Assistive Technology for Young Children: Creating Inclusive Learning Environments

Assistive technology (AT) can help young children with disabilities fully participate in natural, inclusive learning environments but many early childhood professionals don t get the training they need. Fill that gap with this unintimidating, reader-friendly resource, the go-to guide to recommended AT practice for children birth 5. Developed by two leading early childhood specialists with in-depth expertise in assistive technology, this book demystifies AT and gives readers solutions they can implement right away, regardless of their technical experience. Early childhood professionals will learn about the broad spectrum of AT supports for children with disabilities from low-cost, low-tech options such as Velcro and homemade switches to higher tech options such as speech-generating software. Educators, early interventionists, SLPs, and other professionals will learn how to select, implement, and purchase AT devices; determine funding options for AT; assess children s needs; use AT to aid implementation of universal design for learning; embed AT into activity-based intervention; and support communication, language development, and early literacy skills. Professionals will get a CD-ROM with printable forms for evaluating children s AT needs, determining which types of tools and strategies to use, and creating individual AT toolkits that help children meet OSEP outcomes and developmental goals. A must for AT novices and seasoned users alike, this professional resource and supplemental textbook will help readers use the best of today s technology to ensure a fully inclusive education for young children.|Assistive technology (AT) can help young children with disabilities fully participate in natural, inclusive learning environments but many early childhood professionals don t get the training they need. Fill that gap with this unintimidating, reader-friendly resource, the go-to guide to recommended AT practice for children birth 5. Developed by two leading early childhood specialists with in-depth expertise in assistive technology, this book demystifies AT and gives readers solutions they can implement right away, regardless of their technical experience. Early childhood professionals will learn about the broad spectrum of AT supports for children with disabilities from low-cost, low-tech options such as Velcro and homemade switches to higher tech options such as speech-generating software. Educators, early interventionists, SLPs, and other professionals will learn how to select, implement, and purchase AT devices; determine funding options for AT; assess children s needs; use AT to aid implementation of universal design for learning; embed AT into activity-based intervention; and support communication, language development, and early literacy skills. Professionals will get a CD-ROM with printable forms for evaluating children s AT needs, determining which types of tools and strategies to use, and creating individual AT toolkits that help children meet OSEP outcomes and developmental goals. A must for AT novices and seasoned users alike, this professional resource and supplemental textbook will help readers use the best of today s technology to ensure a fully inclusive education for young children.

Kathleen Curry Sadao, Ed.D., is a program specialist at the SEEDS Project, Sacramento County Office of Education in California. She is involved in developing training products for the field of early childhood special education with a focus on assistive technology for young children, and she also conducts extensive national training in the AT field.
Nancy B. Robinson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is Associate Professor and Program Coordinator in the Department of Special Education and Communicative Disorders at San Francisco State University. She teaches in the area of AAC and consults with the SEEDS Project in the development of AT for young children with disabilities.