Chapter 15

Three new things I learned from reading Chapter 15 in the text were:
1. I loved the distinction the book made between a disability and a handicap.  I think that it is very important for educators to realize and understand the difference between the two; and I did not.  A disability is an impairment that limits an individual from performing an activity in a manner normally expected for human beings.  A handicap is when an individual is unable to fulfill a role due to an impairment or disability.

2. I had heard of the term "assistive technology device," but was not exactly sure what that meant or what it looked like in a classroom.  An assistive technology device is any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.

3. And finally, I learned that there are target groups of special education students that teachers focus on: students with mild and moderate to severe disabilities, students with physical disabilities, students with sensory disabilities, at-risk students, and students with gifts and talents.

Two ways I could integrate this information into the classroom are:
1. For students who have certain types of physical disabilities, some may not have the ability to type on a keyboard.  Therefore, it could be useful to use joysticks or switches instead of keyboards to help students around the task of using a keyboard.

2. I really liked the idea of having text-to-speech readers for students who have sensory disabilities.  I think that a tool such as JAWS for Windows could be a great idea if it is integrated well by the teachers and also if it is properly used by the students.

One question I have about the chapter is:
Very soon, all special education students will be integrated into a regular classroom setting instead of being separated in special education classrooms.  How will this affect technology use in a regular classroom setting?