Why is AT Important?

This checklist is adapted from the Nebraska Department of Education’s Nebraska IEP Technical Assistance Guide (1998, September), available online at: http://www.nde.state.ne.us/SPED/iepproj/factors/assist.html
Assistive technology (AT) enables children with disabilities to participate more fully in all aspects of life (home, school, and community) and helps them access their right to a “free, appropriate, public education” in the “least restrictive environment.”

Why is AT Important?
AT increases a student’s opportunities for education, social interactions, and potential for meaningful employment. It also supports a student’s participation in learning experiences in the least restrictive environment. AT is a tool to help the student benefit from the general education curriculum and access extracurricular activities in home, school, and work environments.
In addition:

A child’s need for assistive technology must be determined on a case-by-case basis and could be special education, related services, or supplementary aids and services for children with disabilities who are educated in regular classes.
A district must provide a device for use at home if necessary for FAPE. Decisions regarding the use of the assistive technology device or service in other settings outside school must be made on an individual basis.
A school may access alternative funding sources to defray costs of assistive technology devices and services. Schools may not compel parents to file an insurance claim and may not condition provision of equipment or services on filing or approval of a claim.

How Do We Do It?
The following written process addresses primary questions related to assistive technology.
1. What is it we want the student to be able to do within the educational program that he or she isn’t able to do because of his or her disability?
The question is: “What daily educational tasks or activities is the student not able to do or participate in because of his or her disability?”
IEP team members need to consider carefully what they want the student to be able to do within the educational program, that he or she isn’t able to do because of the identified disability. Then ask the question, “Would assistive technology of some kind enable the student to meet the goal?”
The team should answer this question keeping short-term as well as long-term goals in mind. Areas to consider include, but are not necessarily limited to:

Handwriting
Spelling
Reading
Math
Written expression
Daily organization
Communication
Mobility
Seating/positioning
Recreation
Seeing
Selfcare
Levels of independence
Cognitive processing

Proceed to Step #2.

2. What has been tried, to meet the student’s special education needs?
Once the area of educational need(s) has been identified, the team needs to review what has been tried in the past to address the need(s) of the student. This may include a variety of interventions achieved through strategies or modifications not typically considered “assistive technology.” These may be low-tech in nature, or there may be high-tech assistive technology devices in place.
Example: A student with a learning disability, unable to memorize multiplication facts, may use a multiplication table. The multiplication table could be identified as a supplementary aid in the general education environment. An AT device such as a calculator (identified as a low-tech device) could also be used to meet the student’s need.
Proceed to Step #3.

3. Is it working?
After identifying the strategies, modifications, and devices necessary to meet the educational needs of the student, the IEP Team determines if they are effective. Is the strategy, modification or device meeting the student’s specific need in the environments he or she needs to complete the task? Additionally, does the strategy, modification or device encourage the level of desired independence, allowing the student to remain in the least restrictive environment (LRE) where he or she is able to receive FAPE?
Proceed to Step #4 and #5 (if yes) or #6 (if no).

4 and 5. Yes, it’s working. Provide documentation and evidence to support this conclusion.
If the team agrees the specified educational needs are being met within the LRE, and the student’s programming is appropriate with the strategies, modifications, and/or devices in place, to the level of independence desired, there should be evidence to support the effectiveness and appropriateness of the interventions.
The evidence may be in the form of:

Work samples
Classroom tests
Formal testing
Video taping
Recorded observations
Any other form appropriate to the student and his or her needs

Proceed to Step #13.

6. No, it’s not working.
If the team agrees a specific educational need is not being met with present interventions, the team should proceed to Step #7.
7. What was tried? How long was it tried? How was it tried? What were the results?
What was the strategy, device, or modification that was tried? If there was more than one, deal with each one separately.
Give the timeframe or time period the strategy, device, or modification was tried. Indicate if there were any “breaks” in service that may have affected the outcome or progress. Provide information and descriptions about how each strategy, modification, or device was used and indicate the initially anticipated outcome. If there were specific procedures, devices, or assigned responsibilities, these should be indicated.
Actual outcomes or results should be noted. Indicate what did work and what did not work. Are there implications regarding further strategies or modifications or devices that should be considered to achieve the student’s goals?
Information and/or data collected from this step should be used in considering alternative interventions. It is helpful to be as specific as possible about what did and did not work and what may have been procedurally ineffective, device-specific ineffective, or individually ineffective.
Proceed to Step #8.

