Assessing Student's Needs for Assistive Technology (ASNAT)

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Chapter 1 - Assistive Technology Assessment Additional Tools for the Team as They Select Appropriate Assistive Technology Technology Toolbox Another useful tool for school teams is the Technology Toolbox from the book Computer and Web Resources for People with Disabilities (Third Edition) (Alliance for Technology Access, 2000). The Technology Toolbox is especially useful for teams that are just getting started with assistive technology. It contains a series of charts that address the following questions, ♦ How Effectively Can I See the Computer Screen? ♦ How Effectively Can I Use the Keyboard? ♦ How Effectively Can I Use the Mouse? ♦ How Effectively Can I Interact with Information? ♦ How Effectively Can I Read (Comprehend)? ♦ How Effectively Can I Write (Compose)? ♦ How Effectively Can I Handle Computer Equipment? Under each of these questions there is a chart is used to describe what assistive technology tools re available to assist students with different abilities and difficulties related to this task. Following the WATI AT Checklist, you can find a copy of the chart for “How Effectively Can I Read?” (and other pages from Computer and Web Resources of People with Disabilities which you can use to follow along with this example.) Look at it as it is now and read across the first row for ideas that can help if a student reads at a lower than expected level. You will see that one approach might be to “Have computer speak text”. This has a symbol “●” next to it. Then by looking at the items listed under “Tool” that have the ● symbol, it states that the needed tools are a speech synthesizer and talking word processor. Each item listed under the “Tool” column has a page number in parentheses. The page number refers to the page in the next section of the book, the Product Descriptions. In the Product Description Section there are descriptions of each of the items listed under the “Tool” column in the Technology Toolbox. Each description includes a list of potential users, features to consider, cost, and common vendors. Closing the Gap Resource Directory Once the common vendors are known, the next useful tool is the Closing the Gap Resource Directory. The Resource Directory is published each spring as the February/March issue of the Closing the Gap newsletter. It is an excellent tool for school teams. The first step in using the Directory is to go to the Producers Section, which is near the back of the directory. In the Producers Section, team members can look at each of the vendors obtained from the Product Description Section of Resource Directory. In our example, Don Johnston Incorporated was one of the common vendors listed for talking word processors. Looking up Don Johnston Incorporated, reveals a long list of products. Scanning that list reveals Write:OutLoud ® , which sounds like it might be a talking word processing. Turning to the Software section of the Resource Directory provides a description of this talking word processing software, including price, type of computer it runs on, system requirements, and other valuable information. Assessing Students’ Needs for Assistive Technology (2004) 56
Chapter 1 - Assistive Technology Assessment Closing the Gap also has a searchable database on its website http://www.closingthegap.com. Annual subscriptions are required to use the online version but it makes the search process so much easier. The same type of information is included there. So that once the name of a product or the type of product is known, more information can be obtained from the website. ABLEDATA http://www.abledata.com ABLEDATA’s website is another excellent resource tool for teams. It houses the ABLEDATA database which lists over 20,000 currently available assistive technology devices from over 2000 different companies. Each record contains a detailed description of the product as well as price, manufacturer, and distributor information. It is updated frequently and also contains pictures of many of the products Software Tools There are two software programs that can be useful tools, AAC Feature Match http://www.dougdodgen.com is a software program that teams can use to help determine which augmentative communication devices might work for a specific child. It asks the team to enter specific information about the student’s needs, such as size of button the student can activate, number of responses needed, whether the student needs to be able to create new messages, or can choose from preprogrammed ones, etc. It then provides a list of augmentative communication devices that have several of the features that would be necessary to meet the child’s needs as described in the information entered. This information allows the team to consider devices that they do not currently own or that they have never tried. It greatly increases the likelihood that the team will, in fact, consider the full range of appropriate devices that are available. The tool is very empowering for school district teams. Another product, EvaluWare , is designed to make assessment easier for both AAC and computer access. This software leads the team through specific tasks that help determine the child’s ability to look at objects, listen, use the keyboard and mouse, and other alternatives. After information is entered, it creates a model screen with the level of representation, target size and number of targets to try with the child to see if it will be effective. Information on EvaluWare is available at http://www.assistivetech.com. Assessing Students’ Needs for Assistive Technology (2004) 57
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Chapter 9 - Documenting Assistive T
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Chapter 10 - Funding Assistive Tech
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Assistive Technology Vendor Table C
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Assistive Technology Vendor Table C
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Assistive Technology Vendor Table V
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Appendix Additional Vendors: Assess
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WATI Product Catalog WATI PRODUCT C
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WATI Product Catalog Assistive Tech
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WATI Product Catalog School Profile
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WATI Product Catalog Wisconsin Assi
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Assistive Technology Assessment For
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