Plan Now for Strong Fall Transitions with Students Using Assistive Technology

As we face spring and the end of the school year, we have transitions...the movement of a student from elementary to middle, middle to high school, on to college and then out the door to life. It seems like it happens all too fast.
There are so many changes and adjustments to make. Parents get nervous about new settings, new staff and how their child will fare. Teachers feel overwhelmed by new cases that they have to study and students that they have to become familiar with. There are new routines to learn, new curriculum, new environments, etc.
I have seen transitions that were seamless and transitions that were bumpy at best. New teachers have to get up to speed on a student, but sometimes the same assistants go with a student to help. New IEP's and new goals, re-adjusting and fine-tuning what is being done - all can slow down progress being made.
In assistive technology, I have the distinct honor to follow sudents through their school career, so I can be one point of A.T. memory so to speak, going to new schools with the students as they advance and sharing what we have been doing can help a lot.
To help prevent the potential bogging down of the wheels of progress, here are some ideas you can implement in your transition planning now to make next fall a whole lot easier:

1. Don't assume anything! Never assume that a new school in your district will pick up the AT torch and carry it on without any glitches. Be available every step of the way to get things started. The AT specialist (or other specialist in charge of it) may be the only AT advocate for the student in the new environment for awhile. Don't dismiss your importance in training and sharing what is being used for support and accommodations.
1. Use Video: Take video now (don't wait) of a special activity that showcases the use of AT with a student. Send it on with the student and let the up-coming staff see first-hand what the student can do and what is possible to accomplish.
2. Send up-to-date reports at the end of the year explaining what was used specifically and how it was incorporated. Don't assume therapists in other areas will include details about it in their reports. Many of the files I get on new students have sparse AT notes. Sometimes there are notes of trials or recommendations, but not a lot of detail on things that were used and how they were used.
3. Transition equipment as well as students within a district. Try to make purchases district purchases - not individual school purchases. I have some schools that buy a Big Mack, a recordable communicator, or some piece of equipment and send it on with a student within the district for the student, but sometimes a school will keep the equipment for other students and send a student on empty-handed. It then becomes the high school or middle school's responsibility to find the money to get it to continue a service plan. This can eat up weeks or even months of time. I have an equipment center that can loan items to schools in the interim, but many districts don't have that luxury. Plan ahead for these glitches.
4. Spend time investing in the new staff that works with the student as soon as possible. Try and shorten the lag time between the first day of school and getting AT implementation up and running, by really shadowing an assistant for a few sessions. Follow the "Watch me, then do it with me, then do it by yourself while I watch you" steps to training and you will have strong AT implementation coming out of transition.

Following these steps takes some extra effort, but when you weigh the time spent at the beginning of a new transition done well vs. time spent over an over throughout the year struggling to get something going, the first example is more efficient in the long run and will save you time. I know there are many of you that have advice in this area and it would be great to hear from you.

Our new topic for our next Assistive Technology Blog Carnival coming up will be on transitions and how they went well or went bad - what tricks or tips help, what the obstacles are and how to overcome them. I will be posting more on this over the week and hope to hear from many of you. We can share information that will strengthen this area for all of us.

All the best as you press into the last few weeks of the school year!

Lon




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Assistive Technology & Transition Discussion On FCTD

I was excited to see Gayl Boswer, AT pioneer, as the moderator and discussion leader for a discussion on AT and transition on The Family Center on Technology and Disability site now through May 8 (Started on April 13).
About the discussion:
"We hope you'll join us ... (and) explore the many facets of planning for assistive technology devices and services as children move through the important transitions in their lives. Whether you're a parent, teacher, therapist, or disability professional, we know you'll learn a lot from Gayl and the many knowledgeable discussion participants."
I have enjoyed reading some of the threads. There is always a lot of good information, and their past archives have wonderful content to review.
You don't have to set up an account or register to read or comment, but you do need to type in a name just to identify yourself online.
Take some time to visit for some great discussions.

All the best to you!
Lon




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Transitions without Motivation

Since this is a Saturday post and I will be at the Oregon Coast, I thought I would leave you with a thought on education and transitioning kids and adults with assistive technology.

I have always looked at the motivation factor when looking at success or failure of lessons and units I develop. During my initial teaching years I worked hard at the pedagogy of designing curriculum, the anticipatory set or introduction you gave to the lesson and whether or not you established a real-life connection to students and gave them a reason to learn the content.

Yesterday I was visiting with my sister who is the main family care-giver to our aunt. My aunt has had to move from a small home in a senior living community to a small apartment within the community with more care. She had a stroke, has hand tremors and memory loss. She was a media specialist and librarian in the Salem Oregon Public Schools for years and was always into computers. In her younger years, she was the one with all the new gadgets at our family dinners. I credit a lot of my desire to teach and my love of technology to her example growing up. My sister and I were talking about me helping her access her computer through AT, but the motivation factor isn't there. She has lost all desire to connect with her world because she is losing her independence and would rather die.

I will be doing an AT evaluation on a high school boy soon that is going through a similar situation, except he is losing fine motor, speech and is classified as terminal. He needs support to maintain his quality of life as long as possible. Over the summer, access to computer games and the Internet will be a big piece of his entertainment as he is home all day.

So there are similarities here, but at opposite ends of the age spectrum. When it comes to transitioning students or senior adults into assistive technology support, it doesn't matter the age. Grief and depression have to be dealt with and addressed where folks are losing independence. It takes a great deal of empathy and patience on our part in helping them to adapt.

As an AT specialist I can be looked at as the bad guy coming to force folks to do something they don't want to do - but the reality is that the process of implementation is forcing them to come to grips with their grief and have to let go of it to move on. Grief can be a security blanket and it is no fun being the one that has to take it away. I see the AT as a way to exchange blankets and give a healthier one to hold onto.

One of my goals is to help the individual overcome the desire to just curl up and die. I look at the interests of the individual and try to help them see what is possible. Moving in small access steps to gain a sense of independence is a huge factor. We all have an inner desire to fight for survival and freedom. If I can tap that tinder and spark it to flame, there might be a chance to implement, but it all comes back to that motivation factor. My teaching years, keeping young sixth graders engaged and learning is paying off these days in situations I am facing.

If you have some techniques that have proven successful, I'm sure we would love to hear from you. I would encourage you to post a comment sharing with us what you have done to help others overcome, or how you personally overcame.

I am posting this as a Saturday post even though it is Friday. I will be gone this weekend and can't guarantee I will be where I can post anything. I haven't figured out the auto-post process yet. I know there is a way to do it. I read a tutorial on using an auto-responder and sending the blog post to the blogger email address to post. If you know more on that, I would love to hear! Have a great weekend!

All the best to you!

Lon