Assistive Technology ADAM HANEY

Agenda

• What is Assistive Technology?

• Laws in regard to Assistive Technology

• Tools that can help reach educational goals for students that are:

• Hearing impaired

• Seeing impaired

• Learning impaired

• Physically impaired

What is Assistive Technology?

• Devices that extend the abilities of a individual in ways that provide physical access (i.e., wheelchairs, braces) and sensory access (i.e., Braille, closed captioning)

•  Assistive technology promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to, or changing methods of interacting with, the technology needed to accomplish such tasks.

Laws Regarding Assistive Technology

• Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA)

• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act(IDEA)

• Rehabilitation Act

• Assistive Technology Act of 1998

• Telecommunications Act of 1996

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)Public Law 101-334 [42 USC 12101]

ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the following areas:

• Employment• State and Local Government• Public Accommodations• Commercial Facilities• Transportation• Telecommunications

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)Public Law 101-334 [42 USC 12101]

The law is organized by section, or “Title”

• Title I – Employment

Any employer who has 15 or more employees must offer “equal opportunity” to employment related activities

• Title II – State and Local Governments

Insists that all people with disabilities must be given equal access to public education, employment, transportation, recreation, health care, and other areas under their control

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)Public Law 101-334 [42 USC 12101]

The law is organized by section, or “Title”

• Title I – Employment

Any employer who has 15 or more employees must offer “equal opportunity” to employment related activities

• Title II – State and Local Governments

Insists that all people with disabilities must be given equal access to public education, employment, transportation, recreation, health care, and other areas under their control

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)Public Law 101-334 [42 USC 12101]

• Title III – Public Accommodations by Private Companies

Public accommodations must be made by all private companies, including private schools, restaurants, stores, hotels, and doctors’ offices.

• Title IV – Assistive Technology

All telephone companies must provide the necessary services to allow people who are deaf or hearing impaired to use telecommunication devices.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Public Law 94-142

Originally passed in 1975 as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA), IDEA guarantees that eligible children and youth with disabilities receive a free and appropriate public education (FAPE)

Amended many times, most recently in 2004

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act29 USC § 794d

• Requires that all electronic and information technologies that are developed and used by any Federal government agency must be accessible to people with disabilities. These technologies include:• Websites• Video and audio materials• Electronic books• Televised programs• Any other type of electronic media

• Does not apply to the private sector or to organizations that receive Federal funds. (It does, however, apply to materials developed by those organizations for the Federal government and funded by government agencies.)

Assistive Technology Act of 1998Public Law 105-394 [29 USC 2201]

• Also known as the “Tech Act”

Provides funds to states to support three types of programs:1. Assistive technology (AT) demonstration centers, information centers,

equipment loan facilities, referral services, and other consumer-oriented programs.

2. Protection and advocacy services to help people with disabilities and their families, as they attempt to access the services for which they are eligible.

Telecommunications Act of 1996Title I – Public Law 104-104 [47 USC 255]

• Requires that telecommunications equipment and services be accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.

• Telecommunication products covered include:• Wired and wireless telecommunication devices (telephones, cellular phones, pagers, and fax machines)

• Other products that have a telecommunication service capability such as computers with modems

• Equipment that carriers use to provide services, such as a phone company’s switching equipment

Title II – Public Law 104-104 [47 USC 613]• Discusses rules concerning closed captions and video descriptions of

video programming

Assistive Technology Tools for Students that are:

• Hearing impaired

• Vision Impaired

• Learning impaired

• Physically Impaired

Assistive Technology: Hearing Impaired

A personal voice amplification system lets students with hearing impairments hear teachers better. The teacher speaks into the microphone and the sound is transmitted through the students hearing device.

Assistive Technology: Vision Impaired

This magnifier enlarges text so visual impaired students can see and read the text.

Assistive Technology: Learing Impaired

The fusion keyboard allows the learning disabled student to take notes in a faster more effective method tham standard note taking.

Assistive Technology: Physcially Impaired

The joystick-equipped euphonium that was custom designed for his special needs allows this student to play the euphonium despite severe limitations in hand movement.

 

Resources• Assistive technology. (2015, January 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:39, January 23, 2015,

from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Assistive_technology&oldid=642328010

• Assistive technology. The Family Center of Technology and Disability. Retrieved from www.fctd.info/powerpoints

• Roblyer, M.D. & Doering, A.H., (2013) Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching 6th edition. United States: Pearson.

• Technology, M.A.(n.d.). Assistive technologies for writing. Retrieved January 23, 2015 from http://assistivetechnologyforwriting.blogspot.com/2010/09/word-processing-as-assistive-technology.

• Implement our tools in your classroom. (n.d.) Retrieved January 23, 2015 from http://www.blind.state.ia.us/educators.

• Curtis, D. Disabled Bodies, Able Minds: Giving Voice, Movement, and Independence to the Physically Challenged. Retrieved January 23, 2015 from http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-class-school-participation

• Classroom modifications for Hearing Impaired Students. Retrieved January 23, 2015 from https://21stcenturyslps.wikispaces.com/Classroom+Modifications+for+Hearing+Impaired+Students