The End

The end of the course:

I learned so much this past semester, the programs and the different ideas that are going on at everyone’s schools are amazing. Being at Forest Heights I see how much AT can help every student, and how great it is to have a staff that is willing to use and to encourage the students to use it so they can level the playing field in the classroom. I really think that all teachers should be encouraged to use it and allow students to use it. Hearing that there is teachers out there that don’t frustrates me like crazy.

I am looking forward to taking the first part of the course next September.

Media

So last week after we watched the CNN info on Amanda’s story, I was left just thinking about how hard it would be to be so brilliant and not be able to communicate it. I really liked the fact that a CNN reporter took it upon himself to look Amanda up and find out more about how she made the video. She has so much to offer and is very inspirational to all people. Amanda’s story is also another great awareness for autism which the media has been all over in recent weeks. The other night I was watching Larry King live and Jenny McCarthy was on (her son was diagnosed on the Autism spectrum; however he has since been undiagnosed). She was talking about different ways to help with Autism to work through the disorder. Whether you agree with her or not, she brought more attention to the cause. I really enjoyed some of the videos that played during the show. One of the videos was of a little girl who was using assistive tech to get her ideas across. She was using a text to speak program and she had a go talk. It was a really cool video, which I hope that I can find soon. When looking for the link I did find this great video that if you have time, take a look at it.

Also from class I want to make a note about the assignment we are doing on boardmaker. Working with a great team, it was really interesting trying to plan out the boards to make sure they matched the needs of the student. Having the team that I did it still demonstrated how much pre planning has to go into each assignment.