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"While being a teacher is never easy, working with students in special education comes with some unique challenges. From writing lengthy IEPs to working closely with parents and other teachers, it takes a calm, collected, organized, confident, and very special person to work with students who often need a great deal more support and assistance than their peers to succeed. Yet even the best special education teachers can use a little guidance, inspiration, and information to help them to be even better at what they do. That's just what the 50 blogs we've collected here can do."

The ATTO: Assistive Technology Resources website offers resources about assistive technology. There are six categories that the information is broken down into: Government, Education, Organizations, AT Products, Web Design, and AT Guides. It is a very user-friendly website and offers families, students, and educators a wealth of information about the latest news and uses of assistive technology. As a special educator I am particularly interested in assistive technology in the schools. Clicking on the Education link it takes you to a page that offers curriculum design for teachers and parents on using assistive technology in the classroom, as well as how to provide educational activities at home to encourage self-determination with children and adults with special learning needs. I could definitely use this when designing unit plans in the classroom for my students.

This website was created by the Center for Independent Futures, a non-profit organization in Illinois. This organization aims to help "adults with disabilities and their families plan, support and sustain new ways of living in their community." The website and organization provides information about having a disability, as well as services and accommodations that they can provide for adults with disabilities. Because the Center for Independent Futures is a non-profit organization, they host a variety of fund raising events each year. These events, as well as other ways to donate to the organization can be found on the website. If I were a special educator working on transition and career development, I would use this website for students who are looking at attending school in Illinois. The site would provide very useful information for the student because it would tell them what kind of supports they can receive in the state and where they can get those supports. Illinois has a variety of colleges and universities, and the Center for Independent Futures would be a very positive support system for new students in the state.

This website was created by the Disability Rights organization in New Jersey. This organization aims to "advocat[e] and advanc[e] the human, civil and legal rights of persons with disabilities." The website for this organization provides a variety of information based around the law in New Jersey that covers people with disabilities, as well as provides numerous helpful resources. One of the major resources that this website provides is information about assistive technology resources. It provides information about the Assistive Technology Advocacy Center (ATAC) of Disability Rights New Jersey (DRNJ) which offers services to people with disabilities. As a special educator, I would use this website to learn about what the state of New Jersey does for people with disabilities. This would be helpful in terms of transition and career development because it would give me knowledge about what another state does for students if one of my students chooses to go to college in New Jersey.

Excellent resource Sarah! It is interesting to read about another state and I think it is important to be knowledgeable about other states, not just our own.

The National Assistive Technology Technical Assistive Partnership (NATTAP) is an organization based in Virginia. It works to provide assistive technology and information about assistive technology to people with disabilities. The programs provided by NATTAP "develop and disseminate training materials, conduct training, facilitate access to AT [(Assistive Technology)], and provide technical assistance to assist school children with disabilities transitioning to work or postsecondary education and adults with disabilities who are maintaining or transitioning to community living." The website provides information about training to use some assistive technology programs, as well as information about IDEA in terms of assistive technology and transition. As a special educator, I would use this site to find trainings for certain assistive technology programs. Being trained in the use of multiple assistive technology programs is incredibly beneficial because it gives the educator more knowledge about which programs would work best for students. In terms of transition and career development, I would use this website to help my students learn about new and different programs that will help them both in college and the working world.

This resource was very informative. I can definitely see myself using this as an educator to research assistive technology programs.

This website provides very helpful information for families regarding the different assistive technology systems that are available to children with disabilities. It provides resource reviews about hundreds of technology resources that are available to help families chose the one that works best for their student. It also provides a search engine based on state to help families locate organizations in their area who work with students with certain disabilities. This site has a link to discussion forums where families can talk and connect with others who have students with similar disabilities. The Family Center on Technology and Disability has created this site to be helpful and informative for families. It is very easy to navigate and user friendly. As a special educator, I would use this website as a way to help families connect with organizations and other families in the area who have students with similar disabilities. Disabilities can be very challenging not only for the student but also for the families who are supporting them. Having someone else to talk to about any possible struggles they may be having and having someone else to relate to can be very helpful.

This website provides many different links about different types of assistance technology. Each link has a short summary about the tool which gives a person in need of assistance an idea if the type of technology is necessary or not. Each resource provides a wide range of topics such as introductory fact sheets and CEU's for practitioners and educators. This resource is also important for families who are new to the transition phase of a child's life. These tools can support children who are very young as well which means it can provide assistance to a wide range of families.

"Knowing where to begin and how to proceed can be daunting though. We're here to help. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs, the Family Center on Technology and Disability provides a wide range of resources on assistive technology, from introductory fact sheets and training materials to in-depth discussion of best practices and emerging research. Try setting aside 30 minutes a day to review an FCTD resource. Before you know it, you'll know a lot more about assistive technology and the ways in which it can improve the lives of the children and youth with disabilities. Of course, we're here for your just-in-time information needs as well. We hope you'll visit our site often!"

