alternatives only if no low-tech AT device is appropriate for the student. The team must choose AT that gives the student a FAPE, but you’re not required to choose the newest, most expensive, and most sophisticated AT just because that’s what the student’s parents want. Rule #5: Include AT Evaluation in IEP If the IEP team determines that the student needs AT to get a FAPE, and has selected the appropriate AT device and/or service, that information must be included in the student’s IEP. To address the student’s AT needs, the IEP should say: Which AT device and/or service the student needs and will use, as well as how you’ll train the appropriate people to use the AT device. The goal of using the AT device. How the AT device will be used. As long as the student’s IEP includes the above information, it doesn’t have to specify the exact type of AT to be used. Rule #6: Implement Use of AT in Timely Manner Once AT devices and/or services are included in a student’s IEP, the IEP team must implement their use in a timely manner. In other words, you must get the AT device and train the appropriate people to use it as soon as reasonably possible. Rule #7: Provide Use of AT Outside School if Necessary for FAPE IDEA says that, on a case-by-case basis, the use of school-purchased AT devices in a student’s home or other setting is required if such access is necessary for the student to get a FAPE. If the student’s access to the AT device at school is sufficient to provide the student a FAPE, you aren’t required to also provide an AT device for home use – even if that might benefit the student. Source: IEP Team Trainer