Cultural Relevance and Assisstive Technology: A Reflection on “Assistive Technology: Enabling Dreams”

Every day, I use my relatively new Compaq computer. I socialize on Myspace, post a blog or two, e-mail a few professors, surf the World Wide Web for random things and tools, and I conduct research. Every now and again, my computer will freeze or perform incredibly slow and I’ll naturally get frustrated, slam on the control, alt, delete buttons or anxiously click my mouse, while signing in irritation at my computers inability to perform up to my standards. There are days when I hate computers and technology, but then I try to imagine my life without the ability to surf a wealth of knowledge with a few simple and maybe slow clicks of a mouse and I look at my mouse pad, shamefully and take it a bit easier. The reality is that, for millions of disabled people in the United States technology, such my sometimes slow laptop, changes the course of their lives for the better. After viewing “Assistive Technology: Enabling Dreams,” a short movie clip produced by Ken Ellis, under the George Lucas Educational Foundation, I have come to better understand concepts of assistive technology and how such technology provides greater opportunities for individuals with disabilities that were not present before the advent of such technologies.
As explained in the movie clip, technology, for a regular student, is a tool that saves time and effort in performing tasks such as researching, exploring, and creating. But for the disabled individuals, such as college student, Susanna Sweeney-Martini, a simple laptop is a lifeline that enables and empowers her to be more independent and self-sufficient. I was amazed with some of the tools available to the students within the short film, such as those available to the students with disabilities at the Redwood Heights Elementary School in Oakland, California. Students were well-equipped with communication boards that were fitted to the best ways for students to access them. For instance, one student who could only move his eyebrows was fitted with a device that allowed him to communicate, verbally, by lifting and dropping his eyebrows. According to this short video clip, if students are introduced to assistive technology early on, then such students can spend more time learning the content curriculum like his or her “able” classmates.
Seeing all of this assistive technology, I try to recollect about my experience with disabled classmates in my elementary, middle, and high school years. However, I had no experiences. Up until the later part of my college experience, I had never heard of the term “assistive technology.” What I do remember from high school, however, was rather shocking. Students that were immobile and in wheel chairs were often parked in a small classroom and left alone with other disabled students. This experience, now that I recall it in this day and age and having been acquainted with assistive technology, brings me to a discussion that I had been engaged with in a linguistics class. The topic was linguistics and technology, specifically, how students who have access to technology are superior to those who do not have access to technology in the sense that technology is quickly taking over the way in which society functions. Today, it is necessary to know how to use a computer for most that you do. Competency is no longer just whether you can read or not, but is morphing into whether you can type or use the web or not. Those who have access to computer are dubbed as the haves and those who do not have, the have-nots. Clearly, this segregation of students spans across to the disabled community and Guam is a have not community. Similar to the statement made in the clip, most local educators do not know about such assistive tools and also, educators do not include such technologies when planning their lessons. However, for Guam, assistive tools are often not used because the lack of resources and funds to do so. Being a product of a public school and a future educator, there is barely enough money to provide for those without disabilities. For example, going to high school, the computer lab was reserved for students in the computer class and the library had about ten operational computers that serviced, at the time, over 2,000 students. Of course, the population of disabled students is much smaller in comparison to able students. However, assistive technology does not always come cheap. Yet, I would imagine that an investment in a tool that can make the life of a person more successful, possibly in terms of just being able to communicate to others, would warrant the investment. I imagine there are million of others who ponder the same thought as I do.
My ultimate opinion of assistive technology is a positive one, of course. As the movie clip suggests, technological tools can change the lives of those who get to use them and can provide for opportunities for the future that may not have been there otherwise. Assistive technology can open doors for students, doors that may have been nailed shut with a big flashing neon signed that read “closed.” However, coming from a future educator’s perspective and one from Guam, who will teach on the island in about a year, assistive technology needs to come a long way before all, or just most of those with disabilities can take advantage of them. The tools exist, but the funds may not. Persistence and demand are necessary to get what one wants and quite frankly, needs in order to be successful in our society. I believe the Guam Public School System needs to do much more to enable the dreams of the island’s disabled students and that should be at the top of a priority list. And despite what most may think, individuals with disabilities do have dreams and have the potential to pursue them, they may just need the assistive tools to follow through.

