Duties
Essential Functions
- Support IEP/IFSP teams in completing assistive technology assessments
- Provide technical assistance and support to school personnel and families with implementation of assistive technology
- Provide professional development opportunities to connect staff and families with training
- Troubleshoot technical difficulties and provide technical assistance and basic maintenance for assistive technology devices
- Participate as a team member when IEP/IFSP teams need additional expertise to consider and implement assistive technology programs
- Lead SETT meetings to match the needs and abilities of students with the right assistive technology tools
- Oversee District collection of AT tools
- Assist with assuring District compliance with consideration of AT per federal guidelines
- Establish District policies and protocols for implementation of AT
- Lead an AT team to support staff and students, while advancing initiatives
Assessment, Diagnosis, and Evaluation
Skills
- Analyze, summarize, and report student performance data to aid instructional decision-making regarding technology
- Identify functional needs, screen for functional limitations, and identify if the need for a comprehensive assistive technology evaluation exists
- Refer for additional evaluation regarding technology if adequate data is not available for plan development
- Recognize the need for further evaluation regarding technology, and refer to other professionals when appropriate
- Recognize poor outcomes regarding technology needs, and evaluate and reinitiate the process as needed
- Work with assistive technology team members to identify assistive technologies, both hardware and software, that can help individuals meet the demands placed upon them in their environments
- Define measurable objectives to monitor progress toward achieving stated goals regarding technology
- Observe and measure consumer’s performance with the assistive technology after a period of initial use
- Compare actual performance with anticipated performance and the goals stated in the intervention plan
- Interview the consumer, the family, and caregivers to determine if the technology solution meets their present and future needs
Communication and Collaborative Partnerships
Knowledge
- Roles that related services personnel assume in providing technology services to special education students
Skills
- Recognize the need (how, when, where) to refer a consumer to another professional regarding technology
- Identify assistive technology team members and their roles
- Design and implement integrated technology classroom activities that involve teaming and/or small group collaboration
- Collaborate with consumer and other team members in planning and implementing the use of assistive and adaptive devices
- Participate in collaborative projects and activities involving technology
- Demonstrate effective group process skills
- Communicate effectively including listening, speaking, and writing on technology issues
- Advise general education teachers about the use of technology systems with special education students who are mainstreamed into their classes
Instructional Content and Practice
Knowledge
- Procedures for evaluating computer software and other technology materials for their potential application in special education programs
Skills
- Identify elements of the special education curriculum for which technology applications are appropriate and ways they can be implemented
- Design, deliver, and assess student learning activities that integrate computers/technology for a variety of student populations
- Design student learning activities that foster equitable, ethical, and legal use of technology by students
- Identify and operate software that meets educational objectives for students in multiple educational environments
- Use computers to support various stages of the learning process and to facilitate student reporting of educational achievements
Philosophical, Historical, and Legal Foundations of Special Education
Knowledge
- Legislation and regulations related to technology and their implications for special education
Skills
- Articulate a philosophy and goals for using technology in special education
- Use technology-related terminology appropriately in written and oral communications