Assistive Technology for Students with Disabilities in the Elementary Classroom

Assistive Technology for Students with Disabilities in the Elementary Classroom1

“Today’s children are the first generation of the ‘digital age’” (Hasselbring & Williams Glaser, 2000, p.102). Thus, a multitude of technology is available to help all children succeed including the disabled. Computer technology has drastically improved in assisting and supporting young children living with disabilities. This technology has enabled elementary school children with impairments to achieve behavioral, developmental, social and personal goals. These technological advancements have empowered students by giving them the opportunity to attain higher levels of learning in an inclusive classroom environment. Various software, hardware, virtual environments and Web sites are available and help facilitate learning and instruction for both students and educators. Although technology has many positive benefits it also brings forth negative ones. This research paper aims to focus on some of the existing assistive technology for elementary students living with various disabilities as well as the benefits and downsides through the analysis of various supporting articles.

Technology For Students With Hearing Disabilities

According to Hasselbring and Williams Glaser’s (2000) study, entitled Use OfComputer Technology To Help Students With Special Needs, “the average reading levels of students who are deaf are considerably lower than the levels of their hearing peers of similar intellectual ability” (p.113). Fortunately, Telecommunication Devices For The Deaf (otherwise known as TDD) and captioning, enhance the lives of children living with hearing impairments both in the regular classroom as well as outside of school. Video-captioning and captioned educational programs have given the opportunity for these special-need students to develop their reading and comprehension skills. For example, the article Software – Focus On Special Needs by Elizabeth Amberg (2000) refers to The Captioning Board developed by the Museum Technology Source Inc. (¶ 16). Essentially, this program provides the hearing impaired with a “sign box” that decodes and translates any film into sign language and indicates various sound sources, effects along with information as to who is speaking. The Captioning Board is compatible with any video source and allows the hearing impaired to receive the same information as their classmates.

Other devices that help to motivate students with very little or no hearing are discussed in an additional article by Amberg (2001). SpeechViewer III, by IBM “is designed to help students master loudness range, voice timing, pitch control, and other elements of speech” (¶ 3). In turn, Spectra Patterning enables students to interact both visually and vocally in the pronunciation of phonemes (¶ 4). This interactive experience provides students with a challenging opportunity to gradually improve pronunciation all the while actively engaging them to animated feedback. The program is also teacher friendly as it allows educators to customize the software according to the students’ individual needs.

Technology for Students with Visual Impairments

Computer-based applications have been developed to help assist visually impaired students. “Most students with visual impairments find that they need some type of device to help them to be effective learners in school settings” (Hasselbring & Williams Glaser, 2003, p. 114). Contrary to popular belief, Web surfing has become possible for the blind with the help of different technologies. Hear The Web Speak aims at giving access to the blind or visually impaired to cyberspace (Amberg, 2000, ¶ 8). This particular software provides users with the opportunity to listen to the information provided on Web pages as well as view the pages in large font. The same concept is available free of charge through WeMedia’s Talking Browser simply by downloading version 1.5 on their Website at (Amberg, 2001, ¶ 7). Funding for such programs is often a challenge for many schools; fortunately, the advantage of this program is that it is accessible to all students and educators who have access to Internet.

Furthermore, MontyBraille, created by HumanWare allows visually impaired students to create large print documents as well as Braille-embossed documents (Amberg, 2000, ¶ 12). Optical Character Recognition (OCR) as discussed by Hasselbring and Williams Glaser (2000) in Use Of Computer Technology To Help Students With Special Needs is a software which scans and reads back the text aloud enabling students to have access to a wide range of literature. Students therefore become autonomous giving them enough confidence to participate in regular class activities along with their non-disabled classmates.

Technology For Students With Severe Physical Disabilities

For students living with severe physical disabilities, mobility is often their greatest challenge. Technological advancements have given these students the power to facilitate their daily obstacles all the while providing learning opportunities that may otherwise have never been possible.

As mentioned in The Technology Corner by John T. Fodor (2000), “someone with paralysis or other motor impairment can surf the net with technology that detects eye movement” (p.49). This particular type of technology can also be useful for children who are hospitalized for long periods of time as well as for the teachers educating these children providing them with a variety of information at their fingertips without having to rely on others. Students in this type of situation may also find themselves communicating with their peers through chat discussions which could also help in creating a support system for the sick child.

