AT Apps and Specific Accessibility Options

Special Education has its own app category in the iTunes store. If you go to the App Store, go to Education and you will see a category for Special Education Apps, which is then broken down into categories. It is always good to do a little research on an app before purchasing it. Do a search and see if you can find some reviews or talk to others to see if they have tried it. This could save

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Assistive Technology and Early Start

The Early Start Program is California's response to federal legislation ensuring that early intervention services to infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families are provided in a coordinated, family-centered system of services that are available statewide.



Infants and toddlers from birth to 36 months may be eligible for early intervention services if through documented

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Spinner Activities

All-Turn-It Spinner (Made by Ablenet)


 

This is one of my favorite tools in a classroom and for the home. A spinner is great for random choice making. Place choices on a circular board, and the student presses a switch (or the button in the lower corner) to make selections. But it's RANDOM! 

While the selection can be responded to as if it is a choice it should be understood that the

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Technology Integration Isn't About Technology

Education Week came out with a great article by By Patrick Ledesma on May 22, 2011, entitled, "Technology Integration Isn't About Technology". Some of the lines that created a "Yes!" response from me are:

It's about purpose and ease of use. We should focus on enhancing and enriching the learning experience by defining the goals and processes for why and how students will use technology.  
If

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Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) iDevice Apps and Visual Supports

Communication applications (apps), designed to be used on an iPhone, iTouch or iPad (iDevices), fit different cognitive and learning profiles just like all programs and devices do. Today, most people use multiple devices to address their daily communication needs. The idea that ANY one device can (or should) “do the job” for individuals with communication needs no longer makes sense.



The

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Interactive Whiteboards with Special Needs

I love the use of interactive whiteboards in the classroom! The Council for Exception Children states, "Whiteboards Engage Autistic Students in Social Learning - Although touchscreen tablets work well as personalized tools, they cannot be a replacement for interactive whiteboards, which help autistic students with social learning in a group setting." I feel this is not only true for children

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Apps in the Special Education Classroom

iDevices with special needs students... What do we need to know and consider? (This is a living document. It will change as this world of iDevices grows, expands and we learn more about the world of mobile devices and what they may provide.)




Parents, Speech and Language Specialist and teachers are developing programs specifically for the disabled population. Some may not be designed for

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iDevices in the Special Education Classroom

A number of built-in accessibility features, tools, and add-ons are helping to prompt Apple's iPad into the classroom. Now, the push to get textbooks accessed through this device to get rid of all those heavy books, ah, it is happening!! With a text reader and highlighter, this will really be something worth talking about. Students learn in different ways. The iPad can provide visual,

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iDevice Accessories: Tools to Protect and provide Access

This is a changing document. As new accessories are discovered, as flaws are
found, as some become outdated or not found to be the best, as others are
thought more highly of...they will be added or removed. 


So, now

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Math, Math and more Math

 





This section will cover:


AT - Methods and Materials to Support Math
Math Access Support (Assistive Technology)
Concept Support (Instructional sites) 
Visual Supports
Calculator Options
Math App Lists and Math Resources, including:


Andy Borne's Great List of Math-Related Tech
Please see my Pinterest  Board for more: Numbers, Numbers, Numbers



1.  AT - Methods and Materials to

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

UDL prompts you to look at flexible and multiple methods of representation, action and expression and engagement. Technology tools can help provide these means, but they are certainly not the only means of achieving this.


In 2006, the U.S. Department of Education developed a Tool Kit on Teaching and Assessing Students with Disabilities (Tool Kit) to support the

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Free Classroom Supports Worth Knowing About

With the rising costs of everything combined with the school economy today, we can use all the help we can get for a greater bang for our buck. This is the 2010 list of some tools that are provided free to help your students be more successful in their educational process. So much is available for free these days, is software where we really need to be spending our money? (For those of

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Page Fluffing

Page fluffers are helpful in fostering independent literacy skills. Page fluffers are simple adaptations made to books or other reading material that make pages more accessible to turn. Page fluffers increase the space between the pages of a book, allowing those with limited fine motor skills to get their fingers between each page, therefore, making it easier to turn a page. You can use a

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