ITS TechTalk - End of Year 2003-2004

• ITS Summer School Support | "Write On!" | AT Loan Fund Authority | ITS Staff News

• AT Certificate Recipients | Closing the Gap Forums

• ITS Staff Member, Kathy Rini

• TOPS Teacher, Katie Bowne

ITS Summer School Support

by Bill Reeder

• Assign an ITS staff person to each summer school site who will establish a regularly scheduled support time.
• Provide software, peripherals and communication devices as needed.
• Offer additional summer software checkout as requested.
• Provide each summer school special education class with appropriate software as needed.
• Offer on-site training opportunities as requested.
• Offer course specific summer school training with specific software.
• Send a staff member with a variety of ITS software to training sessions on 7/8/04 and 7/9/04.
• Send an ITS staff member to each site to collect all of the software and equipment at the end of summer school.
• Provide project support to special education staff members by request. Projects could include, but are not limited to:
  

  AlphaSmarts	Digital Cameras	PowerPoint
  Boardmaker	Draft:Builder	Simon Sounds It Out
  BuildAbility	Inspiration/Kidspiration	Start-to-Finish Books
  Co:Writer	IntelliTools Software	Write:OutLoud
  Danas	Internet Research	WordMaker

For more information contact Dianne Caron or Kathy Rini, ITS Summer School Coordinators at 703-204-3939. Specific requests for summer school support should be made at: ITSSupport@fcps.edu

"Write On!"

by Bill Reeder

Assistive Technology Loan Fund Authority

by Bill Reeder

During the week of May 24, 2004, many of you may have watched Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine talk about the Assistive Technology Loan Fund Authority (ATLFA) on Dr. Alice Farling’s “Solving the Puzzle Together” program on Channel 21. The ATLFA offers low interest loans to facilitate the purchase of assistive technology and/or to allow for physical accommodations to be made to a car or a home. For more information go to the ATLFA web site at:

http://www.atlfa.org

ITS Baby News

Ellie and Ian Stack welcomed son, Aiden Robert, on March 3, 2004, and Rachel and Mark Perella welcomed daughter, Camden Marie, on April 3, 2004. Congratulations and best wishes to all!

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Assistive Technology Certificates

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Closing the Gap Forums

by Cheryl Temple

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Prior to her position as case manager at ITS, Kathy worked as a speech-language pathologist in a variety of settings including residential facilities, private practice, speech and hearing clinics and the preschool program in FCPS. Her primary interest has always been working with preschoolers who have difficulty communicating their thoughts and needs to others. As the area of AAC grew, her interest in using technology to provide communication systems for her students increased. She now acts as the ITS case manager for 11 schools with preschool classes. At three of these schools, she also works with students with multiple disabilities and learning disabilities.

Kathy, her husband and two sons lived in Rome, Italy, for two years, and enjoyed learning the customs and mores of another culture. This sparked an interest in traveling to exotic countries including Thailand and Indonesia. Other off-hour interests are reading, participating in a local running club and attending art history classes at the Smithsonian.

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Featured TOPS Teacher

Katie Bowne

Visuals and Assistive Technology in the Two Year Old Classroom

Teaching a class of two year olds is as fun and rewarding as you think it would be. There are eight children who have special needs in my class; although, on average each day we have five to six children in the classroom. These children are a joy. One might ask “What do you teach a class of two year olds?” Here are just some some very basic, but important, skills we work toward in the classroom: visual attending, making choices, self help skills, following simple directions, learning a classroom routine, participating in an activity, basic social skills such as taking turns and sharing, and a variety of communication skills. Our class is the first school experience for all of my students and it is wonderful to see them become independent in the classroom environment.

One of the ways they learn to express themselves and become independent is through visuals. Pictures are key since the large majority of children we service have speech and language delays. We start out the school year with many photos. We use photos to tell the children about our daily schedule as well as photos of foods and toys so they can begin to make a choice between two items. I highly recommend the program, Picture This, which contains digital pictures of many common items and tasks. It’s a great time saver. Once the students get acclimated to using the photos to understand the routine and make their needs known, we begin to use Boardmaker pictures. For some of the kids, the Boardmaker pictures are too abstract and they continue to need the photo or even the actual object in order to understand. Two of the children in my class respond very well to social stories and personal schedules, which are made using BoardMaker.

Simple assistive devices, such as a BIGmack or a two celled Cheap Talk give the non-verbal children a way to express themselves throughout the day. Large, easy-to program devices such as these are great because the children understand how to use them and we can reprogram them quickly. So throughout the day we use them for a variety of activities. For some of the students, hitting the BIGmack just to say their name is a stimulating and rewarding way to participate. Some are so motivated to have a turn with these devices that they begin to develop other skills in the process, such as attending and waiting. I try to use one of these devices for every story and Circle Time activity. We have accessible pictures in various parts of the room, so my assistant or I can easily put a picture onto a device and record a statement.

Visuals and low technology communication devices are totally integrated into our room and routine. It’s definitely nothing new, but it is important and easy to do each day. You do not have to use expensive, complicated devices to make an impact. Visuals enhance the children’s understanding and give them a way to communicate what they need to say. Preschoolers do have a lot to say and it’s our job to give them a means to communicate.

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