Useful Links for Educators and Counselors

With advances in technology and medicine enabling persons with disabilities to live healthy, active, and productive lifestyles outside their living environments, students that years before would have attended segregated environments are now being mainstreamed into traditional classrooms. For this reason, it is essential for educators to become familiar with technology that can aid these students and to learn how to implement this technology into the classroom. The following informational resources may prove useful in the classroom and for personal education.

Assistive Technology and the Iowa Department of Education

The Iowa Department of Education's Assistive Technology site can give students, parents, educators and practitioners information about the applications of AT.

Assistive Technology and the US Department of Education

http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/assistivetech.html- The following links will provide educators, parents, and students with information on the provision and support of AT services provided by the Department of Education.

Resources from the US Department of Education Support for Adaptive Technology.

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ToolsforSchools/alem.html - Adaptive Learning Environment Model

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003313.pdf - Assistive Technology in Schools (PDF - Format)

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/sst/index.html - Support for technology in Schools.

Iowa Program for Assistive Technology

http://iowaat.org/ - IPAT Purpose: Having the right assistive technology can make the difference between dependence and independence, but for too many Americans, getting that assistive technology has been difficult or impossible. That's why the US Congress enacted the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act, Public law 100-407 as amended, also know as the Tech Bill. The law provides funding to each state to find ways to overcome barriers through the creation of statewide, consumer-responsive systems. In Iowa, the Iowa Program for Assistive Technology is working to create such a system of assistive technology, devices and services.

Equal Access to Software and Information

http://people.rit.edu/easi/ - EASI's mission is to serve as a resource to the education community by providing information and guidance in the area of access-to-information technologies by individuals with disabilities. We stay informed about developments and advancements within the adaptive computer technology field and spread that information to colleges, universities, K-12 schools, libraries and into the workplace.

Developing an IEP

http://people.rit.edu/easi/itd/itdv06.htm- The Individuals With Disabilities Act requires that the following people must be present at an IEP meeting: Student's teacher, a school professional responsible for special education, student's parents (if they want to be there), the student (if possible), and the person doing the evaluation.

There are many resources that need to be considered when developing an IEP. For more information visit: http://www.attainmentcompany.com/

Writing Assistive Technology into IEP or Rehabilitation Plans.

AT and educational plans- Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) began as the National Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1920, a program initiated to enable disabled veterans of World War I to obtain job training and eventually employment. Amended numerous times throughout the years, the Act gradually expanded to include all individuals with disabilities. The culmination of this was the rewriting of the Act in 1973. Titled the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, it contained several civil rights provisions and placed a major emphasis upon serving individuals with severe disabilities. It also specified that a written and signed document specifying goals and objectives, an Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE), must be developed by the VR counselor and client. The Rehabilitation Act continues to be amended every few years, increasing the scope of services, and to whom they must be provided. Additional information

Educational Testing Service Office of Disability Policy: Information.

http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.435c0b5cc7bd0ae7015d9510c3921509/?vgnextoid=feb7be3a864f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD

Educational Testing Service Office of Disability Policy: Information on test accommodations.

Reasonable testing accommodations are provided to allow candidates with documented disabilities (recognized under the Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA]) an opportunity to demonstrate their skills and knowledge. The ADA mandates that test accommodations be individualized. This means that no single type of test accommodation may be adequate or appropriate for all individuals with any given type of disability.

Office for Civil Rights

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html?src=mr- The mission of the Office for Civil Rights is to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through vigorous enforcement of civil rights. Federal Rights of students and teachers in education including the "Discipline of Students with Handicaps in Elementary and Secondary Schools" pamphlet.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

http://idea.ed.gov/ - Welcome to the IDEA.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education and related services to more than 6.5 million eligible infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities. Infants and toddlers with disabilities (birth-2) and their families receive early intervention services under IDEA Part C. Children and youth (ages 3-21) receive special education and related services under IDEA Part B.

Trace Center

http://trace.wisc.edu/ - Trace is a research center at the University of Wisconsin - Madison which focuses on making off the shelf technologies and systems like computers, the Internet, and information kiosks more accessible for everyone through the process known as universal, or accessible design. The Trace Center has been widely regarded for many years as the leading research, development, and resource center in the area of access to computers by people with disabilities. Over the last several years, the Trace Center has also become well recognized for its work in disability access and universal design of the World Wide Web, information transaction machines, and telecommunications.

University of Iowa Information Technology Services Assistive Technology

http://cs.its.uiowa.edu/ats/-Information Technology Services (ITS) provides support for assistive technology at the University of Iowa for students, faculty, and staff with disabilities. For information about assistive technology, please contact 335-6180 or by e-mail at atc@uiowa.edu

General Links to Disability Sites

http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Disabilities/Assistive_Technology/ - Yahoo directory of sites on disability technology. This site contains both links found through Internet searches as well as homepages sent to Yahoo. Careful examination of links is needed. The validity of material may differ depending on whether the site is a commercial site, professional site, or a personal homepage.