What is Adaptive Technology?According to Wikipedia, Adaptive Technology is the name for products which help people who cannot use regular versions of products, primarily people with physical disabilities such as limitations to vision, hearing, and mobility.

Adaptive Technology promotes greater effectiveness for persons with functional limitations or disabilities by enabling them to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing. Adaptive Technology provides changed methods of interacting with or enhancements to the technology.

July 18, 2008

According to a recent Newswise article, the University of Washington’s Computer Science & Engineering department is working on personalizing computer interfaces based on an individual’s needs. This will take into account your disability and the limitations it imposes, unlike the pre-made devices you buy in the store.

This voter with a manual dexterity disability is making choices on a touchscreen with a head dobber.

This is a sip-and-puff device which allows a person with substantial disability to make selections and navigate computerized interfaces by controlling inhalations and exhalations.

Assistive Technology

The device uses:

• the touch screen
• picture capabilities
• video capabilities

It has a built-in speaker, so the person can use the touch screen to select video recordings of common phrases or adaptive commands and verbalize them. The device costs about $250 per unit. Many devices, for multiple student use, can be synched within minutes from a central computer.

Closed captioning is a term describing several systems developed to display text on a television or video screen to provide additional or interpretive information to viewers who wish to access it. Closed captions typically display a transcription of the audio portion of a program as it occurs (either verbatim or in edited form), sometimes including non-speech elements.

A still frame showing simulated closed captioning in the pop-on style

The Barack Obama 2009 presidential inauguration used "roll-up"-style open captions on some JumboTrons.

The term "closed" in closed captioning indicates that not all viewers see the captions—only those who choose to decode or activate them. This distinguishes from "open captions" (sometimes called "burned-in" or "hardcoded" captions), which are visible to all viewers.

The Text-to-Speech Process (from Wikipedia)

A text-to-speech system (or "engine") is composed of two parts: a front-end and a back-end. The front-end has two major tasks. First, it converts raw text containing symbols like numbers and abbreviations into the equivalent of written-out words... The back-end—often referred to as the synthesizer—then converts the symbolic linguistic representation into sound.

New Equipment for Adaptive Technology Centre

An annual gift from the Ross and Doris Dixon Foundation assists the Library with purchasing equipment and furnishings that enhances services to persons with disabilities. This photo shows a student sitting in one of the Adaptive Technology Centre's new ergonomic chairs.

Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology

People with disabilities meet barriers of all types. However, technology is helping to lower many of these barriers. By using computing technology for tasks such as reading and writing documents, communicating with others, and searching for information on the Internet, students and employees with disabilities are capable of handling a wider range of activities independently.

Video
A 14-minute, Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology may be freely viewed online at http://www.washington.edu/doit/Video/wt_dis.html

Planning Instruction for all Students: Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Rather than modifying an existing lesson, the UDL philosophy advocates designing lessons, assessments, and activities with accessibility in mind from the start. By presenting content in a variety of formats, providing alternative ways to demonstrate knowledge, and using flexible teaching methods, teachers can meet the needs of all students, including those who experience disabilities or learning differences.

College: You Can DO-IT!
College students with disabilities and staff share advice for success in college.

Classroom & Labs - Adaptive Technology

Information Technology Services is in the process of developing an Adaptive Technology program that will make current assistive software and hardware available to disabled students on campus.

Closing the Gap is a magazine published six times a year. It highlights hardware and software products appropriate for people with special needs, and explains how this technology is being implemented in education, rehabilitation, and vocational settings around the world. The Closing The Gap's annual international conference, Assistive Technology in Special Education and Rehabilitation, is held each fall in Minneapolis, MN, exploring the many ways that technology is being used to enhance the lives of people with special needs. Register for what's considered to be the most practical, educational Assistive Technology conference in North America.

Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC) helps to ensure that emerging information technology and practices are designed inclusively from the very beginning. Jutta Treviranus, Director of the ATRC, states that, "Inclusion benefits everyone, it should be everyone's concern and, in this digitally transformed reality that we live and work in - where consumption does not consume and space has no limits - there is no downside to inclusion and it is possible to make room for us all." This site offers the following links plus much more:

Technical Glossary

Conferences, Workshops & Training

Research and Development

Consultation

Online Resources

AODA Standards & Compliance

Sign Links

Register for the AT4ALL Conference which will provide participants with the opportunity to gain additional insight into how assistive technology can support barrier-free learning environments through various presentations, workshops and plenary sessions. Download the Conference Flyer in PDF Format.

Paradox Sports offers Adaptive Technology and Resources to boost the active disabled

Michigan Department of Education (MDE) - Curriculum Integration 2006

Education Articles on Learning, K-12 Teaching, Special Education

Assistive Technology Training and Information Center (ATTIC)

Disabilities and Special Education

Tutorials for Adaptive Technology

Technology Info, Tips, and FAQs

Burgstahler, S. (1992). Working Together: People with Disabilities and Computer Technology. University of Washington,1-4. Retrieved August 7, 2009, from http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/PDF/wtcomp.pdf

Creating Technology that Adapts To YOU. July 18, 2008. Retrieved August 5, 2009 from http://www.brainandspinalcord.org/blog/tag/adaptive-technology/

Fries-Gaither, J., (March 2008). Planning Instruction for all Students: Universal Design for Learning. Ohio State University. Retrieved August 7, 2009, from http://www.cast.org/research/udl/index.html

New Equipment for Adaptive Technology Centre. March 16, 2006. Vol. 6, No. 3. Retrieved August 5, 2009 from http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/newsatlib/060316/new_equipment.html

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