Assistive Technology in an Elementary Library
By Jennifer Harris
Assistive
Technology in an Elementary Library
According
to Chiedu Eseadi “Students who are visually impaired but receive adequate
support at an early stage have a greater chance of progressing in their
academics and future careers” (v8 p117-132, 2023). This can be true for
students with auditory impairment as well. Any early intervention for children
with disabilities optimizes a positive outcome.
Each year
school nurses conduct vision and hearing screening in elementary schools. This is
in hopes of identifying students with vision and hearing deficits that could adversely
affect a students learning and address it as early as possible. Results are
then sent home to parents for early intervention.
For students
with visual impairments a simple trip to the optometrist could resolve issues,
fitting the student with a pair of prescription glasses. For others it could
mean text-to-speech (TTS) software that can help students with reading standard
print. This technology works by scanning the words on a page and reading it
back to the student. This software is also able to support multiple languages,
magnify text and spell-check. Another approach that a school can take is
magnifying the curriculum the student will need throughout the year. Before the
school year starts, the curriculum the student will need is collected and magnified
to a size that is easier for the student to read. This can also be done with
novels, giving the student options to read for pleasure.
Students
that have an auditory impairment may need a hearing aid or cochlear implant.
Assistive learning systems can be used to enhance the hearing aid or cochlear
implant by bringing the sound directly to the ear. FM systems are best used for
children with inner ear hearing loss or nerve damage. The classroom teacher
uses a microphone that is received into the hearing aid or cochlear implant.
This allows for direct communication regardless of distance or background
noise. A sound field system can also be
used throughout the campus and is a microphone that projects the teachers’
voice through speakers in the classroom, library, or any other room on campus.
This can be used for all children in the classroom and helps project the voice in
larger areas where is may be harder to hear.
Thanks to
the advancement in assistive technology students have tools at their disposal
to receive the support they need. School districts are providing more services
at school and at home than ever before, parents just need to know they can ask
for it.
FM Systems: What are they?
Works Cited
Chiedu
Eseadi. “Practice Guidelines for Assisting Students with Visual
Impairments.” Online Submission, vol. 8, no. 2, Jan. 2023, pp.
117–32. EBSCOhost,
research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=feca80af-68ac-3b51-a987-8e8aba442e58.
Neese, Brian. 15 Assistive Technology Tools & Reseources For Students With Disabilites. N/D. www.teachthought.com/technology/assistive-technology
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