- Rationale for Assistive/Adaptive Technology:
No matter what, all children deserve a public education that will help them to grow as human being and citizens. We are not all born the same, but that does not mean that we should be denied something so basic as an education. Schools have to be aware of all students within their districts that require assistive or adaptive technologies and consider what they will need when budget planning. Obviously, new technology becomes available often and new students come to schools, but this happens whether students need special technologies or not. Just because something may only be used by a small number or people does not mean that it has no value.
There are plenty of ways to get around spending a fortune on assistive technology. Sites like Leanring Ally supply audiobooks for students who are visually impaired or suffer from dyslexia.
Though certain apps can be expensive, as much as $150, that money is small considering what many technologies cost and how high an entire budget may be. There are free apps for needs ranging from autism to learning fine motor skills. McCann (2014) shows that 58% of special needs funding is spent on Speech and Language disabilities or impairments, and most schools have speech and language pathologists on staff or contract out to them. If schools can supply those children with what they need by hiring what is often 1-1 time, then they can certainly figure out how to help any students with other special needs. McCann also states that schools are given weighted funds by their state so that if they have students with more severe disabilities, they will be given more funding so that that students' needs can be met. There is just no excuse not to give students everything they need when it comes to a free and appropriate public education.
Resources
McCann, C. (2014). Federal funding for students with disabilities. Retrieved April 16, 2017, from
https://na-production.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/federal-funding-for-students-with-disabilities.pdf
"There is just no excuse not to give students everything they need when it comes to a free and appropriate public education."
ReplyDeleteWell said!!!
And what's great is that statement has the letter of the law behind it. My niece was born without eyes and she is the only student in her district currently who is blind, and let me tell you that little 5th grader seems to have an army of resources at her fingertips. She works with 2 different aids, sees specialists, has her own braille machine provided by the school, has books transcribed to braille by one of her aids, and the list goes on. I'm happy to say that her elementary school hasn't jumped on the 1:1 bandwagon yet, but I am very interested to see what kind of software technology she winds up using once she gets to middle school and high school. Sorry to get off on a bit of a tangent, but your points about resources and finding the money to get all learners the tools they need really hits close to home. Thank for your post!
Nick