No+Need+for+Assistive+Tech?

**//The school says my child doesn’t need assistive technology…is that true?//**
It’s possible, though not probable. Here are a couple of scenarios that //MIGHT// make it unnecessary to seek out assistive technology for your child with special needs:

//**Your school is very advanced and makes effective use of technology for all students**.// The school may be described as well-versed in “UDL” – Universal Design for Learning. Just as Universal Design in the field of architecture added ramps where there once were only stairs, Universal Design in schools means that teachers have designed their lessons to include many different ways to receive information, interact with and organize it, and demonstrate mastery of it. If ALL students have access to the kinds of technologies that would be identified as assistive technology for your child, then your child may not need additional support

If this is your situation, I have two suggestions:

a) **Take a careful look to be sure your child is making effective use of the technology**. Having technology available does not necessarily provide real access to it, and that can be even more true for a child with special needs. Your child may need coaching in how to USE the available technology.

b) **If your child IS making effective use of technology without specialized tools or instruction, ask the school to provide information, preferably in the IEP, about what he or she does with it.** If at some point your child is in a class or school that doesn’t automatically provide that type of technology, you will have documentation of what he or she needs.

//**The school might also claim, with some justification, that your child doesn’t need assistive technology because he or she is succeeding in the same learning environment as the typical students in the class.**// If the point of assistive technology is to provide //ACCESS// to the same information or skills possessed by his or her peers, then your child’s success under the same conditions might reasonably be seen as evidence that he or she doesn’t need additional technology.


 * //However…// success in one environment is not necessarily success across many environments.** What skills does your child struggle with? When and where does he or she experience difficulty and lose access to the learning experience of a typical student? Assistive technology may be able to help your child gain those skills or succeed in those situations.


 * //Further//, your child’s disability may make it important for them to master some specific technology skills in order to transition successfully to life after high school** (for example, a student with dyslexia might need to be able to use software that reads textbooks, webpages, and other materials in order to be successful at college or work). The IEP goals may include technology skills, or may include technology as a condition of the goal (for example: “With the use of predictive text and graphic organizing software, Jesse will independently plan and write a persuasive paragraph that contains introductory and concluding sentences and at least 3 details.”) Part of the IEP Team’s responsibility is to anticipate and plan for the student’s transition to adulthood, rather than waiting until the walls crash down.


 * //Finally//, it is all too common that a student’s overall level of ability is defined – at least in part – based on their weakest skills.** A student with a print disability may be seen as incapable of understanding high-level text, when they are actually just blocked by the system of symbols used to write it down. A student who has difficulty speaking clearly may be seen as lacking intelligence, when what they actually lack is the ability to coordinate their mouth and breath to get their thoughts out. To our credit, we are becoming increasingly aware of how frustrating these experiences must be. We are also, increasingly, recognizing the enormous human potential that assistive technology may allow us to tap. As student-centered Teams, we must ask ourselves, //**"Is it truly ability that is limiting this student's progress? To what extent is our curriculum or environment creating barriers for him or her? What would have to happen to provide better access for this student, and at what level might this student be able to work, if the barriers could be lowered?"**//

===**The bottom line: If your child is on an IEP, you are within your rights to ask that a formal assessment be done and that the Team consider how technology could support his or her learning. If you feel the initial assessment your child receives is inadequate or inaccurate, you have the right to request a “second opinion,” in the form of an independent assessment.**===

Mehrzad Araghi, creator of this Wiki, is a special needs advocate in the Greater Boston/Metrowest areas of Massachusetts and an ADHD coach, by telephone, worldwide. You can reach her at mehrzad@alignedconnections.com or 508.259.4660