“Assistive Technology: Enabling Dreams”. Prod. Ken Ellis. Perf. Sussanna Sweeney-Martini, Sheryl Burgstahler, and Vishal Saraiya. 2005.

To view this clip visit:
http://www.edutopia.org/assistive-technology-enabling-dreams-video

Say No to Diet Convictions: A Reflection of Dr. Diane Nelson Bryen's "Ending the Silence"

A few months ago, I spent my Friday night hooked on a marathon of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. One particular episode was one in which a group of school jocks gang rapped an intellectually disabled girl. While the guardians of the girl, along with law enforcement officials, tried to convict the group of boys for their crime, a slip of words and the coaxing of the defendant’s lawyers, left the girl, her family, and prosecutors without a conviction. The group of boys were let off scott-free and the girl had been made to think that she had asked for it and enjoyed it. Too often in the United States, crime against those with disabilities, especially mental disabilities, are swept under the carpet and ignored because conviction of such crimes is in short, too difficult to sort out and made to seem unimportant because they are just mentally retarded people, right? For those who persist in gaining a conviction and balancing the scales of justice, often a “diet conviction” is given to offenders. Part of the problem in convicting such offenders has to deal more with the victims being competent enough to withstand trial as opposed to focusing on the wrong doing. However, while society and advocates for ending the silence about abuse and neglect upon individuals with disabilities cannot change the course of the current crime rates, Dr. Diane Nelson Bryen, in her presentation, “Ending the Silence: Abuse and Neglect (Protection and Advocacy),” suggests ways in which the disabled and not disabled can prevent abuse and neglect from happening to them. Some of which include teaching them to say no and sex education.
Simple as it seems, teaching a disabled person to say no and discussing sex education can make a difference in who will avoid traumatic situations, but also, who will gain justice if treated unfairly. However, one particular portion of Dr. Bryen’s presentation that caught my full and undivided attention was when she spoke about those who have communicative disabilities (I spoke about this in my last blog). According to Dr. Bryen, one of the communicative tools available on the market is a tool called the Pathfinder. This particular tool is one of the best communicative tools and possibly most expensive. While this tool has 14 different words for pasta, there is no word or graphic symbol for rape or sex, at least not in the standard additions. It seems, and I’m just passing a judgment here, that the technology that is supposed to enable communication disabled individuals is reinforcing society’s general attitude towards the disabled society and rape: sweep it under the rug. Further, if this communicative tool is their only means of successful communication, how can the disabled learn about such concepts if in there electronic vocabulary, sex is not a word? I believe that communicative tools should come equipped and education should be dispensed. As a future high school teacher, I know students are required to take a year of health and sex education. This health and sex education should be inclusive for individuals with disabilities. Often in this class, students learn some ways in which to say no to sex or to defend themselves from sexually aggressive behavior. The same should be done in public schools for those who are disabled and teachers should be ready to teach such techniques. A part of our jobs as educators is to provide a sense of safety for all students.
Bryen, Diane N. "Ending the Silence: Abuse and Neglect (Protection and Advocacy)." Special Lecture Series. University of Guam, Mangilao. 24 Oct. 2008.

