Choice of Study Topic

Yesterday I outlined my objectives for this term. Today I want to answer the question: "Why assistive technology?" I have, at this point, three reasons to want to study assistive technology.

First, it's a condition of my educational leave from DoDDS, the Department of Defense Dependents Schools. When I requested leave, I agreed to study assistive technology because it was an area identified by the school system as being essential and in critical need. DoDDS states it's first goal as increased student achievement and seeks to have every student reach his full potential. To this end, resources have been committed to providing the tools necessary to assist those with disabilities. Furthermore, DoDDS hires and trains people to see that assistive technology is used in the most effective manner to meet Goal One. I plan to support teachers, staff, and students in this endeavor when I return to DoDDS.

Second, I was recently diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease, RP. I'm slowly losing my vision and want to know what tools will be available when I need to call upon them. Not a very altruistic reason but often times it is the challenges in our path that lead us in new directions. Assistive technology is a new direction for me. I may never need the services of this technology and, if I do, the technology will surly have changed when I need it. Still, best to get in on the ground floor of technology and see how it grows.

Finally, I think that many of the technologies invented to meet the needs of individuals with disabilities can end up assisting all students. For example, I've seen a speaker system employed in classrooms in which a student has hearing difficulties. The teacher wears a microphone and her words are amplified to assist the student with a hearing disability. But the other students also hear the amplification. And when a student is chosen to read aloud or talk to the whole group, he uses the microphone to be heard. Using the microphone can focus the attention of all students on who is talking; passing the microphone can signify that it is another student's turn. There are affordances to assistive technology that should be explored and used for the benefit of all students.