Dattilo, Guerin, Cory and Williams (2001) discuss the benefits of computer-based instruction in their study entitled Effects Of Computerized Leisure Education On Self-determination Of Youth With Disabilities. This research reveals how “people, who are prevented from participating in some leisure pursuits, whether from external or internal factors, may experience positive emotions while engaged in computer-based activities” (p. 1). This study supports how participating in physical education activities in full inclusive schools can be especially difficult for physically disabled students to experience and therefore, ulterior motives must be incorporated into their individualized curriculum in order to provide similar effects of stimulation. The benefits of involving the physically disabled in computer-based activities are essentially the same or similar to the benefits of participating in physical activities.

This study also reinforces the idea of how technology provides students with severe disabilities the opportunity to be autonomous while creating a sense of interest as well as commitment which in turn develops self-determination.

This type of computer-based learning enables these students to experience enjoyment as they learn as well as motivate and challenge them thereby facilitating their learning. As Dattilo et al. (2001) state, “[…] too many people with disabilities do not have the chance to learn and use self-determination skills…there is a critical need to enable people with disabilities to be in control of their lives” (p. 6). Providing learning opportunities to students with mobility impairments will not only help them succeed in school, but more importantly, in their personal lives.

A particularly interesting development discussed in Virtual Reality Researchers Target Special Ed. Classes states that “researchers at the Rehabilitative Sciences Virtual Reality Lab at the University of Ottawa…designed a virtual reality program to help non-disabled students and teachers understand what it is like to live with mobility impairments” (Goldstein, 2002, p. 3). Barriers – The Awareness Challenge program, allows the non-disabled to experience life as a physically disabled person by sitting in a virtual wheelchair and facing similar obstacles such as narrow doorways, discriminating comments and hard to reach objects. Encouraging non-disabled students and educators to participate in this type of virtual reality program allows them to see how life could be from a different perspective promoting awareness, tolerance and creating a sense of community within the classroom. Furthermore, technology has the ability of integrating social skills.

Technology For Students With Learning Disabilities

Advancements in technology for students with learning disabilities have flourished within the last decade and are continuously being improved and developed. The number of students affected by Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common issue in today’s classroom and therefore must be dealt with accordingly. New computer-based applications that help foster these students’ needs are proving to be beneficial for both students and educators.

Integrating various forms of technology particularly into Language Arts, is an effective method of providing these special-need students with real-world opportunities that target their specific needs all the while promoting their inclusion in the classroom. As MacArthur (1996) states in his article Using Technology To Enhance The Writing Processes Of Students With Learning Disabilities:

Students with LD [learning disabilities] perform less well than their peers on a variety of written language tasks. They often have difficulty with the physical demands and conventions of writing and with fluent production of sentences. Many students with LD have difficulty coordinating the complex cognitive processes of setting goals, generating content, organizing their writing, and evaluating and revising their text. (p. 344)

Integrating Word Processing Software into the elementary classroom is one form of technology that has helped to alleviate some of these otherwise complex and frustrating tasks.

Word Processors not only allow students to edit their work but it also provides them with a sense of authorship by helping them improve the overall appearance of their work producing neat, readable text. Processors also help improve the content and mechanics of their work by encouraging them to revise compositions, which is also an important aspect of the writing process. It is important to note; however, as mentioned in MacArthur’s (1996) article that, the success of word processing largely depends on the teachers’ strategies for using it as well as on the social organization of the classroom (p. 346). Evidently, students living with disabilities as well as the non-disabled can only benefit from this software if it is effectively integrated into the curriculum, as with all technology.

Some Word Processors can be used in conjunction with or incorporate other assistive software for the learning disabled such as, speech synthesis, word banks and word predictors as mentioned by MacArthur (1996). These types of programs assist students while they are in the process of writing rather than during the revision stages. This enables them to develop autonomy while also helping them gain self-confidence in their reading and writing abilities.

Due to the fact that many students with learning disabilities are reluctant writers, multimedia environments have become stimulating and dynamic alternatives to standard writing assignments. This type of technology also “provides a tool for students with disabilities to express themselves, and an opportunity for them to showcase unique abilities and talents that generally are not revealed in traditional school assignments” (Hasselbring & Williams Glaser, 2000, p. 109). Multimedia projects also provide learning disabled students to demonstrate their strengths and knowledge to the rest of the class allowing them to shine in their moment of glory. These technology-related assignments also encourage cooperative learning which according to Hasselbring and Williams Glasers’ (2000) study, “at-risk students and students with mild disabilities improve markedly when they work on projects that will be displayed in forums that include non-disabled students, parents, and community members” (p. 109). Supporting multimedia environments in the elementary classroom allows all children, including those who are challenged by learning or other disabilities, to be on the same level therefore promoting equal opportunities.