Imagine a Week Without Speech: A Reflection On "The Right to Communicate"

Being a person who can not only use spoken language to communicate with others, but one who works with literature, linguistics, and the language arts, I was, for the most part, oblivious to the fact that for about two million individuals, verbal communication is impossible and non-existent. Up until my viewing of Dr. Diane Nelson Bryen's presentation, "The Right to Communicate: Augmentative and Alternative Approach, " I was unaware of the extent to which individuals with communication disabilities suffered because they did not have a working system of language. In fact, according to Bryen, of those who have a communication disability, only half have the proper tools and technology to have a working system of language. So, with my ignorance toward such issues, I became very informed by Dr. Bryen's presentation concerning the Communication Bill of Rights and technological tools that cater to individuals with communicative disabilities.
The Communication Bill of Rights are a set of 12 rights produced by the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities, that outlines what rights that not only every human being should have in terms of communication, but especially and specifically those rights concerning communication that individuals with disabilities should have. For example, one such right is the right to request information. As a person without a communication disability, I am able to gain access to a wealth of knowledge through the simple formation of a verbal question. With this ability, I gain a sense of independence and safety. However, in our modern society, those who cannot speak are seen as uncaring, content, or "stupid." Clearly, this is not true. During Dr. Bryen's presentation, she shared with the audience a group of individuals with communicative disabilities who, using technology, explained that they wanted to be heard and they do have things to say. In terms of technology, anything from a ten cent piece of paper with letters on it, to a 12 thousand dollar digital communication board can make all the difference in the world of a person who cannot communicate in a traditional manner.
During Bryen’s presentation, she shared with the class that as a part of her curriculum for being able to work with individuals with communicative disabilities is a project in which students are not allowed to verbally communicate for two weeks. I try to imagine myself pointing at a picture of a salad and trying to find a way to communicate "Italian dressing" or ordering at a drive through. Just that simple reflection made me realize, not only how much I take granted the fact that I can speak, but more so, that as a future educator, I will one day be faced with an individual with communicative disabilities and so will my communication-abled students. However, after this presentation I felt a little more prepared to work with communicative disabled individuals. I’m no expert, but I came away from the presentation with the idea that education, patience, and advocacy is necessary to ensure that all human beings, disabled or not, have the right to communicate.
Bryen, Diane N. "The Right to Communicate: Augmentative and Alterantive Approach." Special Lecture Series. University of Guam, Mangilao. 17 Oct. 2008.

Internet Safety Presentation

Internet Safety

From: sanchezjiana, 2 minutes ago

Internet Safety

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

This is a presentation compiled by my group for Audio Visual Education. The presentation is intended to teach teachers to teach their students about internet safety.


SlideShare Link

Cyber Safety Technology

Hey everyone,
So this week, my wonderful group mates and I gave a presentation concerning internet safety. In this particular blog, I have included a public service announcement that we created. The presentation will be posted later tomorrow. I hope that who ever may encounter our little presentation and public service announcement will find it, not only entertaining, but also educational and hopefully useful in teaching students about internet safety.

Jiana

Discussion One: Group Synthesis

Hey Everyone,
Group Deux has created a short clip on our free educational online game.
We were tasked to discuss when we thought a good time to introduce are game would be and how we would make the game student-centered. It is nothing elaborate, but once again, it is us attempting to be more technologically literate.

We hope you enjoy our efforts.

*Music was found via itunes by typing in the key word: "star wars theme"

Free Online Educational Game Rubric and Review

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by sanchezjiana

*images were found via http://images.google.com/ by typing in words such as "post its" and "layouts"

Free Online Educational Game Demonstration

Bonjour! Recently, in my attempts to become more technologically literate, for a group presentation concerning free online educational games and rubric creations, I decided to try my luck at creating a game demonstration to share during my group presentation. I also thought I would have the flu and be unable to speak during the presentation. So I wanted to contribute to the group some how...so I made a short instructional video.

Further, in my attempts, I tried to post the entire presentation (PowerPoint and movie clip) to authorstream and slideshare, but whenever it came time for the video, it would not play. But I wanted to give everyone a preview of our presentation while I attempt to figure out how to get things to work in one file.

Up above, you'll find the video and a authorstream presentation. Just in case, here is the URL and let me know what you think.

Jiana

	http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/sanchezjiana-93747-free-online-educational-game-rubric-review-education-final-ppt-powerpoint/