TRANSCRIPT - Assessment - TX 4 Step and the Multidisciplinary Team Approach

Getting everybody muted here. All right, good afternoon everybody. We're gonna start. Minute early here just so we can get through our. Housekeeping. So I'm sorry, I forgot to turn off that. Make a noise. There we go. Okay. So this is tech T time. We are again commencing at 30'clock. On Thursday, today is September, the 20 eighth. Yes. Yes, the months are speeding by already. So before we start our goal, remember is to build a community of practice for technology that allows us to support each other as we're teaching. In the spirit of that goal, we are an interactive session and we are recording this. Session. To be posted later on the website. By registering for the session you are hereby grant us permission to publish the contents of the recording that includes images and audio. Okay. So our session norms, feel free to speak up if you have any questions. Say your name so that we know who is speaking and if you have any questions that you don't feel like speaking and want to type it in the chat. Please go ahead and do so and we will work on those back and forth. All of the handouts and video recording will be posted on my website. But day it takes a day or. Probably Monday it takes some day or so. Diana, let's. Can you all help me out and mute, please? So things should be posted. Handouts will be posted tomorrow. Video recording should be posted on Monday. And everything will be on the website. That link will be given out at the end of the session. That gives me some time to add anything from question wise that we want on the resources. Alright, so I'm going to stop. My share and hand things over to Anita who has been a long time participant in RT times and is now going to be leading our discussion today. She's going to talk to us about assessment. Let me stop my share. Where did it go? Oh, there you go. Cool. Okay, do you see man? I do see ya. Reporting in progress. Okay, perfect. Hello everybody. I am Anina Swanson. I work with the Texas Technology Access Program here in Austin, but we serve the whole state of Texas and I'll tell you a little bit more about us later, but we are assistive technology program. There is a program like us in every state. So if you have family members or friends and other states and you think, oh, they should access that too, then you know, no problem. They can use their own state program. But today I'm here to talk to you about assessments and particularly the Texas 4 step and particularly the Texas 4 step and the multi display team approach. So let's get started. So really, why are we talking about this in the first place? That is because we want our students to be able to have access to assistive technology. And throughout this presentation, assistive technology is going to be abbreviated AT. Oh, by the way, I am a white woman. With kind of long dark brown hair is recently brown so that's different for me. And I'm in front of a virtual background that has got clouds and the UT tower in it. Okay. So we're going to start, in the UT Tower in it. Okay. So we're going starting out with the definition of assistive technology, which is in the individual disabilities education act, which I'm assuming you are all familiar with. But this definition, I'm going to read it to you. It's a quote. And it says assistive technology device means any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified or customized that is used to, increase, maintain, or, improve, the, functional, capabilities, of, a, child, with, disabilities. The term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted or the replacement of such device. So basically anything else, other than something that could be, implanted into you, might consider be considered assistive technology. And so of course that covers a very large range of things. But something else to look at here is also just the increase maintain or improve the functional capabilities. So what we do at our program is that, but our main goal is to improve people's quality of life, to give them more independence. So that's how I always think about it is like is there something that can help someone be more independent? Then I would probably fall into the realm of assistive technology and particularly in schools we're really looking at how can it increase their educational program, help them meet their goals and objectives. So some legal things and the individual disabilities education act is gonna be abbreviated idea from now on. So both of these items are in that act and it says that AT must be considered. It must I have capitalized must be considered for every child who qualifies for special education services. So I know a lot of times we, you know, might just not think about it until we see somebody really struggling or like, you know, they, so they really can't do something or there's a task that's really really challenging for them that we might think of as this is a technology but according to the law we really should be thinking it at the beginning just you know thinking about last week we heard about universal design and universal design is thinking about stuff before you started. So the same thing here is like, okay, we have a child who qualifies. What kind of system technology might they need? Okay, and so then also according to the law, assistive technology devices or services must be provided if they're required as part of the students could be their special education. Could be, they're related services, their supplementary aids and services, or even if it at home, if it's required for free and appropriate. Public education so not just looking at one environment but really looking everywhere that child is at it is related to their education in any way. Could they benefit from using assistive technology? So those are the 2 things that have come from the law. That we need to be thinking about, as we go into the assessment process. So that's exactly like how do we determine what things this child needs in order to benefit from their educational program. So this is a screenshot of the definition of a assessment, which is according to this than the first definition, the evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality or ability of someone or something. So in this case, we are going to be assessing. How well does someone do? Without any technology. And what could they benefit from if they had some assistive technology? In their hands or wherever SMB is. So in the case of Texas, We have a handy document which this references at the end of this presentation, but you could also just Google the Texas 4 step model and you will get this document that you could also just Google the Texas 4 step model and you will get this document that was originated from that model and you will get