AT and Emergent Literacy

-
This topic covers helping those with learning, and more specifically reading, disorders. This covers things such as Dyslexia and Dysgraphia, and other cognitive or developmental disorders, it also can include Braille. This website shows what it is like to have dyslexia to help people better understand how difficult it can be to live with this kind of disorder.

AT for this is so varied we have many apps that help with text to speech or will read back to the student. There are programs you can add to computers that perform almost a read along highlighted system for students.

AT for this also, I feel, falls under assistive services, including one on one attention with students on how to read, pronounce phonics of different words, and how to write and formulate them as well.

This is very important to promote as it can influence their quality of life in the future. This is the foundation of what everything else is built upon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Funding

-
Grants: The most dreaded free money ever. The teachers should be able to write a letter for a mini grant. This should be researched and directed. We need to be able to write professionally and ask for a specific amount of money and show how it is going to be used. Insurance: This runs the gauntlet from private insurance to Medicare or Medicaid from federal or state funding. Loans: This is one of the last resorts, turning to someone who is willing to lend the money with the expectation of being repaid. Funding is a hard part of life, however we can't get very far without asking for money to help those with AT needs that can cost thousands of dollars every year. Funding is just the way to go about it to make sure that those students can get everything they need to succeed.
Read more

Interview with an SLP

-
I was able to visit with a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) who works with the Idaho Rehabilitation Services in Rexburg. Her name is Emma and she provided a lot of insight as I began to research about the issues that can arise from nonverbal to verbal communication in a classroom. The following is the interview I had with her. How long have you worked as an SLP in schools? 2 years What is the age range you focus on? 5-10 years old What is the most common problem you find in your groups? The speech sounds, things such as the 'r', 's', or 'th' sounds. Do you work with only the school or also the Idaho Rehabilitation Center? Four clients here, I also do some Geriatric work. Do you work with groups or one on one?  Mostly one on one, the biggest group is about four or five. What is your favorite low tech you use?  Velcro binders with different pictures that you can move them around, it takes a lot of time. Go-Talk 4, it looks like a PECS device, it has four b...
Read more

The problem and solution?

-
Image
Being Deaf, Mute, Hard of Hearing, or Nonverbal due to any number of conditions can be an insurmountable problem for a student in a classroom. Unable to hear simple directions or understand the videos that are shown without captions.  Teachers should understand some of the difficulties that surround communication difficulties. While Assistive Technology has made leaps and bounds in their abilities to help those who have difficulties communicating there are many ways to improve these. The different assistive devices will be shown in the different posts on this website.  Some simple things can be done to help those who fall into a category of needing assistive devices, even learning simple sign language phrases. The second video shown here shows some simple words that if you learn as a teacher can make an impact on a student allowing them to feel as though the teacher does understand and care about their learning.  The first video listed is a high schooler in a schoo...
Read more