Accessible Learning Department

Assistive technology is an umbrella term that includes any assistive or adaptive device for people with disabilities. This includes supports for academics, life skills, communication, hearing, and vision. The role of assistive technology and also includes the process of selecting, locating, and implementing devices or supports. At Eaton RESA, our Assistive Technology Consultant specializes in supporting students in their ability to access the curriculum and "show what they know."

Augmentative/Alternative Communication (AAC) includes all forms of communication (other than oral speech) that are used to express thoughts, needs, wants, and ideas. This includes sign, symbols, pictures, and alternative forms of voice output. At Eaton RESA, our AAC specialist supports teams working with students who have complex communication needs. This also includes a process of evaluating, selecting, and implementing devices and supports specific to communication.

Beginning AAC Journey

AAC Support Options

AAC Collaboration Request Ticket Link (staff only)

Prompting Statement

Video on Prompting Statement

NJC Communication Bill of Rights

Alt+Shift AAC Fundamentals

Deaf/Hard of Hearing refers to students with a hearing loss of any degree. Students with an educationally significant hearing loss (which is determined by an IEP team) may qualify for Special Education services from a Teacher Consultant/Specialist for the D/HH. A TC-D/HH provides many services, which may include: collaboration with IEP team members, Audiology clinics, and ENT's, consultation with professional staff, students, and families of students with hearing loss; direct service therapy to address Self Advocacy needs, educational support, and hearing aid technology/FM support. At ERESA, our Teacher Specialists for the D/HH are here to serve you and your students! 

The Teacher Consultant for the Visually Impaired (TCVI) provides services to students who are blind or visually impaired. Visual impairment, including blindness, means an impairment in vision that even with correction, adversely affects a child’s educational performance. The term includes partial sight, blindness, and a progressively deteriorating eye condition. An evaluation for a visual impairment includes a review of an eye report from an optometrist or ophthalmologist, a Functional Vision Learning Media Assessment, and possibly an Orientation and Mobility Evaluation. 

The TCVI supports classroom teachers to make appropriate classroom accommodations in order to allow the student to access the core curriculum. Some of these accommodations might include seat position in the classroom, font size for near and distance tasks, specifications for lighting, enlarging materials, use of special paper/markers, use of a slant board, use of a line guide, use of a magnification device, and use of specific technology. The TCVI may also provide direct instruction in any area of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC).  The curriculum includes skills that are needed by students with visual impairments due to their unique disability-specific needs. The Expanded Core Curriculum covers nine areas including: compensatory skills, orientation and mobility, social interaction, independent living skills, recreation and leisure, sensory efficiency, assistive technology, career education, and self determination. The TCVI works to make sure the student, staff, and family understand the impact of the visual impairment on both school and life activities.

A student who is blind or visually impaired might also need services from an Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Specialist. Orientation refers to understanding where you are in space and mobility is the ability to move through that space to get from one point to another. With structured and sequential instruction in O&M, even a student who is totally blind can learn how to safely and independently travel in both familiar and unfamiliar settings. O&M instruction includes teaching basic concepts of different indoor and outdoor environments, residential travel, street crossings, travel in semi-business and business environments, and the use of all forms of public transportation. All of this is paired with instruction in the proper technique and use of the long cane when necessary.  

The TCVI and O&M specialist work closely together, in collaboration with the school team and family, to provide a comprehensive education for the student who is blind or visually impaired. The goal is for students to have full access to the core curriculum, be well rounded in areas of the expanded core curriculum, and have the skills to be safe and independent travelers.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (P.L. 105-17) requires that assistive technology be provided for all students with disabilities who require it. The law specifies that:

(a) Each public agency shall ensure that assistive technology devices or assistive technology services, or both, as those terms are defined in §§300.5-300.6, are made available to a child with a disability if required as a part of the child's -

(1) Special education under §§300.26;

(2) Related services under §§300.24; or

(3) Supplementary aids and services under §§300.38 and 300.550(b)(2).

(b) 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.

Definition of Assistive Technology

IDEA defines assistive technology devices and services in the following way:

§300.5 Assistive technology device: any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.

§300.6 Assistive technology service: any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device. Services include:

(a) The evaluation of the needs of a child with a disability, including a functional evaluation of the child in the child's customary environment;

(b) Purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the acquisition of assistive technology devices by children with disabilities;

(c) Selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing assistive technology devices;

(d) Coordinating and using other therapies, interventions, or services with assistive technology devices, such as those associated with existing education and rehabilitation plans and programs;

(e) Training or technical assistance for a child with a, if appropriate, that child's family; and

(f) Training or technical assistance for professionals (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.