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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.

"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.

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 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!"

This blogger uses assistive technology to read and write to post about the latest assistive technology products. The products reviewed are the newest assistive technology devices on the market. You can listen to podcasts about the products, as well as send an email requesting that a new product or app be reviewed. Coming from the point of view of someone who does not require assistive technology, I think it would be good to hear the opinion of someone who does use it. As a special educator I don't want to miss something, and risk setting a student up to fail because I didn't take something into account.

I found this website to be very interesting and could potentially be very beneficial to people in need of assistance. Not only does this website provide a list of different assistive technology tools, but it also gives links to tutorials about how to use the product and accessibility features. Some examples of assistive technology products are wands and joysticks, alternative keyboards, touch screens, braille displays and screen readers. These products can be useful for at home use as well as at school. There are also news articles about each product to let a person know what other companies have said about that particular product. I can see myself using this resource in my special education career by researching these products to see if it could assist one of the students I work with. By providing one of these resources to a student with a disability, it could make their life much easier either at school, home or both. There is a link on the website that helps a person identify which tool is the right fit for you. I could use this to help identify which one would best assist the students I work with.

The Center for Assistive Technology (CAT) was created by the School of Public Health and Health Professions at the University of Buffalo. It is a center that "conducts research, education, and service to increase knowledge about assistive devices for persons with functional impairments of all ages." The center focuses on four main areas, (1) "Research, Development, Transfer, and Commercialization," (2) "Education Programs," (3) "Client Assessment & Training Services," and (4) "Dissemination." These four areas include faculty members from approximately thirteen departments at the University of Buffalo. The website created by CAT provides information about the program as a whole, current research, educational programs and services that they provide, as well as current projects and past projects. As a special educator, I would use this website to learn about new assistive technology programs that would be beneficial for my students. I would also use this site to learn about workshops for educators that teach about new assistive technology. This information would be very beneficial during transition and career development time because it would provide me with the most recent information to give to my students.

The New England Assistive Technology (NEAT) Center provides opportunities to learn about new assistive technology products and services, as well as the experience of learning how to use the assistive technology at their facility. It works to find solutions, excellent services, and advocates for people with disabilities. NEAT is located in Hartford, CT. As a special educator I would want to take advantage of the professional development that they offer: product demonstrations, vendor days, speakers and seminars. Since they offer specialized workshops, it might be something to suggest to a special ed. department about setting up and visiting as a group.

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.

Learning what your college has to offer is so important! Keene State has wonderful resources but not all colleges do. Students really need to do their research to be sure they are getting what they need and take their education into their own hands.

It is crucial to know what your college offers! Learning this prior to starting school is so incrediably important and will help the student be successful in school. Schools have so much to offer typically you just have to seek it out.

This is great for students who are planning on going to college to read. I know of some students who don't even want to research/contact any colleges regarding assistive technology or other assistance they might be able to provide. I hope that students do consider what resources are available at the school of their choice and that they've developed the self-advocacy confidence to seek out help when they need it.

The laws affecting college students with disabilities and the process of obtaining assistive technology in college are completely different from the K-12 world. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is not in effect in higher education. Summary: This article is located on the webiste for the University of New Jersey. The article describes how IEPs are not in effect in college and that it is the student's repsonsibility to request the assistance that they need. The article also describes that although college's are required to provide assistive technology for students, they are not required to provide the most sophisticated technology available. Professional Practice: In order to prepare our students for college, we need to understand what services college provides. This article helps us to see how asstitive technology is addressed at the college level. We can use this knowledge to teach students how to ask for the assitance that they need. We can also work with the students to identify what services their particular college may provide and help them to get in contact with the neccessary people.

This article was written by Amy G. Dell from The College of New Jersey. It discusses the difference between IEP's and assistive technology in the K-12 world versus the college world, and the laws that surround them. Dell states that "Colleges have no legal responsibility to identify students with disabilities or involve parents in decision making. Parents are often surprised to learn that there are no IEP's in college." Instead of an IEP, the law that protects students with disabilities is a civil rights law. The article continues by discussing reasonable accommodations that students with disabilities can receive in college and how to obtain them. If I were a special educator working on transition and career development, I would use this information to educate my students about the difference between K-12 school and college. I would teach them the difference between having an IEP and using the civil rights law in college. The student needs to learn that they must advocate for themselves in college to receive the academic assistance to help them succeed.

"For years, tens of thousands of educators, parents, and school leaders used the original Assistive Technology Wheel developed by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) to select appropriate resources for Individualized Education Plans. CAST is pleased to provide an all new AT Wheel with updated content and resources. Created by CEC's Innovations in Special Education Technology (CEC-ISET) membership group, the AT Wheel is a handy, compact tool that maps student needs in a variety of areas to dozens of potential assistive technology solutions."

The FCTD Family Information Guide to Assistive Technology and Transition Planning includes the following sections: We have included many website addresses throughout the guide. Whenever possible, we have listed the URL (the website address) that will take you to the precise page within an organization's website on which the relevant resource appears.

This website is very useful for families who are going through a time of transition and in need of assistive technology. The website is easy to follow and provides many links to the URL that will help assist someone who is interested. One thing that I thought was really interesting about this website is that it gives success stories and discussions for families in need to refer to. One other important factor about this website is that it has a link for a glossary of key transition terms. This will be helpful to families who are new to this process. As a special educator, this resource could come in handy when meeting with a family who has a child in middle or high school in need of transition services. I recommend this website to the family and explain to them how it is set up and what type of information is provided. If the family does not have internet access at home, I would give them an opportunity to explore the website at the school.

"n this informative excerpt from Models of Intervention in Mathematics: Reweaving the Tapestry, you'll learn how digital tools and online environments can be used to: Leverage technology to adjust teaching in the moment Utilize the computer as an assistant teacher Identify student strengths and weaknesses and notify the teacher Dr. Cathy Fosnot is Professor Emeritus of Childhood Education at the City College of New York and at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is the founder and past director of Mathematics in the City (www.mitcccny.org), an internationally recognized center for professional development located at CCNY and funded by the National Science Foundation. A well-known author and speaker around the world on mathematics education, Dr. Fosnot has authored over 40 books and numerous articles on mathematics education, including Models of Intervention in Mathematics: Reweaving the Tapestry. "

This article , or really is a book, is great for getting the most up-to-date, comprehensive information on facilitating transitions for young people with mild, moderate, or severe disabilities. The book includes cutting-edge research, new statistics and legislation, and timely new chapters on: inclusion in schools and in the community; postsecondary education; autism spectrum disorders; high-stakes testing and accountability; assistive technology; customized employment; Social Security benefits and work; incentives; and self-determination. It is broken down into the following sections to make it easy to find what you need his book contains the following sections: (1) Transition Planning; (2) Facilitating and Supporting Transition; (3) Work and Life in the Community; and (4) Designing and Implementing Individualized Transition Plans. It is really a one stop shop for transition strategies. I find this book to be a great resource for any professional working with transition aged students. It has all the basics and more. I would invest in this book if working with transition ages students because it would be a great reference to have. I personally like having my text books as a back up in case I do forget something or need to use them.