Assistive Technology: A Life Changing Experience

Most teachers who assist or deal with students with disabilities know little of assistive technologies that could help their students enhance their education and be more prepared on the content area. In this video, technology plays an essential role to these students’ participation and success story. Achievements are possible for these students with the help of technology such as Lukas Bratcher, who sets a great example of determination without letting his disability degrade him for the goals he wants to reach. “Assistive technology is the major foundation of my life.” (Sweeney-Martini) Susanna made it through life and education with the help of technology. Mobility, completing tasks, and communication are all dependents of technology in Susanna’s case. Susanna uses voice activated software to complete written assignments.

Having a student who has a disability brings you to revising and bending the lesson for everyone to participate in. Creating a lesson plan for a diverse classroom takes creativity, passion, and always having the proper technology present in order for the lesson plan to be successful. After completing your lesson plan, you should have colleagues or professionals of your content area review and critique what you have provided. Teachers can assess if the student’s needs have been met and completed successfully in order to see if a lesson plan is being effective.

 I have a cousin who’s partially blind and technology plays a big role in her life because she uses a device called VisionBook that helps zoom in on documents for her to easily read without straining her eyes. This helps her complete class assignments and homework within the time period given for the assignment. 

Therefore, assistive technology opens up a gateway of connection to a world of information that may have remained in silence. On the other hand, if teachers don’t have assistive technology within their class activities or lesson plan, students with disabilities may have troubles learning, feel isolated from the class, and fail academically. As an educator, it is important that our classroom structure, lesson plans, and activities meet the necessities of our students, whether disabled or not to guarantee that every student is participating and has their needs provided for.

References

The George Lucas Educational Foundation. (2005, February 02). Assistive-Technology: Enabling Dreams [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video