this document that was originated from TEA that tells us how to do this assessment. So on these slides, I talk about the Texas 4 step. I have different kinds of cowboy boots on them. Because whenever I think about 4 steps, I really just think about the 2 step. Which I'm actually from Minnesota and I have lived in many different parts of the US. And when I moved to. My first state, the primarily high country music, actually as I was driving there. I was driving from Minnesota to go to college and I could only get country music stations on the radio and I thought. Oh no, what have I done? I do not mean to find anyone who is just a country music listening fan. But at the time, I was not a country music listening fan and I was a bit concerned about my choices for the next 4 years of my life. However, Okay, so that brings me to Texas 2 step which You may. You know this. That's it. If you're country, Oh, It's been No, We never made any phone phone. Hello. You guys, Okay. Anita, I don't know if it's my sound or everybody's sound, but the music just went away. Oh, okay. This would thank you. That was, head over boots by John party. Maybe you say his name differently because remember I'm not a country but I have heard that chorus on the radio. So that is Texas 2 Step. There's lots of songs actually about Texas 2 6 but This is the 4 step model and I would love to be able crank that up to a 4 step and 10 of us 2 step because first of all, a 2 step doesn't even fit into the music, right? Because the 2 step is actually 3 steps. We have any 2 steppers out there. Raise your hand if you do the Texas to stuff. It's really 3 steps, right? But you're getting it into a song anyway. The 4 step model is actually 4 steps. And so you will see them here on your screen. So anyway, the 4 step model is actually for steps. And so you will see them here on your screen. Their first step is review. The second is developed, the third is determined, and the fourth is documented. We're gonna go through that briefly about what that means. So each of, as I said, each of these slides had different kind of, on them. They're just merely a picture reminding you that it's a Texas 4 step. So in the document that you can locate on the internet, you would notice that this 4 step is really divides by the quality indicators for consideration of assisted technology needs, which is a very long name. But if you go to their website, which again, it's in their preferences, you'll find lots of resources and information to help you out and other ways of booking and assessing for assistive technology. So. These indicators I'm going to give to you out of order. And so the first one I'm giving you this indicated number 4, which says that decisions for assistive technology are based on goals and objectives in the students IEP, student progress in general and and their access to curricular and extracurricular activities. So remembering going back to IDA that we're looking for assistive technology not only in the general education program but also related services even at home if it's necessary for the education program. So wherever that student is at, we're looking to see if they will benefit. From. Now. So in the review portion, which is the first step in the Texas for stuff. The team is going to gather in analyze data. So they're going to review data that's already out there. Or they may be coming in. And so what they're gonna be looking at is the students themselves, the different environments that they're in, what are their current goals and their tasks that they have to reach those goals. So I can review all that information. They're gonna look at observations. They may be doing their own observations. They're definitely doing their own observations. They're definitely be looking at reports that are already available about how the student is doing in their school and offer to their school, all parts of their environments. And they're asking me, looking at data that's already available as well as possibly bringing in more data. Awesome. So then they're going to develop and develop means that they're going to develop goals. That the student is, working on. So again, I, you know, according to the IVA, we're looking at IEP goals. We're going to be looking within those goals kind of like a task analysis. What do you need? To achieve that goal. So what kind of tasks? Will indicate that the student is achieving that goal. And then within those tasks, we're gonna look and see. What kind of tasks is really difficult for the student to do? Is it really hard or maybe they can't do it at all right now? Cause maybe they could, but this is the technology. And so that's why we're really breaking down those pieces of what is available to them. What are their strengths of course, but also one of the things that are really challenging for them because that's where we want to look and see if some technology could help them. So then the first step is determine. So we've reviewed all this data and this information, we, with observations of the students, any reports that are available. We've looked at their goals. And what kind of things that they need to be able to do to meet those goals. So now we're gonna look at. If they're not meeting the goals and if they have tasks and things are really challenging. Good. To help them with their goal. Do they help them make progress on their IEP goals or to help them make progress in the general curriculum. Or again, in related services, all of those things. So I think also looking at not a link in that, will the student make progress if they have some assistance to, but would they be more independent? And again, that goes back to what I think, Would they be more independent? Would they be more efficient? And will they be more successful? Or actually each one of those things, would they be more independent? If they're yes, then they're going to have to have some systems. If they're a yes, and then they're going to have to have some systems technology. But they're more efficient. And if they're gonna be more successful yes so they don't have to be all 3 of those things but they nearly one of those things in order to say yes, we have some assistive technology here. So that happens in the determined phase, third step in the Texas 4 steps. And then the fourth step is documents. So. What we're gonna do, we've decided what we're gonna do, so we need to write that down. What is the decision of the team regarding assistive technology for this particular student. Do they need it or not? Oh, wow, how did we come to this decision? And this is gonna be helpful not only for future teams or any time that you look at this, if you say yes, this didn't need, technology, that's going to be helpful, but also if you say no, because in the future, maybe something will change. And