Special Education Law Blog

American Sign Language Lexicon Available Online

Key phrases in American Sign Language ("ASL")  are now available for free on online with video illustrations.  This program is known as the ASL Browser.  There is also a more comprehensive CD-ROM for sale at the site. This site represents a wonderful resource to support inclusion for deaf children and other children who use sign for communication as part of a Total Communication System.  For some students it will be a nice introduction to ASL, as they consider a career in deaf education. For me the most delightful benefit of this site is that it enables typical peers to better communicate both expressively and receptively with their classmates with disabilities who use ASL.  Vibrant communicative opportunities supports real inclusion and an appropriate education.

Universal Design Should Be Implemented Now

Universal design of an environment, product,website or a curriculum allows usability to all people to the maximum extent possible.  Principles of univeral design have been recognized for a number of years.  In the new IDEIA  the term "universal design" is vaguely defined but then it is not applied to the substantive areas of the Act.

Transition and Technology Webcast

Under IDEA 2004 transition planning begins at 16 instead of 14 [much too late for many but that is another posting].  The good news is that under the new IDEA transition plans need to have measurable goals and outcomes that lead to post-secondary school and employment. For too many former special education students unemployment is the norm.  One of the key elements to changing these dismal outcomes is through good planning and the provision of technology.  The webcast described below will hopefully further the discussion of good effective transition planning with an emphasis on the need for technology as part of that process.

Will Robotic Cars Change the Face of Driver's Education for Students with Disabilities ?

It may seem quite futuristic but recent developments have demonstrated that robotic cars are increasingly capable.  A race among robotic cars in the Mojave desert showed the strides such vehicles have taken in recent years.  These vehicles rely on a series of sensors and GPS devices to navigate. They accept voice commands and are fairly autonomous.

Although more than a few years in the future, driver's education for special education students using robotic cars may allow students with special needs to drive who may not otherwise be able.  Read the rest of the story  and G.R.I.N. (see post from 12/2/05 re: G.R.I.N. technologies) the future is bright with possibilities.

$100 Laptop Computers

Children require access to the information tools that are an integral part of both learning and our economy.  This is especially true for children with special needs.  Computers with the capacity for internet access are the obvious point of access for all of this wonderful information, educational resources, and vocational training and orientation. Among the many obstacles that have up to now impeded access to the internet are the cost of the technology and what I call the "geek factor” (discussed further below).  The cost factor is obvious.  Computers can be budget busters.  In a time when some students, such as in Washington D.C. (see post from 12/26/05) are going through half a year without books, no less computers, access to the internet  may appear a luxury for some.  The unfortunate reality, however, is that books AND access to the internet are equally essential.

G.R.I.N. and Get Ready for the Future

Tenacious rational optimism is the way I approach challenges related to my son’s disabilities and  my client-children's needs as well.  One of the wellsprings for my optimism comes from a set of technologies that I now have learned has an acronym: GRIN technologies--genetics, robotics, information technology and nanotechnology.  This set of technologies holds great potential for the future of all people, but especially for  individuals with special needs.  The tie-in  with education is obvious.   Our children need to be ready to access these GRIN technologies when they become available. Just as we do physical therapy to keep muscles conditioned for a child’s day-to-day functioning, long term, the child’s body needs to be physically ready to take advantage of future advances, whether medical or technological or a combination of both.  Without an appropriate education that consists of solid core skills, the child’s mind will not be ready to access that which is coming down the road.  There simply is no room for sentiments that suggest that there is no point in trying and reaching for more from out children’s education. The future is bright with possibilities if our children are prepared for it.

Pen-Top Computer May Be a Help to Some Children With Disabilities

For sheer gee whiz alone, the latest technology gizmo is worth checking out.  It is called “the FLY”, and it is from LeapFrog Enterprises, the same people who make the LeapPad for students in the early stages of literacy.  The FLY is not yet on the market, but it is projected to retail for $99.00.

The FLY is being described as a pen-top computer.  While this may be a bit of an oversell, it does do some fun and educationally relevant things.  For instance, with specially designed “Flypaper,” a student can draw a piano and then use the FLY to play the keys.  Draw a calculator and then use the FLY to solve problems.  For foreign language exercises, students can write a word in English and hear it translated into Spanish.  There is additional software for test preparation in science, math and social studies.  For geography exercises, the pen-top can tell you the name of the capital of a state when you point to it, play the national anthem of a country when you point to it on a map, and create timed, interactive geography exercises.

Whether the Fly will have applications for children with disabilities remains to be seen, as this technology is still untried in the classroom.  But given its low cost, it does not present a huge investment to try it out and see.  It may in fact help struggling readers and be a useful tool for math exercises.  Even though it will never replace a laptop computer for power and functionality, it is fairly unobtrusive, so a child may be more likely to use it.  One of my personal frustrations is when I fight hard for a laptop at the parents’ request, and the school finally complies, only to have the child refuse to use it because of the “geek factor”.  Most teens would rather do anything other than use a piece of technology that stigmatizes them as different.  In any event, the FLY satisfies my personal fantasy from third grade, when I looked at my pencil in math and wished that it could give me the answers.  Now it can.

To read the LeapPad Enterprise  press release for the FLY (in .pdf format), click here.

Using Garret F. to Advocate for Assistive Technology.

On March 3, 1999, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Garret F. v. Cedar Rapids Community School District, 526 U.S. 66 (1999).  The case was decided by the Court in a 7-2 decision in favor of the child’s right to receive one-on-one nursing as a related service.  Although this case does bear directly on the provision of AAC or technology, this decision may be useful in advocating for assistive technology.

Assistive Technology Is Worth Fighting For

Cost is one of the most common reasons that school districts are resistant to discussing or providing assistive technology to students with special needs. While this “reason” may be valid, it is not a sufficient legal excuse. Under the current mandate of IDEA, if assistive technology is required to allow a child to access his or here educational environment, and if it is defined in the child’s IEP, the cost of the device is simply not an excuse. Nor can the cost of a device be pushed off onto the parents or their insurance company. The well-known requirement of a Free Appropriate Public Education or FAPE means “free” to the family.

As a practical matter, to increase the likelihood of a successful and non-adversarial exchange on the subject of assistive technology, families should undertake certain preliminary steps.  It will be essential that a professional evaluation be undertaken to decide that the child needs an assistive technology device and how it relates to the child’s educational program. Devices for speech augmentation, for example, may appear to have an obvious connection to the school environment, but the relationship between the device and the child’s educational program should be explained in detail.

Assistive Technology: Robotic Arm Builds Children's Skills and Self-Concept.

Robotics seems like a topic that is the subject of science fiction, a NASA project, or technology limited to industrial applications.  However, recent research has shown the incredible usefulness of assistive robotics for children with physical challenges -- specifically the use of a robotic arm.   The research centered on two primary issues: 1) whether a very young child would interact with a robotic arm; and 2) whether that interaction would involve the purposeful use of the arm as a tool to accomplish some desired or requested action.   The case discussed below revolves around Leah, a little girl with CP, and it answers both questions with an emphatic yes.  Leah’s story demonstrates well the usefulness of robotics for children with physical challenges.