Discovering Assistive Technology - Types of Disabilities & Accommodations Module 1

Activity 1
The National Federation of the Blind has many resources to help teachers assist their blind students as well as help them raise the awareness of their sighted students about blindness. I watched many of the instructional video clips that provided teaching tips on how to approach lessons using tactile images. I am now aware of the many resources that are available to assist blind students with science measurement such as talking thermometers and measuring tapes. I will definitely recommend this site to my science and math teachers in my weekly library communication bulletin. I plan to share what I learn in this course throughout the month of October.

I read about the Braille is Beautiful resources. I was fortunate when I was a classroom teacher to have the Visually Impaired Program teachers located on my campus. As an English teacher, when I taught the play, The Miracle Worker, I was able to invite the teachers in as guest speakers to give my students some background information on blindness. They taught my students how to guide a blind person, how to use a cane and about Braille. One teacher even made a name card for each student in Braille. It was a wonderful learning experience for my students. Since I do not have access to those resources on my current campus, I would definitely want to use the Braille is Beautiful resources to provide students with a similar experience. I'm sure that these would be great activities to raise student awareness during Disability Awareness Month.

Activity 2
I explored the Job Accomodation Network. What a valuable resource for teachers! Often times, when you have a student with special needs in your class, you get a brief statement as to their needs. On the Job Accomodation Network, you are able to look up many disabilities and find information about the disability and how to accommodate it. The network also has links to other websites where more information can be found. Work place rights are also found on this website, so both the employer and employee know their rights when it comes to providing accommodations to help the employee perform his/her job.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities was a very informative website. I spent some time exploring the section, "Especially for Teachers" specifically in the area of effective teaching practices. I found information on research supporting certain types of teaching methods which are successful in helping students with learning disabilities. I plan to share both of these sites with the teachers at my school site. I am curious to know if my special education teachers know of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.