then we can go back and say, okay, well, they didn't need it at this time because of. Yes. So we're gonna look at, we're gonna write down what the decision was and how we got to that decision. And if we do need assistive technology, we're gonna say what kind of a assistive technology need, when do they need it? All your WH questions. Where do they need it? Why do they need it? And also who is responsible for making that happen? So all of this needs to be in the report. From So these are again the Texas 4 steps. So review. Develop. Determine. And document. So unfortunate the first one is not also a D, start with a D, but maybe they'll change in the future. We can think about D word that same means review. Data, of course. But. Okay, so that's a Texas 4 step process that is recommended. In order to determine if a student needs assistive technology, why and where it will belong. In the educational program. So who makes this decision? So you've been talking about this team, this can be engaged in the assessment process. I just put 5 book points on here. You can probably put more bullet points of who's involved in this decision. I always think about like who does the child interact with, who's part of their team at school. And really whoever is part of their team should be involved in this decision making process. So teachers are in this both special ed teachers and general education teachers. All of the therapists at the child sees. And I'm going to say. Don't forget music there, because I am a music therapist. And, we often see things in children and in students that other people don't see and that's mainly because of the way that other people don't see. And that's mainly because of the way music affects the brain and also music is incredibly motivating in most cases. And that's mainly because of the way music affects the brain. And also music is incredibly motivating in most cases. And so oftentimes, it's incredibly motivating in most cases. And so oftentimes, students will do things and you take therapy that they're not quite doing in other places yet. That's happened. So. But everyone's seen somebody in a different context. And so getting information from everyone who works from that child is really helpful. So the parents of course are guardians and the child themselves as well as staff members. So there's lots of opportunities in a school. Where other people interact with that child. And you know, in the lunch room or at recess, that might not be, you wouldn't think of as an education opportunity, but it really could be considered that. So we still want to look at all of those environments in which the sooner is at. And so when you're thinking about that, you think like, that's a lot of people, it's gonna take a lot of time. And how are we gonna go together and talk to them all and do that gather all their data and all the information. But really it's incredibly important. And that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, didn't all the information, but really it's incredibly important because I put 5 bullet points on this slide as well. Seating and positioning, mobility. Cognition and academics, communication, social and emotional. These are just 5 areas that a student might need some help in. And could you raise your hand? And say, I am an expert in all 5 of these areas. That I can speak completely about this student in all 5 areas. I don't think any of us can. I mean. Yeah. And so that's why a team approach is really important because one person will see something interactive with student in one way. And we may have never seen that before. We may not know that a student struggles with a certain part of their day because we're not in that part of their day or we might have a different perspective. So it could be, you know, a teacher in a pair of professional within the classroom and each one of those people are seeing different things happening or not happening. So we really want to rely on our colleagues and get everyone's information and input because we want the success and independence of all of our students and therefore getting more input is really helpful. So. Some more examples of places that students might have means that assistive technology could help. This is not an exhaustive list. But just to get thinking about all the different areas that someone might be struggling with they would have to struggle if they had some assistive. So here are some of the ways some of the places they might have some. Or in. In communicating. No mobility. Positioning or seating. Self care. So that's already 6. I'm assuming you're thinking of some students already with those needs. Could be an organization or time management. Or problem solving. Like problem problems or math problems to be a separate math I mean. Could be a specific task that they struggle with. Or it could be more self-centered, such as self regulation or emotional management or regulation. Maybe they have some behavior needs. It could be that they struggle. With social situations, having friends or interacting with other people. So social opportunities. And then of course recreation and leisure. And we may not think about recreation and leisure in our typical school day. But it's pretty important piece I think. We just think about ourselves. How often do you get out your phone in the middle of the day and take a little social media break. So I've seen this need breaks too and they need to have ways. That they can, really relax and calm down and, you know, play and have fun, just like everyone else does. Okay, so those are some all those areas that are assisted technology available to help people. Worth their day and everything. You know, it's about that. So go back to those indicators that I was talking about. This whole assessment process is driven by a team, gathering all this information and examining it and coming up with a decision. So the indicator number 2 really focuses on a collaborative decision making process. And because I, we were just talking about how everyone has different insights and skills and knowledge about this. Each student, it's really important to get everyone's. Input. So indicator number 3 is the collective knowledge and skills. So on this picture in this slide you just see a whole bunch of people sitting around And so hopefully you have time and space to do that in your day and even though you think it may take up more time. Whole lot of time because if you can get a good assessment done and then you find the right tool to help a student. Everybody's life is gonna be easier. And this you know what makes sense, which is of course is what we want to happen. So thinking about that. Want you to put in the chat or you can do a shout out. To someone on your team that you can't live without. So you don't have to give their name. You