Reducing Overload in Students With Learning and Behavioral Disorders: The Role of Assistive Technology
By Parette, Jr., Howard P.; Crowley, Paula E.; Wojcik, Brian W. ; Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, Vol. 4, No. 1Publication Date: September 2007
Article discusses the use of assistive technology (AT) to manage the social and academic behavior of children with emotional and behavioral disorders in the classroom. The use of AT in 4 contexts is discussed: (1) AT as an intervention in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics. Text-to-speech software such as the Microsoft Reader and ReadPlease allows screen-presented text to be read aloud; Write:Outloud, Intellitalk 3, AspireReader 4.0, and Type & Talk simplify the student’s writing process, as does the computer-based graphic organizer DraftBuilder; and Edmark calculators, free downloads on the Web, provide help with math calculations; (2) Tools for monitoring behavior during assigned classroom tasks, such as stop watches; hand-held counters; Palm devices programmed with steps for completing an assignment; and Excel-generated spreadsheets enabling a student to enter performance data while completing academic tasks; (3) Tools for self-monitoring of students’ own behavior, such as the Excel-generated spreadsheets, which can also be used as behavior report cards; and (4) AT for promoting social behavior, including Power Cards, visual aids to help students make sense of social situations, routines, and the meaning of language; and Social Stories, which allow students to gain increased access to social skill development through writing their own stories.
Assistive Products Discussed: READPLEASE PLUS
READPLEASE NATURAL VOICES
DRAFT:BUILDER
TYPE & TALK
INTELLITALK
WRITE:OUTLOUD
WRITE:OUTLOUD TO GO
Published by: Council for Exceptional Children (Website:http://www.cec.sped.org)
Link to text: http://escholarship.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1339&context=education/tecplus
