Assistive Techonlogy for Students in College

In my previous blog, I discussed two resources, the Oregon Technology Access Program (OTAP) and University of Kentucky Assistive Technology (UKAT). Today, I will examine the assistive technology accommodations for students with disabilities in college. 

The video below is a bit long but very informative on college students with disabilities and how and when they receive services.

AT can be used to help college students during classes and testing situations and in completing assignments. In college, one of my sorority sisters was legally blind but had very low eyesight enough to read with a magnifying machine. Her eye sight started to deteriorate when she was in 5th grade and slowly decreased until she was unable to see at all. On most occasion, she used braille but there were other times she was able to utilize the magnifying materials. In classes, she used a tape recorder in the beginning and the professors provided visual copies of their notes. In senior year, she was given a device that recorded the lectures and transferred them onto her computer. She always took her test in a different environment from the class. Sometimes, she had a scriber or she wrote on her own. I was always interesting to study with her because she had to work ten times harder to receive the information but never complained about it. In the beginning of our friendship, I found her determination amazing and encouraging.  I saw her fight to be treated just as other students although she was treated as if she was incapable of completing any task occasionally. Another friend did not have any hands. He completed all his work on a specially designed laptop. He took his test with the rest of the class most of the time and recorded lectures also. He utilized text to speech software but the software was in its beginning stages while he was in college and did not always work appropriately. He decided to type on his own with the help of word prediction software. Those are some of the accommodations, I have witnessed for college students. Below is a list of accommodations for college students with disabilities linked to task required to college coursework.

Task	Typical Non-technology Accommodations	Technology Based Accommodations
Note Taking	Student note takers using carbonless paper	-Use of a portable note taker (Neo). -Smart Pen to record lectures and sync to notes Whiteboard capturing devices
Understanding Lectures	Sign language interpreters	-C-print captioning Assistive listening system
Taking test	Extended Time on tests Distraction free test environment	-Word processing application for essay exams -Use of spell check feature or handheld speller -Use of calculator -Text-to-speech software
Accessing Course Material	Sign language interpreter Arranging materials to be translate into Braille	-Captioned videos -Providing handouts in electronic format -Making course web sites accessible
Reading	Providing Readers	-Books in alternate formats (e-text) -Text to speech -Text readers -Audio Books -Video Magnifiers
Completing papers and other assignments		Screen magnification applications -Screen-reading applications -Text to speech word prediction software -Voice recognition applications -Graphic organizer applications
Accessing the Internet		Providing screen magnification, screen reading or text to speech applications -Making college web pages accessible
Registering for classes	Priority Registration	Making college web based systems available
Telecommunicating		Providing a telecommunication device for the deaf -Email -Text messaging -Instant messaging -Video Relay  system