could just say like the PT or the. Parent professional or whoever, the librarian, I don't know. Who is somebody on your team that you really look to to help you when you are starting to think about assistive technology for your students. This could be different with each student of course, but. Anyone? That way. Okay, there's my chat. I see it now. That's a very good one. The students themselves. Ha ha, nice one. Yeah, I know. If I had a, to give you, I'd get it right there. I would use a PTs, very nice. Hmm. And, mine was. Don't forget about the custodians, cause there are there have been times where my kids have connected. In some way. With our staff. Like a custodian or a lunchroom lady. Lunchroom, gentlemen. Right. Okay, or someone else in the school that is not necessarily considered. Right. The normal part of the team or the standard part of the team. And they have some amazing insights. Sometimes to our kids and the way they see them and see them interacting. I totally agree. And that actually makes me think about when I was in school. How I would just have these little side conversations with our custodian when I was traveling from one classroom to another and he only talked to a few of us so I mean who knows what that was about but I don't know if you, something about me. But, but yeah, it's true. I see that happen a lot with the, you know, you going through the lunch line, you have this little conversations that connection with people. Oh, and Elizabeth says families and the paras that work with our kids. Yes, nice. Yeah, I think a lot of times. We can do more to help the family share more information too because it can be very intimidating for them to come to this team of people, so professionals, that are all examining their child. So definitely if there's anybody who knows them a lot about their kids it's the families so Yeah, nice. Alright, so all very important team members. For sure. S Oh Twinkle just says siblings. Yeah, simply it's offer a very unique perspective, I think in many cases. And it can be really cool. When they go to the same school also. I've seen I've done sessions where they're siblings in there and in group together. And it is a completely different experience and it's really neat to see how everyone interacts with each other. So, yeah, thank you. That's a good part. We sometimes we might forget. Very nice. Okay, so we'll move on. To number 6. We're thinking about the team. So we have our team. We identified that it's lots of different people and that we should be looking for who's interacting and who might be able to get some insight about this student. Not just who we might normally check off those boxes about who's on the team. So the team considers a range of assistive technology. Devices and services to meet the student need. So. Again, there's like so much stuff out there. It's really hard to be up on everything. And so I invite you to just recognize that nobody knows everything that's available. I, nobody knows that. Cause you would have to be up all the time seeing all these incoming new tech happening. And know everything about everything and that's impossible so do not feel free to reach out and ask for help so you've already identify somebody on your team. So like OT's and PT's, someone with that in the chat. We can kind of imagine what kind of skill set and what they might know about that could help our kid those. So go to them and ask, make sure they're on their team giving their input. But also if you see something like, oh, this is really struggling right here, what could help? I would go ask that person instead of spending time finding it yourself. Also, so Texas Technology Access Program, I put this link in there, but, you could just Google, Texas Technology Access Program, which I realize is a bit of a mouthful. I did not name the program, but you can you can actually make a 2 step song with that title. That's what I should have done. Anyway, that might come out later. We'll see. But we have 2 very important features that can help you. One is our loan library and so any within the state of Texas can check out something from our loan library and try it out. So you see a student struggling in your classroom and you're thinking, oh my gosh, I wonder if this could help. Check it out. We ship it to and from for free. Can have it for 35 days and you can have more than one thing out at a time. So that's a good thing that Good for you to learn about. It's free. And also we have demonstration centers. So we have. Demonstration centers located throughout the state where you can go try things out. You can go as a teacher, you can go as a therapist, you can go as a mom or a dad or. Somebody that cares about somebody or for yourself and go find assistive technology that could help. At the centers you can also just ask questions. I thank you everybody in the chat. Of people. You can call us and say, Hey, I have a student who has these concerns. What is available for them and we will do the work for you. And so you don't have to spend your school day trying to hunt down what is the way this technology they can help them. Of course this is going to be covered in what is the way this technology can help them. Of course, this is going to be covered in the assessment, right? We're gonna identify what is what challenging areas, what kind of tech would we need there? And then come to someone whose job it is to figure out what that is and give you some options. Of course, we don't do evaluations, but we can give you like, hey, this is out there, this might help, this might help. You know, point you in some directions of what could help. So don't forget that. And as I said, If you have family in France and other states, there is an assistive technical program in every state. So they do the same thing as us in that regard. So looking. Beyond. Is it a range when I look at a range of technology? So we think about a range of technology. This next slide has a high tech background, but it has the words low tech. Has light or mid tech. That has high tech written on it. So this is really working at this whole range. I remember I said assisted technology is basically anything that could help someone be more independent. So we can think of as like classes or contacts as a technology, a cane, a wheelchair that could be considered a assistive technology. So when you see these words low tech What is something that you have either used or you've seen someone you know or care about use it would fall into the low tech category. I'm just gonna tell you that low tech means not a computer. Not AI. Okay. Usually not very expensive and there we go a slant board nice a pencil grip. Oh my gosh. How many people need pencil grips? Yes, excellent examples. Yes. A page mask board. Or page mask paper. Nice. There's so many