EdCeptional 11 - All about A.T. in Alton School District

Greetings everyone! A huge shout out to all of you veterans out there…Thanks for everything you do to make our country an amazing and safe place to live! Tonight we are joined with a smaller Edceptional crew than normal and one amazing special guest, assistive technology specialist Mr. Brian Dowd. Brian is an AT specialist with Alton School District in Alton, Illinois. His district’s top initiatives are the roll out of iPads and the use of Read and Write Gold for co-teaching in mainstream classrooms.

For this week’s roll call, each panel member shared one instance where they have witnessed AT make a difference in a student’s life by either enabling him/her to be more independent or to demonstrate new knowledge.

1. Brain Dowd – During my first AT assessment, I witnessed a student use a light touch switch to operate a fan and a radio.

2. Jeremy Brown – My first year of teaching I had a student start using a high-tech AAC device (Vantage). It took him a few weeks to the learn the basic navigation. One afternoon my class was having snack and I had brought in cupcakes for another student’s birthday. Well, this student independently used his Vantage to communicate “I want more like muffin.” Cupcake was not part of the vocabulary programmed into the device, so he found something similar to communicate his request! After he enjoyed his second cupcake, this student and I then went on to have a short conversation about why we were having the special treat and how the cupcakes were so yummy. Furthermore, I received several emails from this student’s mother about how they he was using the Vantage at home to make requests, have simple conversations, and even say his prayers each night.

3. Your host, Anne Truger: Mac laptop for her son, who has Aspergers.

NEWS WATCH:

INTERVIEW: Mr. Brian Dowd, Assistive Technology Specialist