Assistive Technology

For this section of my Blog I found several terrific resources to help guide parents and educators in their search for assistive technology laws and regulations. Specifically I found three resources that I thought would be very useful in helping to guide this search. The three on-line resources that I found are:

1. Assistive Technology Training Online Project (ATTO) http://atto.buffalo.edu/registered/ATBasics/Foundation/Laws/index.php
2. Legal References Related to Assistive Technology
http://www.texasat.net/docs/Legal%20Ref_IDEA2004%20Feb%202007.pdf
3. Providing Assistive Technology: A Legal Perspective http://www.texasat.net/docs/Legal.Persp.Guides.pdf

The first resource that I found was called the Assistive Technology Training Online Project and can be found by clicking the link at the end of this paragraph. This link will direct you to an interactive module that guides you through assistive technology laws and helps you to better understand how assistive technology is addressed in different laws. You simply click on one of the colored keys on the screen and it will give you information about how this law addresses assistive technology. I thought that this site provided information that was easy to understand and could be used to help introduce assistive technology laws and regulations in a fun and meaningful way. This page would be very beneficial for families because it provides a way to understand how assistive technology relates to different laws. It would also be great for a person new to special education because it gives a “beginners” look at the laws that relate to assistive technology. I also thought that this would be a fun learning activity for people in need of assistive technology law instruction.
http://atto.buffalo.edu/registered/ATBasics/Foundation/Laws/index.php

The second resource that I found was through the Texas Assistive Technology Network. This document, Legal References to Assistive Technology, provides you with references to IDEA 2004 and how it relates to assistive technology. You can use this document to find different references to assistive technology in IDEA 2004. This document describes different areas of assistive technology like: what an assistive technology devices is, what an assistive technology service is, rights and responsibilities of states, and other vital information about assistive technology and its relationship to IDEA 2004. For parents and students in Texas it has a specific section on a state regulation of instructional materials and what the publishers and commissioner of education must do to meet these legal standards. Use the link below to take you to the Legal References to Assistive Technology document.
http://www.texasat.net/docs/Legal%20Ref_IDEA2004%20Feb%202007.pdf

The final document that I found is also at the Texas Assistive Technology Network website. This document is titled: Providing Assistive Technology: A Legal Perspective. This guide gives important information on what school districts must do to comply with assistive technology guidelines, assistive technology evaluations, common issues when it comes to assistive technology and copyright concerns when it come to using assistive technology devices. This document also gives information about addressing assistive technology in a student IEP, evaluation timeline information and again issues that will be specific to parents and students in Texas. It is important for parents and students to know why assistive technology has or should be addresses in an IEP, what they should be looking for and how to address assistive technology for themselves or their child and this document can help guide them in their search for assistive technology answers. The following link will direct you to the document: Providing Assistive Technology: A Legal Perspective. http://www.texasat.net/docs/Legal.Persp.Guides.pdf