things. A folder with a whole cut in it. Oh! Ha! Yes, so a lot of low tech you can actually make yourself. I mean. In some regards, you know, filters, line guides, nice. I, when I was practicing, I often, if I didn't have, I worked with a lot of kids who named the communication. Or have communication challenges and so I would just take pictures of what's around there and then print them off and laminate it and so before they had a communication system or something, at least that would help. You know. They could point to it. They can grab the picture. They could whatever. So that and then it was like something that's already in their site and there wasn't like some abstract drawing of something to represent something else. So low tech, yes, lots of different things. We also use things like, hoping someone hold not only the Pent, but you might have like some way of helping them pull into something by, you know, how cool, to make it bigger so they can grasp it or something like that. So low tech. Lights, I have always called the light tech, but I know a lot of people call it mid tech as well. So either one of those races or interchangeable. What would you say is a definition of light or mid tech? Does anyone wanna throw out there? I didn't, I'm not gonna say that you're in a, like, completely right. I'll give you mine definition. So obviously it's in the middle, right? I mid tech is in the middle. I usually think of something that is electronic in some way, but not. A computer. So simple magnifiers task lighting. Yes. So for sure, if you could like plug something in, but it's not a computer, I would I would put that in the mid tech category. I'm not, has anyone ever made something that's mid tech? Maybe you're more techy or handy and can do that. I'm not sure that I have personally. Right. Oh. I sometimes put switches in that. Category because they really can't run without Another thing. So I've made switches and I've made low tech things into mid tech things. Very nice. Bye. So mid tech was always really confusing of where it actually falls. Is it a light or is it? Hi, in there. Yeah, and of course it's no harder fast, you know, definition like what we're looking for here. What I want you to get is just like what we're looking for here. What I want you to get is just like the range. So I agree. I voice out, put to point, device is what I think that you are writing there. So I agree. A voiceout put to point device is what I think that you are writing there, but maybe you're writing some other acronym that I don't know. I would that I couldn't for me means voice output device. Yes. So it's like when I, so I would say, is like a go talk or something where you have, you know, you can record your own voice, same thing of the switch. A lot of switches, you can record your own voice and then it becomes you hit the switch you get the button and this voice comes out that is definitely. Yeah and you can 3D print switches now so that was probably the only way that I'm going to be able to make a switches now. So that was probably the only way that I'm going to be able to make a switch because I just don't like to spend time on that kind of thing, but I'm really glad that you do not, but I'm really glad that you do not. But I will set a 3D printer and start it and go do something else, you know. But I will set a 3D printer and start it and go do something else. You know, yeah. So, switches I've definitely and switches control so many different things, right? They can control toys, they control communication systems, they control, they can control your TV or a high-tech thing or your computer. Nice. Okay, this is a good example from Jessica. So you can do pictures putting them in a digital format rather than worksheets or printed pictures so they can be at large by users device. Nice. That's a good way to be thinking. Ahead of the curve. Way to go. Okay, so. Let's move on to high tech. So high tech. Is kind of what I think of most people think of when they think of technology because assistive technology. It's kind of hard to think of a Pence, technology, but it does, it is. It falls into the definition and the definition from the law. So we always need to be thinking of those kinds of things. Okay. So high tech. What are some examples of some high tech assistive technology that you have used or your students? Okay, thank you, Becky. Yay. There's so many acronyms in the in the education world, you know, Braille. Oh, I knew that I knew that was going to come out fast. Okay. Don't we love the Brown though? I mean, oh my goodness. Yes. See you see TV, okay, yes. Specially now since our CCTVs have so much tech built into them. Very true, very true. It's like it's not even the same thing as years ago. Yeah, iPad, yes. Oh man, there's so many apps you can get for everything. How many apps have you used today? I mean, really. No. Oh my goodness, let's not start counting that. I, yeah, I'm using social media breaks to do take. And I mean, yeah, I should made that a poll. Yeah. More than 25. Okay, yeah, so there's lots of high tech options out there as well. So we really want to be considering all of these options for our students. And that's what we're gonna be doing when we're looking at this assessment. We're gathering all that information from all these people. You know, if you're looking at CDN and positioning, more than likely that's not going to be high-tech. It could be, but more than likely it's going to be mid or low. And so we, you know, want to look at everything, but seriously, whoever put the pens to grip and there's more than one person. That's a life changer for a lot of people. Nice. Thank you, Becky. So let's look at all areas of the students life and how just little changes could really make a big difference for them. We reach out to people. Go ahead. And if you if you've ever been with your OTT, sorry, this is Donna, if you've ever been with your OTR PT and done some positioning and seen how that affects your student. Oh my goodness, I don't know how. I would do some of the things we're asking our kids to do. With some of those positioning implements and how uncomfortable they can be. Right. That's an excellent point. Thank you, Becky. Yes, iPhone. I know. A lot of people my age or more than are use their phones all the time just to make things bigger so you can read them. Oh yes, Amen. But yeah, back to the positioning point. There's been, there's so many times that people like, oh, they can't do that. Or they can't communicate. Because they're not in a comfortable position. I won't want to communicate either if I have this humongous pain. Oh man, yeah, so a really good point to like think about everyone on the team because OTS and PTs can spot that right away. And some of us other people, it might take us a long time to figure that