Holly's Pages

 

Overview of Tech for Students with MIVI

Outline of Topics

1. What is MIVI?
2. Why tech for MIVI?
3. Hardware
4. Software
5. Integrating tech into the curriculum: Case studies and discussion
6. Questions, sharing ideas

What is MIVI?

For the purpose of defining the population of students this presentation is addressing, these are MIVI kids:

(this does not mean that other kids with VI and an additional disability do not have educational challenges, it’s just that the ones we’re going to discuss, those with the most severe disabilities, are often the ones educators need assistance with understanding how to address their educational needs)

MIVI is Multiply Impaired Visually Impaired, or students with visual impairments and additional disabilities

When talking about MIVI:

We mean any degree of vision loss that qualifies a student as VI and
An additional severe disability, ie.:
· Hearing impairment (deaf-blindness)
· Mental retardation significant enough that the student is several years behind
· Severe motor impairment such as cerebral palsy

Usually these students are not learning academic content at school, if they are, you can probably use more conventional educational strategies and materials

Usually these students are unable to communicate by conventional means, or have a severe communication disorder

Usually these students do not have the fine motor or tactile skills to read braille

What these kids do need addressed in their educational programming is opportunities to learn skills relating to:
· Daily living skills
· Functional academic skills
· Communication
· Social interaction
· Participation in setting with kids who don’t have disabilities
· Recreation and leisure skills
· Fine motor skills
· Concept development
Why Technology?

What Tech is not, or does not do:

· Work miracles
· Help someone perform a skill that they do not have the intellectual capacity to do
· Replace human interaction
· Replace teaching

So Why Tech?

It’s the law. TEKS in the general education curriculum apply to all students at whatever level they can benefit from it.

From your handout from FAPE : Assistive Technology for Infants and Toddlers, they indicate research on AT shows students with disabilities can improve in the following areas: social skills, including sharing and taking turns, communication skills; attention span; fine and gross motor skills; self confidence and independence.

In the handout you will also find the following info about special ed law:

IDEA defines an AT device as any item, …that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities.

Under IDEA, assistive technology services are any services that directly help a child with a disability to choose, obtain, or use assistive technology.
AT services include:
· finding and paying for the device;
· selecting, designing, fitting, adapting, …a device for a particular child;
· repairing or replacing a device;
· coordinating and using other therapies, interventions, or services with AT devices;
· evaluating the needs of a child with a disability, including a functional evaluation of the child in the child ’s customary environment;
· training or technical assistance for a child with disabilities or, if appropriate, that child ’s family; and
· training or technical assistance for professionals …

For students with visual impairments we typically use assistive tech to:
· Modify presentation of learning media to compensate for sensory and motor deficits (such as screen magnification, voice output, and braille translation, switch activated software)
· Facilitate interaction with peers and others
· Provide opportunities for recreation and leisure activities
· Practice and enhance performance of vocational activities
Hardware

Let’s take a look at some switches, interfaces and other products you might be interested in. Sources for purchasing these items are in your handout.

Ablenet: switches, powerlink

Don Johnston: Switch Interface

Enabling Devices: Take N Talk

Single Switch Software

RJ Cooper: Rad Sounds, others

Judy Lynne Software: Cause Effect Cinema, Match It

Attainment Company: Grooming for Life

Laureate Learning: Nouns & Sounds

Talking Books

It’s pretty easy to make switch accessible talking books Using Power Point or Clicker 4. I’ll demonstrate one of each, and show you how to create a page in PowerPoint with pictures I already have scanned into files in my computer.

PowerPoint
Clicker 4

The tutorials are included in your handout on the CD, and are from the Assistive Technology Training Online site, listed in your Free Stuff handout.
Clicker 4

I’ll show you some examples of what Clicker 4 does. It’s got a great built in tutorial that will walk you through the steps of creating communication and choice grids. You can make simple choice making grids, communication grids, grids to write sentences and stories, and of course, talking books.
Reach Software

This is a software package that features a switch accessible on-screen keyboard. You can customize you own keys so that they perform two or three keystrokes to open an email program or perform other functions.
Intellitools

Lots of you have access to Intellitools kits. The intellitools keyboard comes with pre-made overlays, you can customize your own overlays and do a variety of activities appropriate to students of different age and ability levels. Here’s some purchased packages.
Case Studies

Choose a particular student with whom you are familiar, or use those provided.
Target one or two devices or software packages we have shown, generate ideas for activities in the classroom relating to work you know the classroom teacher is doing.

15 mins work independently. Then we’ll come back together and share ideas, and give time for questions and answers.