My 4th Review: Special Needs Technologies: An Administrator’s Guide 11/18/10

Summary

In Special Needs Technologies: An Administrator’s Guide Terry Lankutis describes the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act with a focus on the legal definition of assistive technology (Lankutis, ¶7).    Lankutis begins the discussion with tips on creating the IEP teams, building collective expertise for greater effectiveness and ideas on gathering and tracking adaptive technology options for review.  The main point focused on is that adaptive technology can include no-tech, low-tech and high-tech options depending on the student’s needs (Lankutis, ¶10).  The process demonstrated by Lankutis involves gathering data on the student environment and needs, researching options, testing solutions and tracking outcomes. The information gathered is then reviewed each year as the IEP team meets for periodic evaluation.  Many good websites and links are also provided so that educators can get an understanding of some products available (Lankutis, ¶19).

Reaction

In reading this article, I felt that the overview and step by step approach to reviewing needs and documenting resources was an important recap of the IEP process and in looking at assistive technology for special needs.  In considering the broad scope of the article, I would have liked to see a more progressive approach to assistive technology implementation.  Lankutis mentions asking the team (or a specialist) specific questions concerning student needs, but only once states that the student should be asked some questions directly (Lankutis, ¶3).  I might have also mentioned including agencies such as the Library for the Blind, MS Foundation, or local college disAbility offices as valuable community resources concerning assistive technology and up to date products that have been tested by their clients.  Also, it is important to evaluate students in terms of finding the point in which students, especially those with learning disabilities, should be taught to functionally live with their differences rather than the focus being on teaching their disabilities away.

Source

Lankutis, T. (2004, September 15) Special Needs Technologies: An Administrator’s Guide

                Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/article/2818

Labels:  Special Needs