out. Yeah, really good point. Okay, so I'm gonna run through you guys are probably all familiar with all of these things. But my point is just to get your brain going about what else is there out there that. Hi, I might want to think about for some of my students. So of course, vision, you already know all these things. Hand held magnifiers on the left. In the middle is a Victor stream reader. I always want to say yes these things still exist and people use them. Cause it looks like it's old, right? But it's still functioning and it works great and it's also fun because it looks like remote. But, yeah. And then on the right, you have a larger magnifier. Again, these things have really taken off and there's so many things you can do with them. Now, That's always good for meeting books, magazines, newspapers, print form. etc. Crafting when we get into that reckon leisure. Yeah, yeah Very nice. On this slide, we have the color Reno, which is a fun word to say. You speak, there used to be one called the rainbow reader or something as well. But this is for people who are color blind or have trouble differentiating colors. I think it's really cool. You just pointed at something and it tells you the color. It's nice. And, anyone who's color blind, they will be looking dapper if you give them one of these. Cause of color coordinate their outfits. So, that would be great. And above that, well, in the middle, we have that my eye or cam my eye. You probably heard of this, I imagine. This you can attach. To your glasses or you can wear funky cool fake glasses and attach it to that. It will read things for you and it does recognize a few phases of people that you see often. So that's a pretty cool thing below that from the same company. We have it or cam read, which, is being, it looks kind of like a pen and you can point it at something and as opposed to this other pens where you have to roll over the words. This you can just like take like a phone like a almost like a picture like you do with your phone, right? And then you, it will, but it's ever within your little box. For you. And this is Donna. Twinkle was saying that yes, they've used the color before. Now they've transitioned over to the app for color instead. Oh. Oh, very. So that would be an example of a high tech version versus a mintech version. Cool. Yes. And I have the, I have the envision glasses. Oh, very nice. That I'm trying out, which are really cool as well. We have us people asking about those. So yeah, I'd be happy to hear your opinion about them. Nice. Which I will say, be some of these things like the, I, and I'm thinking the vision boxes are not the cheapest. To try. No, they are not the cheapest thing to try. Yeah, so that's why you should get up our program and if we have it we will loan it to you so you can try it. That's the purpose of the program trying to bring you bad. Don't buy it for you bad. Don't buy it from us. We are only the try bar. Don't buy it from us. We are only the try bar. Okay, then on the upper right we have the Explorer 8, which is actually one of my favorite magnifiers. Because of the size. Okay, so you can carry this around if you wanted those large bag ladies or men in the man purse. You can put this thing in there, works great. You know, so, you know, changes the colors, the background colors, so text colors, you can, it can, it's a touch. Screen, make it bigger, smaller. You could do it without the touch screen. You can take a picture, you know, get the grocery store, you know, see what's up there, take a picture, you know, it's so handy. In the bottom right hand corner is 6 4 5, which is a little bit smaller. So to be pocket size, but you'd have to have a pretty big pocket, I would say. But. Yeah, unless you're wearing cargo pants, that's not fit in any of our pockets. Yeah. Right. Yeah, my favorite size is the 8. But if you notice in these in this company and in others often time, you know, go by the. Number, the bigger the number, the larger the bandifier. Like size wise. And then of course we had the Votech glass magnifiers in the bottom middle of this. So let's not forget about that because I know that these really fancy awesome, wonderfully fun. Electronic computer base. Magnifiers are really cool. But the low ones work just as well and you don't have to charge them. So they do have many features and just like in communication awesome times but with our communication people we always say yes get a high tech version but always have a low check one because if the high tech one breaks or it's not charged or it gets rained on or you know, whatever else could happen. Then you stick. Or we have a long period of electricity outage. Yes. Also by a power bank, but yes. Right. When February comes, you definitely want to have a low tech version as well. But yeah, that's definitely true for, you know, visual magnification things really anything that somebody needs, they need it. So we need to have a backup in case. The hi-tech version is unavailable. Some things for hearing on the left hand side, bottom picture we have a personal amplifier. This can be used for somebody who has hearing needs or who does not have your needs. So the purpose of it is to be able to amplify people's voices and to cut down the background. Noise, which can be helpful for a lot of us. In our noisy environments that we're in. The next picture over is bone conduction headphones. These are originally developed for runners so that you can hear what's happening around you while running at the same time and be safe, but helpful for a lot of our students in classrooms or any of their environments. Very helpful. I use this. It's like a keyboard with a little screen. I use this to communicate with the little screen. I use this to communicate with people who do sign language because I know about 5 signs. I use this to communicate with people who do sign language because I don't know about 5 signs. So that gets me not very far, so that gets me not very far as you can imagine. But this way we can type back and forth and that gets me not very far as you can imagine. But this way we can type back and forth and it's really easy to see to the right of that we have the sonic bomb, which is a, alert. You can touch it to your alarm in the morning. So if you can't hear your arm, it shakes you awake. Similar thing about that, can have alerts to be shaken or visual or very different loud sounds, any of those combinations. For other things in your house, you know, phone ringing, someone at the door, even a baby crying, or storm coming or any of those things. So. That's a different type. Communication technology on the left, middle, large. We have this, tiles that are 3D printed and this is called bliss symbols. We actually make up with zoom those with Braille on the side of them. But this