Transcript Document

Assistive Technology
Scott F. Johnson, Esq.
NHEdLaw, LLC
www.nhedlaw.com
Education Law Resource Center
www.edlawrc.com
Assistive Technology
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Special Education
NCLB
How we got here
Congress included it
in the IDEA in 1990
because of
Congressional
findings that it
provided students
with disabilities new
opportunities to
participate in
programs.
How we got here
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Gap between need
and level of
awareness.
Confusion about
the vocabulary of
terms referencing
technology.
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Clarify range of
devices and
services available.
Increase
awareness.
What is it?
Assistive technology device.
Assistive technology device means:
Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether
acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized,
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That is used to increase, maintain, or improve the
functional capabilities of a child with a disability.
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The term does not include a medical device that is
surgically implanted, or the replacement of that device.
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Authority: 20 U.S.C. § 1401(1), 34 CFR § 300.5
What is it?
Assistive technology service.
Assistive technology service means
any service that directly assists a child
with a disability in the selection,
acquisition, or use of an assistive
technology device.
Authority: 20 U.S.C. § 1401(2), 34 CFR § 300.6
What is it?
The term includesEvaluating the needs of a child with a
disability, including a functional
evaluation of the child in the child's
customary environment;
Evaluations
During development, review or
revision of IEP
 Functional
 Customary environment

What is it?
Purchasing, leasing, or otherwise
providing for the acquisition of
assistive technology devices by
children with disabilities;
 Selecting, designing, fitting,
customizing, adapting, applying,
maintaining, repairing, or replacing
assistive technology devices;

What is it?

Coordinating and using other therapies,
interventions, or services with assistive
technology devices, such as those
associated with existing education and
rehabilitation plans and programs;
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Training or technical assistance for a
child with a disability or, if appropriate,
that child's family; and
What is it?
Training or technical assistance for
professionals (including individuals
providing education or rehabilitation
services), employers, or other
individuals who provide services to,
employ, or are otherwise substantially
involved in the major life functions of
that child.
Purpose
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Goal is to assist
student in
becoming
independent
learner.
Not a substitute
for teaching
Supplements
instruction
Obligation to provide
§ 300.105 Assistive technology; proper functioning of
hearing aids.
(a)(1) Each public agency must ensure that assistive
technology devices or assistive technology services, or both,
as those terms are defined in §§ 300.5 and 300.6,
respectively, are made available to a child with a disability if
required as a part of the child’s—
(i) Special education under § 300.36;
(ii) Related services under § 300.34; or
(iii) Supplementary aids and services under §§ 300.38 and
300.114(a)(2)(ii).
Special Education
Specially designed instruction at no
cost to the parent to meet the unique
needs of he child including:
instruction in the classroom,
home, hospitals, institution’s and
other settings
34 CFR s 300.36
Special Education
Goal now to ensure access to
general curriculum to meet
educational standards.
 Assistive technology devices can
help provide access.

Special Education
Includes:
 Speech-language services
 Travel Training
 Vocational Education
Travel Training

Students who require instruction to
enable them to:
Develop an awareness of the
environment which they live.
 Learn the skills necessary to move
effectively and safely from place to
place within that environment (school,
home, work, community)

