High-tech devices help kids with disabilities

[Michelle]

High-tech devices help kids with disabilities

Carol Peck - Guest columnist

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0203edpeck0203
.html

Ever wonder if the advances in technology are really making a difference for children? One family no longer wonders. Michael is a typical 11-year-old boy who loves fishing and music, but he also has cerebral palsy.

To help him communicate, participate at school and just have fun, Michael uses Assistive Technology, proximity switches on his wheelchair to operate a computer with his head.

Assistive Technology (AT) is any tool that promotes independence across all areas of daily living for individuals with disabilities. It can be as low-tech as a highlighter pen to distinguish words on a page for a person who has reading difficulties, or as high-tech as a computer with Optical Character Recognition to scan text and read it back through a speech synthesizer.

Unlike instructive technology such as Smart-boards that enhance learning for all students, Assistive Technology is focused on individual needs. From computers to communication devices to environmental controls, technology offers many children with disabilities the tools necessary for success.

In many school districts, a team of specialists connects students with tools that support success in all aspects of life. To make the investment worthwhile, fit is key. The technology must be matched to the strengths and needs of the student.

Selecting the most appropriate tool involves a team evaluation, finding the resources to acquire the technology, customizing the product for the individual and providing the training to use it correctly.

"It is our job to make sure all of our students can learn," said Carol Smithers, Assistive Technology coordinator for the Pendergast School District. "It is exciting to see the results."

Southwest Human Development provides a variety of workshops designed to improve expertise in the use of AT in the classroom and to build school capacity for evaluations. The program's professional team includes rehabilitation engineers, special educators and a full range of therapists.

Their philosophy underscores training and service leading to consumer choice that results in effective and functional use of AT.

One of the great hopes for technology in the future is that it will open new worlds of communication and learning for individuals with special needs, helping them to reach their full potential.

For more information, visit the Family Center on Technology and Disability at www.fctd.info.