Fun facts: I love Star Wars, music and reading. Current favorites: Pearl Jam Dark Matter and The Demon of Unrest by Eric Larson

AT in my house - Lever door handles

Professional resource (totally self serving!) - My book Inclusive Learning 365: Edtech Strategies for Every Day of the Year - inclusive365.com

I'm Sadie Weiss and a fun fact about me is that I'm an environmentalist 🌱 I enjoy practicing & promoting conscious consumption and sustainable living practices!

An example of AT in my home is a shoe horn- if you don't know what it is LOOK IT UP. It changed my life for the better.

A Professional Resource

Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading Into the Balanced Literacy Classroom

Book by Jan Miller Burkins and Kari Yates

https://thesixshifts.com/ < this helped me SO much last year!

Looking forward to a great semester together :)

I love to drive around the country, listen to music, and play hockey

AT in my house could be a ramp I made for my dog since she can't do stairs

Professional resource: http://www.pmtassociates.net/index.html

My name is Andrew Gunther. I am from a rural part of New Jersey in Sussex County, and like most of us, I have started my brand new teaching job this month! A fun fact about me is that I have moved three different times. Another fun fact is that I am not the most tech savvy, so I'd love to upload a picture, but I'm not sure the best way to do that from phone to computer.

An AT device that can be found inside my home, and is a staple for wherever I go is closed captions. Some people strongly dislike them, but without closed captions I'm not sure I'd survive with anything that I have watched!

https://www.edutopia.org/article/assistive-technology-resources/

A fun fact about me is that I love to travel, and this summer, I went to Alaska (as shown above, although you can't see much).

An AT device that used to be in my house was a chair lift by our front stairs for my grandma, who used to live with us. Now it is at my other grandma's house.

A professional resource I would like to share is the book Let Them. I believe it benefits all aspects of life, including education, family, and friendships.

AT that I have in my house is a vibrating alarm clock!

A professional resource that I love is storyline online!

How's it going, my name's Dillon.

In my free time I like to rock climb, skate, and do puzzles.

I just moved so there's not much but an AT that I have at my apartment is my standing lamp. The lighting in the apartment is really wonky so it's helpful to have a light source that I can freely move around.

My professional resource is a podcast that I found on Spotify called Secondary Science Simplified by Rebecca Joyner. It fills a niche so a lot of the stuff won't apply to people but there's a lot of helpful stuff for new teachers if you dig through it.

I am currently working as a Kindergarten teacher, and a resource that I have been using is Tara West's resources for math.

Thank you so much for a great intro to our fall course. Wishing everyone a great second week of classes/work!

Fun fact about me is I have a black belt in taekwondo!

An AT device in my house is the banister against the wall in my stairwell.

A resource I use in my class is the website https://line-of-action.com/ (Although it's not very useful unless you are teaching a drawing class). I also recently read The First Days Of School by Harry and Rosemary Wong. :)

AT device in my home: Video doorbell.

A resource I love is storyonline! My class loves to watch these during snack, and saves me from lots of chaos!

Ever since I was a kid, I hated IOS, I wanted to be different, I guess, but I stuck with it. I am either a Google Pixel user or a Samsung user, but regardless, I am an Android user. I currently have a Samsung Galaxy S 25. There are numerous accessibility settings, including text-to-speech, and a feature that speaks to you to assist individuals with visual impairments. There is also AI built into it. It is pretty advanced and can lots of things for accessibly.

AT in my house- or I should say outside of my house- a camera facing the driveway for security purposes but also makes sound when activity is nearby.

A professional resource I have been loving lately and using a whole lot is The First Six Weeks of School from Responsive Classroom! It has been a wonderful guide as a first year teacher and I have been able to pull further resources and techniques from reading it.

2.An area of QIAT, professional development, is able to look at how they maintain quality as services are provided to students.

3.QIAT requires ongoing collaborative work within members.

Using QIAT indicators to support more effective consideration of AT needs helps students with disabilities. Using these indicators allows IEP teams to make more student centered decisions. QIAT supports that AT must be considered for every student who has an IEP. QIAT also supports that the individual student needs are being looked at, not just what is available for them to use. AT should be able to help students with the curriculum, which is something that they consider.

1. QIAT stands for quality indicators for assistive technology services. QIAT uses meaningful data, collaboration, and AT consideration to create indicators for the student.

2. There are 7 quality indicators: should be considered for all students with disabilities, should be a collaborative decision-making process, should have collective knowledge and skills, should be based on the IEP goals & objectives and access to other activities, should gather and analyze data, should have a range of assistive technology, and should have results that are documented in the IEP.

3. It can be helpful to review sample IEPs in your district, observe the AT used in your district, consider AT as much as you can, and provide AT in multiple formats.

   Using the QIAT indicators can act as a guideline or checklist to make sure that I am effectively considering AT needs of each student.

Takeaways: Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) is when children show abnormal visual responses that aren't caused by the eyes themselves. This can have consequences on their motor, social, cognitive, emotional communication/language, and psychological development. After learning from the first case study discussed with Ben. Some recommendations for Ben to be able to use his usable vision and learn are color highlighting for sight word recognition, slant boards, creating simple books with pictures, and using familiar word labels. Another thing I learned was the different iPad Modifications. There are different applications, videos, and actions that can be made to accommodate learners.

