| Each school district
needs to include guidelines in their Policy & Procedures Manual for providing
assistive technology services and directions for accessing information and help.
Wherever it is placed, there should be something that a staff member could turn
to for direction if a parent requests an assessment or s specific assistive technology
service. Many due process hearings or lawsuits could have been prevented if the
teacher who was first asked a question by a parent had a resource to which to
turn for help. Suggested AT Procedures that may be included:
- How and when AT is considered for all students
- Referring a student
for AT screening, assessment or service
- Identifying an AT device
-
Trial use of a device; collecting data
- Timeline of AT assessment and
device selection
- Removing AT from school property
- Inclusion
of AT devices and services on the IEP
Example: Michigan's
Wayne County AT Guidelines
These county guidelines are an identified
and approved process for providing assistive technology for those students who
are in need of such accommodations so that they may benefit from public education.
Making
Assessment Accommodations
Making
Assessment Accommodations: A Toolkit for Educators is a resource developed
by the ASPIIRE and ILIAD IDEA Partnership Projects at CEC to help educators understand
the "how-to's" and "why's" of providing accommodations for
state and district-wide assessments for students with disabilities.
Using
this framework of accommodations, P.
Reed and P. Walser provide AT suggestions for each type of accommodation listed.
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