Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits
Professionals
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Next: Recomendations
Discussants noted the importance of identification and national distribution of a clear set of outcomes-based strategies and approaches for teaching people how to use AT. Suggestions included use of AT success stories (e.g., academic outcomes) and case studies reflecting consequences of not using AT. Discussants noted that another outcomes desired would be for education and other professional teams to be able to access a point (network) to obtain needed resources for considering and implementing AT. Another outcome might be for the Disney Teacher of the Year to be an education professional who has used AT successfully with students to enhance student achievement. The ongoing involvement of ATIA in planning processes was recommended.
It was further suggested that the Special Education Assistive Technology (SEAT) Center assume a leadership role in collaborating with other national groups to develop innovative training approaches for national dissemination. Discussants observed that opportunities to create a national agenda existed, and that a ‘turning point’ in the field of AT was potentially existent if a plan was initiated quickly that (a) focuses on both short- and long-term wins, and (b) emphasized immediate attention being directed toward short-term wins with student achievement as a context for the group effort. The importance of using an entrepreneurial approach as a backdrop for all planning was emphasized in order to synergize multiple partnerships.
