True Availability of Assistive Tech in the Classroom

As the student walks into the classroom they take their seat in the middle of the class, sit quietly working on the activity for the day and working hard to pay attention to the directions written on the paper. Unfortunately, this student has a reading and comprehension level of a sixth grader. In this high school classroom the student is falling behind their classmates and would benefit from a read-aloud program.

This exact scenario has been playing out in a classroom in the high school I currently teach at. The student works very hard but is simply an auditory learner. The ability to hear the directions and/or reading they are supposed to do automatically puts them on a level playing field with their peers. Both the special education teachers and the general education teachers have pushed to get the student the Kurzweil reading program my school currently uses. Unfortunately the student does not qualify, according to state standards to receive the piece of assistive technology. This goes against the idea of a quality education.  According to the U.S. Department of Education (2006), who says, funding may be appropriated to students with disabilities in the general education classroom in order to maximize the accessibility of the curriculum. This instance is contradictory to that statement. Because the student is not “low” enough on the spectrum of learning disabilities they do not receive the assistive technology. In reality parents have to request or the need has to be blatantly obvious before the school can obtain the funding for certain pieces of assistive technology.

Fortunately, solutions in teaching styles are present. Instead of assigning readings teachers are now able to do a read-along. Also, the utilization of the Smartboard tools (a huge piece of assistive technology) have allowed students like to one described to succeed without the funding provided from the state. One of the newest tools used in the classroom are apps available on the new phone technology. These apps can transcribe a student’s voice to text, if the student has a problem with fine motor skills such as writing. Unfortunately, the funding for traditional assistive technology pieces is not always readily available. Teachers are able to come up with creative solutions to individual problems.

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. (2006, December 8). IDEA–Reauthorized Statute - STATE FUNDING. Retrieved from: http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cdynamic%2CTopicalBrief%2C18%2C