NUMBER 1

Using Calculators in School

Is Not Against the Law

How can Assistive Technology help your student today!

By Joyce Inouye M.A.Ed.

Assistive Technology can be any item that helps a student to work around areas of learning deficits.  Assistive Technology can include computers, tape recorders, talking calculators, pencil grips, electronic dictionaries, outlining software, scanners, etc… I have seen lives completely turned around in this wonderful era of Assistive Technological materials.  They are available to help students use their strengths to learn new information and express knowledge.  Students with special learning challenges can have the hope to complete their work with greater ease, if the Assistive Technology tools are used correctly.
 

Although Assistive Technology cannot “cure” learning differences and challenges, it can capitalize on strengths and allow bypassing areas of difficulties and weaknesses.  Students can be much more successful in their attempts to learn and complete assignments.  One of the comments I always make to students is, “If the grocery stores did all their checking using long-hand math versus the register… which is like a multi-use calculator… the checker would probably be fired within the hour.”

Assistive Technology can vary in cost from being inexpensive like purchasing a pencil grip, to several thousand of dollars for high-tech software.  Because educational technology is rarely covered by most medical insurance plans, families must be wise prior to purchasing these tools.  Consider the following questions prior to purchase:

1.       What are your child’s weaknesses and strengths and how do these play into his/her learning in certain subjects?

2.       Is your child adept in using the technology? 

3.       Will the Assistive Technology tool be easily transportable?  

4.       Is the Assistive Technology tool reliable? 

5.       Will the Assistive Technology tool cause your child to be embarrassed or harassed in the classroom?

 
For writing:

Highlighting pens, highlighting tape, instructional software, pencil grips, slant boards, specialty paper, word processing, portable keyboards, keyboarding software, proofreading programs, spell checkers, Word Prediction, Outlining, Graphic Organizers,

For Reading:

Screen readers, Audio books, Optical Character Recognition, and Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic.

Listening Technologies:

Tape Recorders, Personal Listening Systems, computer Dragon systems,

Math Technologies:

Calculators, Talking Calculators, graph papers, math paper tandems, erasable pencils, Electronic Math worksheets software,

Additional Resources:

Alliance for Technology Access            

Community Technology Center’s Network

Center for Applied Special Technology  

Closing the Gap
 

Return