Vocational education
Educational programs that prepare
students for paid or unpaid
employment or additional preparation
for a career that requiring other than
a baccalaureate or advanced degree.
Related Services
(a) General. As used in this part, the term related services
means developmental, corrective, and other supportive
services as are required to assist a child with a
disability to benefit from special education, and
includes speech-language pathology and audiology
services, psychological services, physical and occupational
therapy, recreation, including therapeutic recreation, early
identification and assessment of disabilities in children,
counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling,
orientation and mobility services, and medical services for
diagnostic or evaluation purposes. The term also includes
school health services, social work services in schools, and
parent counseling and training.
Parent training
Parent counseling and
training means(i) Assisting parents in
understanding the special
needs of their child;
(ii) Providing parents with
information about child
development; and
(iii) Helping parents to
acquire the necessary
skills that will allow them
to support the
implementation of their
child's IEP or IFSP.
Supplemental Aids/Services
As used in this part, the term
supplementary aids and services
means, aids, services, and other supports
that are provided in regular education
classes or other education-related
settings to enable children with
disabilities to be educated with
nondisabled children to the maximum
extent appropriate in accordance with
§§300.550-300.556.
34 CFR § 300.38
LRE
That special classes, separate schooling or
other removal of children with disabilities
from the regular educational environment
occurs only if the nature or severity of the
disability is such that education in regular
classes with the use of supplementary aids
and services cannot be achieved
satisfactorily.
34 CFR § 300.550(b)(2).
How decide when needed?
On a case-by-case basis, the use of
school-purchased assistive technology
devices in a child's home or in other
settings is required if the child's IEP
team determines that the child needs
access to those devices in order to
receive FAPE.
34 CFR § 300.105(b)
When needed
IEP Team must consider whether the
child requires assistive technology
devices and services when developing
reviewing or revising an IEP.
34 CFR § 300.346(a)(2)(v)
Appendix A
36. Under what circumstances is a
public agency required to permit a
child with a disability to use a
school-purchased assistive
technology device in the child's
home or in another setting?
Appendix A
Each child's IEP team must consider the
child's need for assistive technology (AT) in
the development of the child's IEP
(§300.346(a)(2)(v)); and the nature and
extent of the AT devices and services to be
provided to the child must be reflected in
the child's IEP (§300.346(c)).
Appendix A
A public agency must permit a child to use
school-purchased assistive technology
devices at home or in other settings, if the
IEP team determines that the child
needs access to those devices in
nonstop settings in order to receive
FAPE (to complete homework, for
example).
Appendix A
Any assistive technology devices that are
necessary to ensure FAPE must be provided
at no cost to the parents, and the parents
cannot be charged for normal use, wear
and tear.
Cases/enforcement
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Due process hearing in NH.
Team agreed student needed AT and
agreed to two hours of training.
Parents requested further training for the
student but it was not provided.
Student testified did not know how to use
the programs provided.
Hearing officer ordered further training.
Cases
Kevin T. v. Elmhurst Community School Dist. No.
205, 2002 WL 433061, *12 (N.D.Ill. 2002)
Evidence: Witnesses testified that AT would have
helped Kevin overcome poor academic
performance. Inability to process auditory
information was one of the main causes of his
failure to make academic progress.
Parent evaluator recommended "as much visual
input as possible," which could have been provided
by AT and believed that Kevin could have
"definitely" benefited from AT.
Cases – Kevin T.
A vocational assessment noted that Kevin could
benefit from the use of vocabulary building
software.
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AT was discussed at IEP meetings but "it wasn't
discussed in any detail."
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Case manager, was not even familiar with what
constituted AT.
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Kevin was never assessed specifically for AT by
the school.
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Cases – Kevin T.
Ruling:
Court finds that the District failed to
consider or provide Kevin for AT in
violation of the IDEA. Ordered
compensatory education and services
to 21.
Cases
Coale v. State Dept. of Educ., 162
F.Supp.2d 316, 334 (D.Del. 2001)
IEP was not required to describe how
student was to use his assistive technology
to achieve his goals.
Even if such disclosures were required, the
failure to state them in the IEP was
harmless because these were topics that
had been discussed at IEP team meetings.
Cases
East Penn School Dist. v. Scott B., (E.D.Pa. 1999)
Evidence:
 Student needed to learn to use a laptop
computer and word prediction program in a
functional manner as a tool for language.
The
District's plan did not integrate the assistive
technology into all aspects of student’s written
language needs and did not provide a strategy for
the student to learn to use the technology
effectively.
Cases – Scott B.
Ruling:
IEP substantively flawed because the
assistive technology component was
inappropriate as formulated by the District,
in that it would not confer any meaningful
educational benefit to student.
Cases – Scott B.
The assistive device component was inappropriate
because:
it was not designed to permeate student’s
entire school day;
(1)
the keyboarding instruction that he received
was inadequately adapted to his physical needs;
(2)
the School District took nearly a year in
obtaining and setting up the assistive device.
(1)
Cases – Eric H.
Eric H. v. Methacton Sch. Dist., 265
F.Supp.2d 513 (E.D.Pa. 2003)
Facts: Student has leukemia and
cannot attend school when at risk of
infection. School sends homebound
instructor to student. Parents want
VTC equipment to virtually participate
in class.
Cases – Eric H.
Evidence: Student acted up on VTC
and in doing so disrupted the class.
Ruling: homebound instruction
sufficient to provide FAPE and meet
goals and objectives in IEP.
Cases
Sherman v. Mamaroneck, 340 F.3d 87
(2nd Cir. 2003)
Facts: Student’s IEP required
calculator. Student used one in prior
year. Parent asked that student be
able to use more advanced version.
Left undecided as school began.
Cases - Sherman
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Student began using T1-92 and school
objected saying it was not appropriate as
it did the work for the student (factoring,
graphing) when student was capable of
doing on his own or with prior calculator.
School would not allow use of T1-92 on
tests or for assignments.
School offered to use T1-92 just to check
answers but parents rejected.
Cases - Sherman
Ruling: School not required to allow
T1-92 since student able to the math
work with the older one and because
it undermines the educational process
by providing answers student could
obtain on his own with older
calculator.
Cases Lessons Learned
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Have to know what it is
Have to consider it for IEP
Have to provide training to allow student
to understand and use it.
Don’t have to provide specifically how it
will be used in the IEP (more of a lesson
plan).
Lessons learned
Don’t have to provide a specific type
of service or device if it is
detrimental to student or disruptive
to class (if can meet needs another
way).
 Don’t have to provide certain
version if it undermines learning
process and if student can do the
work with some other form of AT.
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The End