#2: High Tech Solutions for Low Vision to No Vision.

Takeaways: I learned about the apps that exist to enhance learning in the classroom for students without vision. It is important to become familiar with these in order to best support learning in the class with visual impairments. This is something that I am not familiar with which is why I chose this Webinar. Text-to-speech is a great way for students to be able to learn what is on the screen. This can help students with visual impairments be able to use the same assignments and resources as their peers, since text-to-speech would be able to read it to them.

This webinar was packed with practical ideas and tools to support students with visual impairments. The presenters familiarized me with braille devices, video magnifiers, screen readers and applications. They helped to understand how to choose the right tech based on each student’s specific needs, which is something that causes me to get overwhelmed sometimes. Also, the importance of trying out tools before purchasing to make sure they’re a good fit.

I really liked how the presenters emphasized that it’s not about having the fanciest device, but about what truly helps each student learn and be independent.

#2 VHT7

This presentation did a great job showing how accessible and inclusive STEM learning can be for anyone. It emphasized how any student, including those with visual impairments, can succeed in STEM. It’s just about giving them the right tools.

What stood out to me most, again, was that accessibility doesn’t have to mean high tech or expensive. Everyday classroom items like legos, yarn, and card games can be used to teach STEM.

Vooks is so exciting to me as well as it brings an entirely new element to a story. They offer a lot of them for free on youtube so I think this might be my new snack time show!

Option #5 (Creating an AT Assessment Tool for Blind/Low Vision in Transition) - Screens and technology are not always bad to use with students. Considering that older students rely on their computers more, it is great that there are features such as voice to text, and other applications that support communication.

Share your 3 top features.

Don't forget to add your name to your post!

ECC: Expanded core curriculum

Many parents of DHH kids make the mistake of waiting to expose their child to ASL until they themselves are fluent. It is much more effective to expose DHH children to a more limited ASL vocabulary at a younger age. Teachers with DHH students should focus their instruction on ASL literacy as it leads to stronger English literacy. Teachers with DHH students can screen record content and source ASL translation to pair with it. This requires teachers to have their lessons planned further in advance. They can also use ASL translator apps and ASL dictionaries. 

• High Tech Solutions for Low Vision to No Vision

a. Assistive technology for low to no vision include braille notetakers, braille displays, braille teaching devices, embossers, tablet based electronic video amplifiers, portable desktop video magnifiers, PC based electronic video magnifiers, handheld video magnifier, headset devices, scan and read reading devices, and orientation and mobility electronic devices.

b. While AT for people with low to no vision is expensive, there are many more affordable programs and applications that serve similar purposes. For example, a magnification device can cost upwards of $3000, while high quality PC or tablet based magnification programs are one sixth of that price.

Tier 1 supports for all students may include Universal Supports with AT, e.g., universal supports may include text-to-speech software, visual timers, digital graphic organizers, or reading platforms designed to be accessible for all students.

When student data indicate a student requires more targeted support through technology (e.g., speech-to-text to assist with writing or customizable reading apps), then a Tier 2 intervention would be appropriate. The team will monitor the student's progress during the short-term intervention.

At Tier 3, AT should be a component of the intensive individualized plan developed for the student, most likely in conjunction with the student's special education and related service providers. In developing this plan, the team should identify specific access or communication needs and select tools that will directly meet these needs.

To implement this concept school wide, MTSS teams should receive training on the various options for AT, develop protocols for determining when and how to consider AT, and establish shared access to tools and data systems across all tiers.

organizing information and resources. One thing that I do for my students to help them have access to the materials is in my study guides. Within my study guides, I organize all of the resources that we've used so far into 3 different categories. Note slides, blooket reviews, and classwork/homework. I then give them access to all of the materials so that they can pick through it. This allows them to choose which way they want to study while also giving them access to all of the materials.

2) Speechstream can even read out loud complex math equations. Growing up math was always difficult for me, and I believe part of that was from reading equations. I saw the symbols but didnt understand what each represented or what they were truly asking. This would have been such a help!

3) This is less a feature, more a motto. "Neurodiverse employees can bring a whole new perspective to your business!" This made me so happy to see. My thesis project is about modern day capitalism and its negative impact on neurodiverse people. The workforce doesn't usually accommodate the needs of a wide range of people, so this made me excited!

- Encourages shared decision-making instead of one person choosing their tools on their own. When everyone involved understands the student’s needs, environments, and goals, AT is more likely to be used consistently and successfully.

- QIAT indicators push teams to slow down and clearly define goals, baselines, and think about what progress looks like. This “front-loading” helps avoid rushing to high-tech solutions and leads to more intentional AT decisions.

-Instead of just focusing on specific devices, QIAT indicators emphasize reducing barriers across environments. This can include low-tech options, built-in features, and instructional supports that help students fully participate in their learning.

This reading really made me think about how tricky it can be to support students with autism emotionally. Sensory and communication differences can make it hard for them to show or explain feelings, so anxiety, depression, or other challenges can go unnoticed. Many students also have co-existing conditions, so it’s important to look at the whole picture, not just autism or behavior alone. Tools like the UCC and careful observation help us understand what’s really going on and provide support that actually works.