A weekly half hour chat focused on improving access to education for PK-12 students through the use of Accessible Educational Materials (AEM), Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and Assistive Technology (AT).
Greetings! Bev Sharritt, PATINS specialist for blindness and low vision AT and AEM in Indiana, tweeting from #ATIA18 about SOTU (seek out tech understanding) #PatinsIcam
Hello from ATIA! Daniel here...Dir. of @PATINSPROJECT, former PATINS Coordinator, SpEd Teacher, Behavior Therapist, Paraprofessional. My favorite night of the week! #PatinsIcam
A1: Multidisciplinary teams are always a great idea when looking at ways to support students, but it may not need to be a formal or dedicated team, Id like any T to feel like they can step up #PatinsIcam
A3 Sped Teacher Building Principal or Designee, Student, Parent(s)/Guardian, Gen Ed Teacher, Special Service Providers (OT, SLP), DRM, Tech. Specialist #patinsicam
A3: Any staff is game. Teachers, administrators (principal) would be awesome, Ots, Pts and especially SLPs. Having a paraprofessional would be a super asset. #patinsicam
A3: I think many minds need to contribute! OT, SLP, Gen Ed Teacher, Admin, Special Ed teachers, PTs...so many different perspectives and levels of expertise! #PatinsIcam
A3: It would highly benefit schools when developing an AT team to have the IT staff member to be involved in SOME way to have a deeper understanding of the needs our diverse learners have to access curriculum. Blocking access can be a huge barrier to access. #PatinsIcam
A3: student, parents, sped staff, gen ed staff, admin, transition are all choices. Some decisions can be made without the full compliment, but especially long term planning should include all #PatinsIcam
A4: In my previous job we had a specific referral request based on the WATI laid out with links on a website. There was no question where information came from and a referral question was required. @jconradslp also created a video that outlined the process! #PatinsIcam
Just wanted to pop in and give a quick shout-out to my favorite #PatinsIcam edurockstars!!! Miss u guys! I’m taking a college course Tues nights on Dyslexia. #learningneverstops#allkidsareourkids
A5: Send them to conferences together, bring in PATINS folks for targeted trainings, provide means/time for BLV teachers to talk to SLP’s, (for example) to collaborate #PatinsIcam
A4: Our process starts with the IEP team following a flow chart of questions. This leads them to determine if a consultation is needed or they already have devices they are using. Then, a related service of AT consultation is added to their IEP. #patinsicam
A6: Our team mostly performs consultations if possible and involve the current SLP, teacher, related services if possible. Evaluations are done for students that have more detailed, complex or multiple needs. #patinsicam
A6: I think that Ts can do lots of trials...trials are important. Sometimes trials lead to the end result, and sometimes a full evaluation is needed. It depends on the situation! #PatinsIcam
I have always believed that it is like any other evaluation and YES it should be held to the 50 day timeline if one is initiated through an IEP (and followed with a formal report). Consults are more causal #PatinsIcam
A6: I think that Ts can do lots of trials...trials are important. Sometimes trials lead to the end result, and sometimes a full evaluation is needed. It depends on the situation! #PatinsIcam
A7: We present suggestions and ideas to the student's team and start trials with low or high tech devices. We try to get something started with the student ASAP #patinsicam
Thoughtful goal based trials usually yield better data for the team (does a 50 day eval for every pencil grip and new visual support make sense for the student to guide the team? Probably not.) #PatinsIcam
For high incidence needs a consult should be best practices. In a perfect world high incidence needs would already be met in a UDL environment. #PatinsIcam
