Assistive technology helping students do well in class

From http://www.communitypress-online.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2466882

Regional – When it comes to assistive technology, the local Catholic school board is making what Kim Carmichael calls amazing progress.

Carmichael, the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board special assignment teacher in charge of assistive technology, updated the board and provided examples of equipment and software with the help of two students.


Assistive technology includes tools such as computer hardware and software, FM systems and other equipment funded through the board's special equipment amount (SEA) to support students with a variety of learning disabilities.

"Particularly in my role technology is a gift," Carmichael said. "With appropriate supports students can achieve at a high level and assistive technology is one of them."

There are currently 640 SEA-funded systems in use in the board, 220 of which have been ordered since September.

Carmichael said back then the waiting list for equipment was about nine months or more, but changes to ordering have reduced that to about three months.

"We've made a lot of amazing progress now," Carmichael said. "Most boards we've talked to in Eastern Ontario are still in the nine- to 12-month range, so we're very proud of what we've accomplished this year."

She has also trained 36 teacher and 48 educational assistants at 17 schools in the use of various software programs during this school year.

The programs include software to help students organize their thoughts, text-to-speech programs and others.

Hanna Abrams, a Grade 8 student at St. Mary School in Read, demonstrated how she uses some of the software – referred to as mind mapping – to organize her thoughts and help her read and write.

She has been using assistive technology since Grade 5 and said she initially thought it was "really cool." But other students became envious, she said, and she felt singled out and didn't want to use it.