ATIA 2011

Another picture of my fellow ISU special education major students and I at the last ATIA held in Chicago. Maybe we can all take a trip to the yearly Orlando ATIA?

ATIA Chicago 2011

This semester I had a wonderful opportunity through my AT course. I got to attend ATIA! This convention was an awesome experience. I got to check out so many different forms of assistive tech and meet with the companys that market them. It's amazing to see how much technology is changing the world of special education. Not only did I get to check out lots of AT, I got to attend a student session with my classmates, where we had a discussion with ATIA's CEO, David Dikter. 

My classmates and I at ATIA

Two of my favorite booths that I visited at ATIA were the module hose and the Humanware Smartview 360. The module hose is a great piece of assistive technology that can be used for so many different things. It can be used to hold and position many different things like a cup, phone, ipad, etc. (www.modularhose.com)

The smartview is a very versatile camera and monitor to help with vision. The camera can move in all directions so students can magnify the white board to see what their teacher is writing on their screen, or move it to face their notebook so they can clearly see what they are writing. (www.humanware.com) Has anyone used these AT tools? Have you had a positive or negative experience with them?

AT...a new world I never knew existed.

When starting my Assistive technology course this semester, I was excited to learn about new technology I could use with my future students and in my future classroom. But through this semester, I have learned so, so much more! Assistive technology is not just an ipad, a computer, or a tennis ball. AT is any device/tool that can help an individual do something he or she could not do before. Just because on form AT works for one student does not mean it will work the same for the other. In my learning of AT I have learned how important consideration of the task and the student are. Finding the right form of AT is not an easy task. Although it make take a lot of time and energy to find the right AT for a student, it is so worth it when you see the AT help that student be even more successful than they were before.

Please join me in my conversation of what I am learning, what things I find interesting, my journeys in AT, and how all this affects my "road to becoming a special educator."