Critical Review of the Research of Assistive Technology - Essay Example

Assistive Technology Assistive Technology Assistive technology (AT) promotes greater independence through allowing people to perform duties, which they were formerly not capable of accomplishing, or had a great trouble accomplishing. The technology does this by offering enhancements to, or modifying techniques of interacting with students with disabilities (Council for Exceptional Children, 2011). Problem behavior of students with disabilities is normally described with regards to three categories comprising of self injury, aggression and property destruction.

Students with disabilities also suffer a lot in various subjects, mainly sciences and mathematics (Beukelman, 2009). However, research proves that teachers, as well as school administrations, have not fully addressed this matter. The instruction problem that this paper will address is mathematics, and how students with disabilities relate to it. Even though in the dark, teaching math to disabled students is undergoing radical change. Fresh developments comprise of mechanisms to classify children who have trouble with math in their early grades and ways of helping these students solve mathematical problems (Becks, 2010).

Moving from computational math to a conceptual framework, these mechanisms ensure that disabled students are ready to tackle complex subjects such as algebra and geometry. Even though, not all students with disabilities have mastered every computational element of mathematics, these mechanisms have assisted many in developing their mathematical skills. In fact, teachers, in the future, particularly special education teachers, might need to reorganize their entire approach to teaching math (Gillam, 2011).

Teachers, in the future, should place more emphasis on understanding the essential principles of math than just teaching, as well as making the subject open and significant to disabled students.Some of the key developments, mathematical-wise, are the screening for mathematics and teaching transference with "hot math" (Council for Exceptional Children, 2011). Word problems are an abomination to a lot of students, with and without disabilities. However, when students with disabilities run into these demons, they experience more challenges than normal students.

They have trouble reading the problem, or they might just take the numbers and add them up, ignoring what is to be solved (Schlosser, 2008). Researchers have come up with a technique of screening for mathematics in these students as a way of noting which student can do well in mathematics. Screening students for mathematics enables educators early to identify whether their disabled students can relate well to mathematics (Schlosser, 2008). Screening for mathematics is similar to the screening made to students to learn their knowledge of phonemic awareness.

In mathematics, screening is carried out in accordance to number sense. Teachers ask these disabled students questions, orally, such as which number is greater, five or seven (Gillam, 2011). Screening has proven to be accurate in classifying disabled students with, who do not know much about numbers. Teaching transference with “hot math”, on the other hand, is allows students to connect with novel problems to the problems that they already know how to solve. Teachers should teach transference skills directly to these disabled children.

In conclusion, in order to assist students with disabilities overcome this problem with mathematics, educators should try to classify students with these problems early enough to help them in developing. It is advisable for every institution to incorporate screening and teaching transference with “hot math” so as to help these students fully understand mathematics. ReferencesBecks, R. (2010). The handbook to educating students with disabilities. New York: Springer Publishers. Beukelman, D. (2009). Augmentative and alternative communication disorders for adults with acquired neurologic disorders.

Baltimore: Brookes Pub.Council for Exceptional Children. (2011). Teaching math to students with disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=7015&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm Gillam, B. (2011). Communication sciences and disorders: From science to clinical practice. San Francisco: Jones & Bartlett Learning.Schlosser, R. (2008). Effects of augmentative and alternative communication intervention on speech production in children with autism: a systematic review.

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 17(3), 212–230.