Assistive Technology and Learning Disabilities

What is Assistive Technology?

Assistive technology, also known as adaptive technology and AT, is any application or device that is used to increase, maintain or improve physical ability or academic performance.  People generally think of mechanical devices, electronics, computers, hardware and software, but there is actually a range of assistive technology.

Low-tech Assistive Technology

• Pencil grips
• Graph paper
• Highlighting pens
• Planners
• Digital clocks
• Calculators
• Computers
• Dictionaries and spell checkers

Mid to Hi-tech Assistive Technology

• Digital recorders
• Talking calculators
• Portable keyboards
• Electronic spell checkers and dictionaries
• Reading systems that use a computer, scanner, and software to read scanned book pages out loud
• Speech recognition software that allows a computer to operate by speaking to it
• Mind mapping/outlining software
• Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Smartphones, cellular phones, PDAs, iPods, MP3 players

Benefits of Assistive Technology

• Assistive technology can help an individual with learning disabilities (LD) be more independent. 
• Using AT can provide more choices and greater freedom in daily life.
• AT provides tools to enable an individual to experience success at home, at school, at work and/or in the community
• AT helps people of all ages
• At, successfully applied, can increase an individuals confidence and self-esteem
•  AT improves the quality of life, and removes barriers providing the tools for possible employment and educational opportunities

Who can access Assisitive Technology services?

Students registered with the disability services office at a post-secondary institution can access AT services.  You will be assessed for AT requirements based on your academic area of study and your LD-related needs to determine a best fit.  The AT specialist will talk about your learning challenges and strengths and will introduce and train you on adaptive technologies using your course material.

The AT specialist will determine the right AT solution for you by asking the following questions:

• Does the AT use any of your strengths?
• Does the AT work around some of your weaker areas?
• Is it easier to accomplish your task with the AT?
• Is it faster to accomplish your task with the AT?
• Is your task more understandable?

The key to effective assistive technology is finding the right match between the AT tool, the learning disability and the task.  Finding the right tool is easy, addressing the problem(s) and making it work may not be as easy and may require a trial and error approach.

Students with learning disabilities will most often require AT that assists with reading, language, organizational skills and processing information.

Cost is often a factor, but your disability services office will be able to guide you in finding the appropriate funding sources and training.

Learn to Be Your Own Advocate

Self-advocacy is one of the most important skills you need in order to be successful in college and university.  No one is looking out for you, and you will only get information, services and academic accommodations when you take control of your own situation.

It's your responsibility to:

• Register before class begins at the disability services office.
• Provide documentation for your LD and/or ADHD.
• Find out what kinds of academic accommodations and supports you will need in all aspects of your program (including classrooms, labs and field placements).
• Know how to ask and who to ask for these services and supports.

Becoming an effective self-advocate starts with:

• Knowing and understanding your learning disabilities.
• Knowing your strengths and challenges, both personal and academic.
• Being able to explain what academic accommodations and strategies you use for your learning disabilities.
• Understanding disclosure.
• Understanding your rights and responsibilities as a student with a disability.
• Keeping a portfolio of all of your transcripts, any recent standard test scores, up-to-date psychological assessments, letters of recommendations, your resume, correspondence from the disability services office, etc.

Try this checklist:

• Do you understand your learning disability yourself before you try to explain it to others?
• Can you comfortably and clearly explain your learning disability to others, particularly your professors - in simple terms, not in medical langage?
• Are you awar of and understand your learning strengths and weaknesses?

Suggestons:

• Visit the disability services office and make use of the help it provides.
• Make an appointment to see your professor in his/her office - identify yourself and which class you attend.
• Be able to explain what assistance you will need from your professor.
• Let your professors know that you are receiving help from the disability services office.

Disclosure:

You do not need to provide information about your learning disability to anyone other than the disability services office.  The information you provide to them is confidential.  The office cannot share it without your written consent.

Source:  http://www.youth2youth.ca/

Warning Signs in Secondary School Children

Some learning disabilities go undetected until secondary school.  Physical changes occurring during adolescence and the increased demands of middle and senior high school may bring the disabilities to light.  Previously satisfactory performance declines.  Inappropriate social skills may lead to changes in peer relationships and discipline problems.  Increased frustration and poor self-concepts can lead to depression and/or outbursts.  Warning signs of learning disabilities in secondary school students include the following, which occur in a pattern of behaviours, to a significant degree, and over time:

Language and Mathematics

• Avoidance of reading and writing
• Tendency to misread information
• Difficulty summarizing
• Poor reading comprehension
• Difficulty understanding subject are textbooks
• Trouble with open-ended questions
• Continued poor spelling
• Poor grasp of abstract concepts
• Poor skills in writing essays
• Difficulty in learning a foreign language
• Poor ability to apply math facts

Attention/Organization

• Difficulty staying organized
• Trouble with test formats such as multiple choice
• Slow work pace in class and in testing situations
• Poor note taking skills
• Poor ability to proofread or double check work

Social Behaviour

• Difficulty accepting criticism
• Difficulty seeking or giving feedback
• Problems negotiating or advocating for oneself
• Difficulty resisting peer pressure
• Difficulty understanding another person's perspectives

Again, parents have the right to request an evaluation by the public schools to determine if the student has learning problems.

