Assignment - Assistive Technology for Visual and Hearning Impairments

- Assistive Technology for Visual and Hearning Impairments - Assignment Example In addition, these devices are enabling students with such low-incidence disabilities thrive academically and contribute a great deal to their communities, despite any setbacks that they encounter. Teachers today are wise to learn about such devices and become an agent for helping students properly apply the technology to their daily personal and academic lives. What follows is a description and evaluation of several such devices that are currently available and in use today. It is estimated that 24 million Americans suffer from some degree of hearing loss. For students, this can be particularly troubling because, if proper modifications are not implemented, such individuals are placed at an academic disadvantage. It is important to use modern technology to assist students in leveling the ‘playing field’ as much as possible. According to research, students who are hearing impaired can exhibit a low self-esteem, lose interest in many learning activities, fail to participa te in social activities, and often have poor communication skills (DeConde-Johnson & Thibodeu, 2005). As such, looking incorporating assistive technology devices that help hearing impaired students perform better in school and become more sociable with their peers can only serve to benefit the entire academic community. While there are many such devices on the market today, three particularly stand out for their effectiveness, even in the face of certain inherent challenges that must be overcome. ASL software is a readily available program that can be used on either a PC Windows operating system, or on a Macintosh. This software allows students to learn advanced sign language skills in an interactive environment, thereby allowing them to communicate more opening and freely with their peers and other adults. In essence, the program promotes literacy skills for the hearing impaired student in much the same fashion as phonics does for the non-disabled individual. This assistive technol ogy device can be easily implemented into a traditional classroom setting. In addition, students can use the software independently at home or in other locations. The benefits are many, and the challenges minimal. One hurdle for the software is that the teacher will likely need to have some basic knowledge of sign language in order to assist the student in learning how to make full use of the program. That being said, such knowledge can only serve to strengthen the student/teacher relationship, which in the end should prove beneficial itself. ACL software requires only 3-4 hours of training time for the student learn how to make proper use of it, and the IT department at any school should be able to assist with its installation. Such devices and software can be used to enhance math skills, promote literacy and spelling, focus on the advancement of sign language, improve visual perception, and strengthen memory skills. From this evaluation, the software should be considered in any en vironment where there is a hearing impaired student. The cost is minimal, with most packages running only about $35. Another device designed to help hearing-impaired student is the speech synthesizer. Depending on the age of onset for the disability, many hearing impaired students cannot communicate verbally. They do not know how to make certain sounds and cannot hear what they are saying. A speech synthesizer enables the student to type out information that they wish to say and