Blog Assignment #12

What assistive technologies are available to you as a teacher?

At one point or another in an educator's career, all teachers will encounter students with disabilities. Thanks to advancements in technology, there are now programs to benefit students with disabilities. These programs include benefits for the vision and hearing impaired as well as those with special needs.

According to Assistive Technologies for Vision and Hearing Impaired Children,, the benefits of using assistive technologies include: enhance learning, remove barriers, push boundaries, give hope, and challenge the way we think.

An example of assitive technology for the blind is the Mountbatten Braille Writer. The Mountbatten gives audio and tactile feedback. It can save, transfer, and receive files from a computer. This brailler is good for mainstream classrooms because it converts the braille text into print and displays it onto a screen for classmates and the teacher to read.

Ipad usage for the blind is another example of an assistive technology. All iPads have voice over. Voice over allows a blind iPad user to navigate the iPad programs by dragging their finger around the screen to hear the text read out loud. Also, iBooks on the iPad can be read aloud to the iPad user.





This information and these resources will be beneficial to me in the future as either an elementary or special needs teacher! There is also a video titled Teaching Mom What Her Deaf/Blind Child is Learning on the iPad for parents to learn how to use these assistive technologies!