Assistive Technology/Boardmaker
Assistive technology is a modification used for students that need assistance. Several different types of tools are available for students that have a disability and need additional assistance. Through technology many of the impossibles have become possible. Examples, students who are deaf, blind, mobility issues, reading issues etc. The major goal in education is to provide support to all students regardless of their disability. We want all our students to be successful.
Listed below are some different types of Assistive Technology:
In my everyday classroom we use Boardmaker. Boardmaker is a special education platform that helps children with learning disabilities, such as communication, social/emotional needs and behavioral disorders. The purpose of boardmaker is to help students be successful. Boardmaker comes in many different shapes and sizes. You can print visuals from your computer and you can also get a 30 day trial from boardmaker online.
Within the past couple of years, I have seen boardmaker become more popular in the classroom. It's very helpful to children in the early ages of education and extremely helpful to students on the spectrum. Boardmaker is a collection of pictures and symbols used for communication. It’s a great visual tool to help students prepare in advance what will take place during the school day. The visuals can also be organized in the order that activities will take place.
Visual pictures allow students to make sense of the world around them. Children with disabilities don’t see things the same as a child that do not have a disability. Students who are not able to verbalize themselves us the boardmaker visual tool to help them understand and verbalize themselves.
Some examples are listed below of boardmakers. You can customize them to each individual student.
What I find to be helpful is to cut out each visual and place velcro on the back of each picture so that I can create a customized chart of the daily schedule for students and change it each day.
For students who can only process one or two step direction, I have created something a little more simpler so that they don’t feel overwhelmed which is posted below.
Two step directions
Three step directions
Reflection:
Boardmaker is a great tool for students with disabilities. The visuals available is a way for teachers to communicate to students and students to communicate with teachers. It’s important for teachers to do whatever they can in order to provide all students with the opportunity to be successful. I have realized that if I customize the boardmaker with actual pictures of the student, they respond better. They are able to process the information better by seeing themselves in the picture and are ready for the next step.
I believe that Boardmaker is a great tool for students with disabilities, but I also feel that boardmaker is a great tool for all students, especially students in the early grades that can not read. If they are able to see the visual picture with the words beneath the picture they will be able to learn to read and at the same time they will know their next direction or schedule by looking at the picture. This should be a world wide tool throughout the school system and not just for kids with disabilities. This is my thought!
Listed below are some different types of Assistive Technology:
- Hearing aids
- Cognitive aids
- Voice recognition device
- Screen readers
- Screen enlargements
- Physical modifications
- Visuals
- Video tapes of social skills
In my everyday classroom we use Boardmaker. Boardmaker is a special education platform that helps children with learning disabilities, such as communication, social/emotional needs and behavioral disorders. The purpose of boardmaker is to help students be successful. Boardmaker comes in many different shapes and sizes. You can print visuals from your computer and you can also get a 30 day trial from boardmaker online.
Within the past couple of years, I have seen boardmaker become more popular in the classroom. It's very helpful to children in the early ages of education and extremely helpful to students on the spectrum. Boardmaker is a collection of pictures and symbols used for communication. It’s a great visual tool to help students prepare in advance what will take place during the school day. The visuals can also be organized in the order that activities will take place.
Visual pictures allow students to make sense of the world around them. Children with disabilities don’t see things the same as a child that do not have a disability. Students who are not able to verbalize themselves us the boardmaker visual tool to help them understand and verbalize themselves.
Some examples are listed below of boardmakers. You can customize them to each individual student.
What I find to be helpful is to cut out each visual and place velcro on the back of each picture so that I can create a customized chart of the daily schedule for students and change it each day.
For students who can only process one or two step direction, I have created something a little more simpler so that they don’t feel overwhelmed which is posted below.
Two step directions
Three step directions
Reflection:
Boardmaker is a great tool for students with disabilities. The visuals available is a way for teachers to communicate to students and students to communicate with teachers. It’s important for teachers to do whatever they can in order to provide all students with the opportunity to be successful. I have realized that if I customize the boardmaker with actual pictures of the student, they respond better. They are able to process the information better by seeing themselves in the picture and are ready for the next step.
I believe that Boardmaker is a great tool for students with disabilities, but I also feel that boardmaker is a great tool for all students, especially students in the early grades that can not read. If they are able to see the visual picture with the words beneath the picture they will be able to learn to read and at the same time they will know their next direction or schedule by looking at the picture. This should be a world wide tool throughout the school system and not just for kids with disabilities. This is my thought!
No comments:
Post a Comment