Post 12

As a teacher, one will most likely at some point have a student with some sort of disability. Whether it be physical such as blindness or mental such as Attention Deficit Disorder, there are many assistive technologies available to help. As a prospective English teacher, I can see difficulties with reading presenting a problem in my future. Luckily, there are software programs that allow computers to read text aloud. Narrator for Windows and Text-to-Speech for Apple will read the text on a screen. This is optimal for students who either cannot see or focus on a computer screen well.
There are several assistive technology applications for the iPad available via the Apple App Store. One that really stuck out to me was iCommunicate. It lets you design visual schedules, storyboards, communication boards, routines, flash cards, choice boards, and speech cards. This can be especially helpful for students with Autism. One characteristic of Autism is needing a strict, unchanging schedule. iCommunicate allows you to create these schedules and could be very useful in keeping the classroom together.
Assistive Technology can be something as complex as an augmentative communication system but it can also be as simple as categorizing using different colored paper. The most important thing to remember is to tailor your methods to your students. Every child has different needs and as a teacher you must be willing to work on different strategies and helping those with disabilities.