"The Institute on Disability is pursuing the expansion and further development of Assistive Technology (AT) services and training in the state of New Hampshire. Assistive Technology is integral to the daily lives of many New Hampshire residents. Awareness of and the ability to try assistive technology devices are important aspects to making a decision whether a particular technology is "the right fit." The IOD is actively involved in partnerships on campus, throughout the state, and on a national level to promote access to assistive technology services." This site is full of great information about assistive technology. The resources tab is where you want to direct most of your attention as many of the documents and resources that are identified are very practical and geared toward use by special education service providers, students, and parents. Of particular interest to schools is instructions for how to create a low cost case for the iPad for use in schools. Check it out! Application to Transition Practice The information provided on this site will help to support transition practices in the classroom (direct teaching of transition skills), in work-based learning experiences, and living. There are many suggestions for how to physically adapt assistive technology hardware to meet an individual's need in the workplace. Also, in the resources there is a resource list of "reviewed" iPad apps for use to assist individuals with disabilities to become more independent is environments both within and outside the classroom. For example, the dragon app is free and it can be used to dictate and transcribe text. Various apps used for study skills and time management and organization could be very useful for students with LD and ADD in a variety of environments. It would be important to introduce individuals to some of these apps while they are in high school so they can learn about how they might help them in college, daily living, or employment settings.

The Institute on Disability is part of the University Center for Excellence on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. "The Institute on Disability is pursuing the expansion and further development of Assistive Technology (AT) services and training in the state of New Hampshire. " This department at the University of New Hampshire provides information about disability services that are provided for their current students as well as information concerning training programs for professionals. Professionals can register to attend the assistive technology workshops to learn about the newest programs that will help students with disabilities in their education. As a special educator, I would use this website to attend workshops on the most current assistive technology resources. This would keep my knowledge up to date and give me the opportunity to experience new and different programs. Then, when I have new students who may need different assistive technology both in high school and transitioning to college, I will be better equipped to tech them how to use the program.

"NCIPP created program descriptions for three innovative districts with induction and mentoring programs targeted at beginning special education teachers. Program descriptions were the result of extensive interviews with mentors, beginning teachers, principals and program administrators, as well as program data analysis and videos of mentoring sessions."

This link offers a list of organizations that parents can contact in search of grant  money or other funding to help get the assistive technology that their child needs. It can be a place to start in to order to "improve a child's mobility and educational opportunities." As a special educator I want to be able to offer whatever support I can to the families I work with. If a family is struggling to help their child once they leave school, I hope to be able to point them in the right direction in improving their child's way of life.

This was an article desribing how teachers can use AT in their classrooms. AT can be used to "develop, monitor, and provide instructions, and for students to access and engage in learning." AT is a way to reach students needs. Through AT it can assist in the following areas organization, note taking, writing, productivity, access to reference materials, cognitive assistance, and material modification. This article gave me some great ideas to use with my current and future students. Each student learns differently whether they have a disability or not we as educators need to provide them with the most developmentally appropriate learning experiences so that they can be successful. That maybe through AT. AT can enhance and engage students more than the traditional way of teaching.

This website provides information about transitioning out of school. It talks about who can provide helpful services, where to find a job, and how to live independently. The home page of the website is divided into three sections; students, families, and transition professionals. Each of these three sections is then divided again on their own. The student section provides information on living within communities, managing health, and managing money. This information is given in a very friendly manner that is simple to understand. It is provided in both written form and verbal form with pictorials included. The family section is divided into 9 categories. These categories range from self-determination to employment to organizations that can help with the transition process. Each of these nine categories provides a brief description and alternate resources for further information. The section for transition professionals provides online courses and links to informational websites. As a special education teacher working on transition and career development, I would share this website with both students and families because the information is presented in a very clear way. I would work with students to help them read about and learn the information being provided and then create an activity as a follow up. For example, I would help the student navigate their way through the managing money portion of the website and then have the student complete a series of activities having to do with money and budgeting.

Dreams For Kids is an organization that offers unique ways to approaching recreational activities for children (and adults) with disabilities. Their goal is to help children to be able to self-advocate for themselves, and give them the power and tools to be able to do so. What struck me was some of the testimonials from the parents that mentioned how the program and opportunities given to their children helped them focus on what they could do, not on what they couldn't do because of their disability. As a special educator it is important to be aware what technology is available to be able to include all children. Dreams For Kids offers adaptive sports resources. We can't forget about the goals and dreams of our students and children with disabilities. It is important that we know what's available and out there for them.

This toolkit has been developed by an ad hoc team comprised of a small representation of individuals from across the state working in Centers for Independent Living (CIL), Local Education Agencies (LEA) and Vocational Rehabilitation (VR). The goal was to create a resource tool to enhance collaboration in transition planning for young adults with disabilities. A special acknowledgement to members of these three organizations for the many valuable resources and links included in this toolkit.