First, I want to say that this was the most overwhelming presentation. It seemed like when. we would research one topic, we would learn 5 more things we wanted to talk about. Then those five turned into 25, then 125, then 500 and so on. When Leigh, Jenny, Kalyn and I started our presentation was over two hours, and we spent two weeks deleting and cutting. I wish we could have had multiple lectures. We honestly could have taught an entire lecture. I didn’t realize the depth of assistive technology, and just how incredibly necessary it is.
Operating an academically-based outreach program often means students with high needs gravitate towards us. This is such an amazing effect but does not come without its challenges. We use a variety of assistive technologies that, prior to researching this topic for the presentation, I would not have identified as assistive technology.
My absolute favourite are these seemingly low-tech Noise Reduction Earmuffs. These bad boys are the most incredible piece of technology I have ever utilized.
These are essential items for any classrooms for a wide variety of reasons.
Do you have youth with auditory processing challenges? These can be youth diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, ADD, Anxiety. These are students who can hear, but often have trouble listening when there is background noise, cannot remember details given in verbal instructions, have difficulty following multiple steps at the same time. These noise-reducing earmuffs are an amazing tool to assist students with staying on task when the classroom is noisy or they are feeling overwhelmed by a video. We utilize these weekly in our in-person programming and they are a wonderful empowering tool for students who need them!
My next absolutely favourite assistive technology that I have incorporated into programming is Clip-O-Matic– it is a paid app available on iOS that inserts captions onto videos. It is $1.99 for the paid version and absolutely worth the small investment. There are a variety of apps available on GooglePlay and Andriod Store as well, but I am most familiar with Clip-O-Matic. I created this short video showcasing it!
These are just two of the many tools available, and the ones that I utilize the most. In researching this presentation I found that there are so many other tools that I never knew about like PECS, Google Read & Write, and the Timer App. I honestly got so overwhelmed. There is so much. I genuinely look forward to incorporating more tools into programming to increase accessibility and reach to more youth!
I want to leave this blog post with this quote, that I feel truly embodies what is means to have access to technologies.
For people without disabilities, technology makes things easier. For people with disabilities, it makes things possible.
Judy Heumann Disability Rights Activist
Megan Moore 
Thanks for you presentation last week! I really enjoyed it, and found parts of it to be quite powerful. I’m a person who has struggled with attention deficit my entire life, so I know the struggles of coping with background now, the inability to remember oral instructions, and the need to take extra time just to accomplish seemingly simple tasks. When I was growing up, we didn’t really talk about these things in school, except in extreme cases, so I actually had no idea until I had children of my own, and I saw my own struggles in my son.
I learned so much from the presentation that will help me in the work I do with teachers. I appreciated the breakdown of different levels of tech. I think we often immediately go to computers or apps. It was good to examine the low-tech to the high-tech and remember to consider the needs.
Finally, I LOVE that quote. It really puts things in perspective! So many great things to consider and reflect on.
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Great post and presentation last week! What really resonated with me was the grant program we looked at. As you have said in the presentation and above… there are so many tools out there but often can be inaccessible to people (usually due to finances), so instead of constantly innovating with no one able to consume the product, why not set up a more appropriate grant program to allow access to all. A niche market in the area of accessibility seems unreal to me.
There was so much to think about after the presentation, many thanks!
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Such a great presentation! I actually started taking a pair of those “bad boys” into the staff room for my prep as there are always noise distractions and I have no place else to work! You made me rethink how I use my own assistive tech in my daily life and to realize what these tools bring to those with disabilities. It was so powerful! Thank you!
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Thank you for sharing so many fantastic resources! Like you, I never thought of the day to day things I use in my classroom as assistive technology. I learned so much! I also have a student who uses noise reduction earmuffs. They are brilliant and really help him zone in on his work. We have also bought a set for the K-3 classroom. It is a very busy room, as you can imagine, and a lot of the students use them to block out lessons going on around them as they do their work.
Also thanks for the introduction to UDL! I was needing some inspiration last week and reading up about it certainly has helped get me back on track, and got me thinking of ways to bring it into my classroom. Such a great presentation! Thanks to you and your groupmates!
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