8. Do we, as a collaborative team, have the necessary knowledge and resources to continue to try and meet the student’s special education need(s)?
After efforts have been made to attempt modifications, apply strategies, and/or use assistive services or devices, and it is apparent the IEP Team’s efforts are not affecting the desired change, determine a course of action.
By asking this question, you can determine whether or not you can continue to brainstorm and come up with strategies on your own, whether there are more resources that can be tapped, or whether it is time to consider advice or assistance from an outside source. The next step is to either seek additional assistance or continue working as a team through the consideration process.
Proceed to Step #9 (if yes) or Step #11 (if no).

9. No, we don’t have the necessary knowledge and resources.
Proceed to Step #10.

10. Seek additional assistance.
At this point, the IEP Team may consider a referral to another source for information.
There may be other resources within the school building or school district, or other agencies, local or otherwise, the IEP Team may want to use.
The IEP Team is not expected to know everything about every possible assistive technology service or device. Individual variables in the system as well as the background disciplines of the team members will impact the decision at this point. There are varying degrees of training, experience, and accessibility to devices which may limit the capabilities of an IEP Team in relation to the needs of a specific child.
As a result of information provided by your source of additional assistance, proceed to Step #12.

11. Yes, we have the necessary knowledge and resources.
If the team agrees they have not exhausted their own knowledge base and resources, they need to develop a plan of action to meet the specific need(s) of the student. Based on what has been tried, they need to decide on alternative intervention strategies, service or devices, or modifications to interventions already in place.
Proceed to Step #12.

12. What will be tried?
Given the specific educational needs of the child, the team needs to address the following questions regarding the assistive technology device:

Under what conditions will it be tried?
In what environment(s) will it be tried?
How long will it be tried?
What is the criteria for determining whether or not the need is being met?

Based on the discussion of previous outcomes, develop an action plan and incorporate it into the IEP as documentation of consideration for assistive technology that will be acted upon to meet the appropriate educational needs of the student in the LRE.
The documentation of assistive technology may be incorporated anywhere within the IEP, however there are three places in the IEP where assistive technology commonly appears:

In the measurable annual goals (and/or, for children with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate achievement standards, in the description of benchmarks or short-term objectives).
In the list of supplementary aids and services necessary to maintain the student in the LRE.

NOTE: Assistive technology is necessary as a supplementary aid if its presence (along with other necessary aids) supports the student sufficiently to maintain the placement, and its absence requires the student’s removal to a more restrictive setting. For example—If a student with multiple physical disabilities can make independent, educational progress on his or her IEP goals in the regular classroom with the use of a computer and an augmentative communication device and cannot make such progress in that setting without the devices, then those devices are necessary supplementary aids.
In the list of related services necessary for the student to benefit from his or her education.

Assistive technology needs for each student will vary. The criteria will also be unique to each student, depending on the desired goal. The goal for each student should consider:

Increased independence
Accuracy
Task mastery
Attentiveness
Rate at which a task is accomplished
Stamina to accomplish task(s)
Increased interactions
Other child-specific criteria

As with any IEP consideration, goals related to AT depend on the individual needs of the student and must be determined on a case-by-case basis. It is the student’s need, not service or device limitation, that drives the decisions.
Proceed to Step #13.

13. Consideration is an ONGOING PROCESS. Change in environment, change in student skill level or needs, and new technology may influence the process.
It is important to remember that considering AT and evaluating its role in the educational program of a student is an ongoing process.
While there may be a beginning, there could quite possibly be no end. As the student’s environments change, as the tasks required of the student change, and as abilities change, the student’s needs will likely change as well.
The process of consideration is required to be a part of every annual IEP review, at minimum.
In best practice, the evaluation process will be ongoing, with those around the student continuing to ask, “Are the needs being met?”
How Do We Do It?
The IEP Team:

Considers what they want the student to be able to do within the educational program, that he or she isn’t able to do because of his or her disability.
Documents on the IEP what will be tried and what has been tried to meet the student’s special education needs, how long it was tried, and the results.
Documents on the IEP what is working for the student.
Considers whether they have the necessary knowledge and resources to continue to try and meet the student’s special education needs.
Seeks additional assistance if they determine they do not have the necessary knowledge.
Considers the student’s assistive technology needs in an ongoing manner.