M.M. Steele and J.W. Steele (2003) discuss a developing technology in their article entitled Applying Affective Computing Techniques To The Field Of Special Education which could have a profound effect on students who are not only challenged by learning disabilities but also emotional/behavioral disorders or EBD. Many proficient teachers can recognize when their student(s) are about to experience or are experiencing emotional stress and are able to adapt their instruction in consequence of these various states. Technological advancements have been developed and are continually being improved to help assist both students and teachers in identifying these signs of distress and determining appropriate interventions accordingly. Thus “preventing behavioral outbursts typical of students with emotional/behavioral disorders (EBD) and preventing academic frustration and failure typical of students with learning disabilities” (Steele & Steele, 2003, p. 238).

According to this article, a student could have the choice of wearing a device which would determine potential outbursts by counting eye blinks, for example, one of the many bodily functions which is associated with irritability. A beep or light could in turn indicate that certain preventive actions must be taken immediately by either the student or teacher. “These measures would take the student away from his or her work for a short time but could prevent the loss of an entire day or two and further prevent disruption of the whole class that generally follows” (Steele & Steele, 2003, p. 239). Essentially, this type of self-monitoring encourages independence, anger management as well as self-control. More importantly, students become in charge of their own behavior which will assist them throughout their lives.

Challenge of Assistive Technology and Alternative Solutions

Although technology for the disabled has many valuable benefits, it also has some potential downsides which continue to challenge educators, schools and school boards everywhere. Fueling Inclusion Through Technology by Janet Barry and B.J. Wise (1996), is an article which helps confront these challenges by offering helpful and creative solutions. Of course, funding is always the main disadvantage in providing schools with the necessary technology. Barry and Wise (1996) suggest two approaches for educators to consider when trying to obtain adaptive technology for disabled students. First, they believe we should “consider ways of helping parents augment their personal resources” (p. 4). Some ideas to explore are: private insurance, government health systems, Medicare as well as service organizations such as the Lions or Rotary club (p. 4). By creating partnerships with the parents and families of special-need students, more technology can become accessible although “it remains the student’s personal property” (p. 4).

According to Barry and Wise (1996), school boards can also help increase resources for their disabled students by contacting businesses for donations and/or contributions. Software companies will often donate their products for students with disabilities to use. They may require feedback in order to gain a better understanding of its effectiveness. Because large businesses are constantly upgrading their equipment, they frequently “phase out computers with sufficient memory to run adaptive programs for disabled learners” (p. 4). This in turn helps the companies image and is therefore a win-win situation for all parties involved. Private foundations often provide schools with grants specifically for students with various disabilities.

Computer-based learning has had a major impact on assisting disabled children in the elementary classroom. Many valuable technological resources have been developed to facilitate students’ learning, accessibility, interaction and autonomy in the mainstream classroom. Traditional paper and pencil practice has the tendency to cause gaps in learning whereas technology allows all students, regardless of their abilities, to be on the same level and help prepare them for the future. There is an increasing importance of preparing all students for the technology-based world including the disabled. Thankfully, more and more researchers and technology-oriented companies are focusing on these special needs by developing and providing the necessary tools required in order for these students to flourish in all areas of the curriculum.

References

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Barry, J., & Wise, B.J. (1996). Fueling inclusion through technology. Northwest

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Dattilo, J., Guerin, N., Cory, L., & Williams, R. (2001). Effects of computerized leisure

education on self-determination of youth with disabilities. JSET ejournal, 16, (1),

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Fodor, J. T., (2000). The technology corner. Promotion & Education, 7, (1), 48-49.

Goldstein, L.F., (2002). Virtual reality researchers target special ed. Classes. Education

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Hasselbring, T. S., & Glaser Williams, C.H. (2000). Use of computer technology to help

students with special needs. The Future of Children, 10, (2), 102-122.

MacArthur, C.A. (1996). Using technology to enhance the writing processes of students

with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29, (4), 344-354.

Steele, M.M., & Steele, J.W. (2003). Applying affective computing techniques to the

field of special education. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 35,

(2), 236-240.

Shawn JohnsonEDU 322