is a communication system that we use a lot for people who are deaf and blind. Yeah, it's a tactile communication system. And Shannon will be coming to talk to us about both symbols. Oh, well, perfect. Yes, you'll learn all about it from Shannon. It is a really neat system and it's really useful. So and then we have some communication. You can get communication apps either on your iPad or you can buy a standalone communication device. We have an example of one where you push the little square and tells you the word. We also have an example of a visual, which is helpful for some people too. You know, like, so here we have a picture of a supermarket and then you can figure out your words that you want to communicate that way. Alternative access. Here's the switches that, Donna was talking about earlier. We have a wide range of switches. That just the buttons you press, it can be used for communication as well. And then there are the round one and we have a candy corn one so Halloween's coming up, panic corn is available if you are a Ken camera fan, but you can get a candy cord switch at any time of the year. And this is a proximity switch. So you don't have to push it. You just have to close to it and that will activate it. That's one of my favorite. And then on the right. Oh, nice. And they have small and they have big. So, depending on what you need. On the right is an interface so it shows you how you could cook a Switch. To a switch interface to your phone or your computer or your tablet and that way you can utilize your phone computer tablet with a switch. As opposed to having to hit the little buttons. Or areas of the screen. I'm trying to read that question. Let me use this. I'm trying to, I'm trying to meet it really fast and it's not processing my head, but I do want to tell you about. Did they do have software now that You can translate sign language to text. And vice versa. Doing that, of course. And also through these gloves that you wear, they connect. So, Okay, I can't speak to it. It's definitely, it needs to receptive language from another person. Okay. There's some person who is to find and type out what they want to say to the other person and it's all enough to be portable. Oh, that's a big demand. Hello. Okay. Yeah, this will have to be portable kind of backs up that we do although technically it's like the size of a laptop so it's not huge I would say that's definitely portable. If you could what they need to make actually, I'm getting, do we do with where you are on the keys. That. If we could get those if we know, okay. That was my good idea. Yes, so what I suggested is whether they have any sign to sign to text apps now. Where you can sign in your translated text and vice versa no sign okay I'm gonna take your thought and I'm gonna think about it after this. So if you give Donna your information, we can take Team. Yeah. But we've eliminated all the things I've thought of so far. So there's gotta be something out there. And we can probably 3D print it cheaper. So. Okay, attack for school that you might need. When I first ran into this echo fan, I thought it was kinda like being a Harry Potter because All you to do is touch this pen to this paper and it record just happening in the moment. Now of course there's apps to do this as well. Some really great apps and software programs. And, is one that I love. So this can help people you can actually write notes with it or you can just Doodle or whatever. In a record, you pay back that part of this cost. For you. Of course, there's a billion different types of mice and keyboards. That you can use. On the bottom right hand corner we have some per visual the black on yellow. Larger keys, they have like big keys that are color coded. And then we have lots of things like that. A joystick, someone can't use the keyboard as easily. They might need by using joystick. They still make text to speech and space to text software which is that little type of picture in the middle there. And they also make these reading pens. Still besides the or can we and then you can get these the cpen there is one that the exam reader is sanctioned or what do we call it lawful to use on the tests every year, the state test. So that's good to know. Also good for English language learners or people who to use on the test every year, the state test. So that's good to know. Also good for English language learners or people who in different types of reading, ways. Or just skip a tea green, I would say, not just even like dyslexia, but you just get 15 varying. And then we have some threed printed, reading pain. So you, Hold this for your text and it just allows you to, it like eliminates the stuff right around the text you're trying to read. You would slide it up and down your page as your reading. You could also again get software programs that do this. They block out the other stuff on the page to help you read. So many things out there. So thinking about low tech high tech, Mintech, like tech, whatever you call it. 2 choose in a live. Put it in the chat. Which one is not true? Hey, speech sharing devices are considered high tech. B, hi tech is the best tech in all situations or C, high tech is often more expensive than low tech. Which one is that true? Oh, look at you guys. Everyone gets a gold star. Good job. Yay. Hi, tech. We love high tech. It's so fun and trendy and everyone wants it. But there's often things that are so much cheaper and actually a better solution. In many, many cases, than high tech. So thank you all. Be is the correct answer is not always the best tech in all situations. So gathering over right now, I want you to think about a student that you have. Nice point, Twinkle. Who, what are their strengths? The challenges. What did they need currently? And what are you thinking about that they might need in their future? Thank you. About all the things we just saw. What kinds of romantic or high tech options might you explore that the student doesn't have already? Does anyone have something that you're thinking of that we haven't mentioned? So far. As far as tech goes. Hello, M or light tech. And pointing to it, Twinkle put in the chat, the low mid tech or easy to often to replace or repair. Yes. And you can get more than one of them so that you have them available usually, or make up on this spot. So any of your students, if you're thinking about somebody, is there some kind of tech out there that we have not mentioned thus far? Hmm. I loved that you mentioned. 