|
Suppliers of Assistive Technology such as electronic braille displays and electronic magnifiers work closely with educators, allied health professionals, paediatric OTs and of course the families of people with disabilities when recommending solutions for classroom use. Assistive Technology needs to be fitted to the person, but also needs to fit the environment and the personality of the person using it. This is obviously true for motorised wheelchairs, but less obvious for vision aid technology. Aids that work well at home may not work so well in the rough and tumble of a school classroom. Will devices be carried between school and home, as well as between classrooms? How will a braille device be supported by classroom teachers? Will a student embrace a technology that works well for their level of vision, but makes them stand out as different from their peers? This lecture uses case studies to demonstrate how a range of technology options are trialled with students, and how a recommendation can be arrived at collectively. This process includes parents, teachers, teacher aides, allied health, and IT support. Suppliers of AT do not make medical or functional assessments and cannot make diagnoses, or intervene in decisions about expanded curriculum, reasonable adjustment and so on. But they are an important contributor to the collective decisions about integrating AT into people s lives. |
