Kaori Lau and Niesha Blajberg from the BCEAccess Society came to visit class, discussing how we can use technology to be inclusive in the classroom. The BCEdAccess Society is a volunteer organization which serves families of students with disabilities and complex learners.
some tech resources for supporting students include:
- Text to speech
- Microphone
- Translators
- Subtitles
- Eye Gaze Systems
- Audio recorders
Some common challenges that may arise with trying to implement this inclusive technology into classrooms include a potential lack of access (whether that be from the school’s lack of funding, or families not having devices or reliable internet), a lack of support, resistance to change, privacy and data security concerns, and finally technology as a distraction.
Advocate for funding, loaner programs, and grants. Try to include assistive tech in Individual Education Programs. Ensure compliance with privacy laws, and normalize assistive tech and make it accessible for all people. Write assistive cell phone use into IEPs for clarity.
We still have a lot of racist and ableist resources in the school curriculum, which are often brought to attention by students and parents. If something is brought to your attention for being discriminatory, try not to be defensive! We learn from our mistakes.
Assuming the goal is to be independent of the use of technology
An initiative started by BCEdAccess in 2018 shows students with designations are being excluded from school and don’t have equitable access to an education.
I found this talk to be very informative, especially as I don’t have too much experience helping students with learning disabilities. I did find that when helping one student with dyslexia, text to speech was very effective however!