Summary

Research has shown that the sooner a LD is detected and intervention is begun, the better the chance to avoid school failure and to improve chance for success in life.  When parents or teachers suspect a child has learning disabilities, they should seek an evaluation.

Warning Signs in Elementary School Children

It is during the elementary school years that learning problems frequently become apparent as disabilities interfere with increasingly demanding and complex learning tasks.  Difficulties in learning academic subjects and emotional and/or social skills may become a problem.  Warning signs for this age-group may include any of those for preschool children in addition to the following:

Language

• Slow learning of the correspondence of sound to letter
• Consistent errors in reading or spelling
• Difficulty remembering basic sight words
• Inability to retell a story in sequence
• Trouble with learning to tell time or count money
• Confusion of math signs
• Transposition of number sequences
• Trouble memorizing math facts
• Trouble with place value
• Difficulty remembering the steps of mathematical operations such as long division

Motor Skills

• Poor coordination or awkwardness
• Difficulty copying from chalkboard
• Difficulty aligning columns (math)
• Poor handwriting

Attention/Organization

• Difficulty concentrating or focusing on a task
• Difficulty finishing work on time
• Inability to follow multiple directions
• Unusual sloppiness, carelessness
• Poor concept of direction (left, right)
• Rejection of new concepts or changes in routine

Social Behaviour

• Difficulty understanding facial expressions or gestures
• Difficulty understanding social situations
• Tendency to misinterpret behaviour of peers and/or adults
• Apparent lack of "common sense"

If teachers have not discussed the possibility of an evaluation already, the parents may request that the child's school conduct a formal evaluation.  A request submitted to the school principal must be honoured by the school system in a timely manner.

Just for Teachers: 5 Tips to Help ADHD Children Stay Organized | ADDitude - ADHD & LD Children and Adults

Just for Teachers: 5 Tips to Help ADHD Children Stay Organized | ADDitude - ADHD & LD Children and Adults

Warning Signs of Learning Disabilities in Preschool Children

Although children's growth patterns vary among individuals and within individuals, uneven development or significant delays in development can signal the presence of a LD.  It is important to keep in mind that the behaviours listed below must persist over time to be considered warning signs.  Any child may occasionally exhibit one or two of these behaviours in the course of normal development:

Language:
- Slow development in speaking words or sentences
- Pronunciation problems
- Difficulty learning new words
- Difficulty following simple directions
- Difficulty rhyming words
- Lack of interest in story telling

Motor Skills:
- Clumsiness
- Poor Balance
- Difficulty manipulating small objects
- Awkwardness with running, jumping or climbing
- Trouble learning to tie shoes, button shirts or perform other self-help activities
- Avoidance in drawing or tracing

Cognition:
- Trouble memorizing
- Poor memory for what should be routine (everyday) procedures
- Difficulty with cause and effect; sequencing and counting
- Difficulty with basic concepts such as size, shape and colour

Attention:
- High distractibility
- Impulsive behaviour
- Unusual restlessness (hyperactivity)
- Difficulty staying on task
- Difficulty changing activities
- Constant repetition of ideas, inability to move on to a new idea
Social Behaviour:
- Trouble interacting with others, playing alone
- Prone to sudden and extreme mood changes
- Easily frustrated
- Hard to manage, has temper tantrums

Because early intervention is so important, federal law requires that school districts provide early identification and intervention services.  The special education department of the local school district can direct families to the agency that provides these services.  Families may also want to consult the child's doctor, who should also be able to refer the family to appropriate resources.

BC Court of Appeal denies meaningful access to Education for Students

BC Court of Appeal denies meaningful access to Education for students:

http://www.ldac-acta.ca/news/media-releases/bc-court-of-appeal-denies-meaningful-access-to-education-for-students.html

LDAC will continue to advocate for the rights of every child to receive programs, services and accommodations specific to their needs in a timely manner in the public school system.

BC Court of Appeal Denies Meaningful Access To Education for Students | media-releases | news

www.ldac-acta.ca