3D printing and that. That is coming. Really, really fast and becoming more and more prevalent. As folks design things that can then be customized. To the student because we can adjust the design ourselves. So I really, really like that and it looks like Twinkle said cana. Hmm. And a lot of times Jessica, you're right, we missed the tech related to O and M and travel. So stay tuned next month for O and M. Yeah. Who knew? This is gonna preview, be a preview of things to come. A tech teacher. Nice. Yeah, 3 pretty is interesting thing because that's 3D printer itself. We would consider high tech, right? But then it comes out this project object where it's not high tech, it's low tech. In exactly what you said. So many great things about the need printing. We could talk a whole another hour about that. It is inexpensive. And the mean that you can customize is really huge. You can get it so fast. You have to wait on someone to deliver and go through the whole PO process and everything. It's a game changer for a lot of people. And being able to take something that we've made, say, of, or which is another of my favorites, or some other multiple. We can now get that design into a 3D printer and have more of them. Right. And you can share it across the country or get free files from other people. I mean, you just can't go wrong the country or get free files from other people. I mean, you just can't go wrong. I don't sell 3D printers, but we have some and we're making with the purpose of making things in extensively for other people. Yeah. Alright, so you've thought of your students and you're thinking about the assessment process. So who is on your team? What are your steps? To this? I don't expect you to do this since, you know, we're nearing the end. But the main thing I want you to think about is who is on your team for this student. Think about those people that we might not normally think about. Being on the team. And then when you're actually gonna do your assessment process, you would write out the steps you're gonna do and who is gonna do what in each process. Okay, so. Oh nice. Becky has a good idea. She put in a pre cane, made a PVC pipe. Yeah, all those people who like to tinker around and make things. This is technology. Is a great way to do it. And actually speaking of that, 3D printing, if you don't have a threed printer, there's a whole community of people that want to help other people. And they will print things for you for free. Yes. Makes me, and, again, I know. It makes me so happy. If you haven't gone to Thing averse and want more things, more ideas about the universe. Give me a holler. Yeah, yes, so incredible. Okay. Or Shannon has a 3D printing board that she has done and so there's lots of 3D printing resources out there if you want to get involved in that. Right. When you have Shannon, you will know that Shannon loves Pablo and so she and we have a whole bit of information that you can describe and get from her as well. Okay, so another indicator that I'm going to tell you about is an indicator number 7. Where you document results rationale and evidence from the assessment in the IEP. So we have mentioned this as far as the Texas force that process, but we just, you all the different kinds of tech that you might have be thinking of, all that stuff. So when you document it, you need to document what type of AT device, it doesn't have to be exact, like the brand name, but just like what kind of a thing is going to be helpful for this student. All the AT services that are needed for getting in that device, finding it, getting it set up, training people, all of that. All the, needed to accomplish their annual goals. They're on their 8 IP team, IP, all the AT for related services, and especially with this one, who is responsible for doing that? When and where is it going to be used. Same thing with, Putting people's name on there means it's gonna actually get done, hopefully. And then you want to write all of this document so that anybody can see where this ATS needed and be used so that you know there's a sub that day and they are not forgetting to that this child really needs to have this in order to be successful. That this child really needs to have this in order to be successful. So written in such a way that everyone can understand what it is that needs to be successful. So written in such a way that everyone can understand what it is that needs to be in place for our students. So in our last couple of minutes, I just wanted to give you a chance that if there's any roadblocks you have encountered to the assessment process or working, getting people on your team to help your students. Is anyone have something they need to ask about as far as roadblocks? I know sometimes just getting especially in this last few years getting a device can be challenging because it's supply chain issues. That's getting a little bit better but again plug with 3 new printing because you can print it. Cost because of supply chain issues. Have gone up. That is a good point, yes. And also good reason to reach out, you know, make sure you have a lot more people on your teams, you're getting more information as far as before you make a purchase. Nice. Thank you for putting those in the chat. Alright, so if no one wants to admit any robots, now we have a bit of some, what's excessive to have you had? What kind of things has one of your students gotten in? Transformed their learning or their interaction with others or their ability to care for themselves. What kinds of things have you seen happening? As far as it's, technology, I guess. That is good point, Jessica. So, Jessica put in the chat about the borrowing from A/C. Libraries can be challenging. Good point. I would say most of our stuff that we have is generally pretty good. We do usually have a wait list for communication devices, but other than that, we typically have enough that you can get it in a pretty reasonable time. But there are other 80 libraries out there. So that's a good point. A lot of the education service centers have AT libraries in them, might maybe even at some of your thinking outside of the box, some things that are perhaps set up to be actually for more adult oriented. Bye, but they might be able to borrow it from them. For instance, the area disability and resource center might be a place. Perhaps even the triple A area agency and agent might know of a place to get some things. And if all else fails the vendor never hurts to ask. . Right. Yes they will be happy to send you something for a trial I'm sure. The worst they can say is no. Okay. That's true. We should always remember that because sometimes we're afraid to ask for things. And it really is if you don't ask, you'll never get it. But if you ask. Hi, highly likely you might get it. But we should definitely be asking for sure about information and input, you know, from our team members. And the students and their families. So with that, we have these references, of course. I think you're already familiar with them, but they will, the last slide. Oh, that is a last one. So, and then just, Google, if you need help from us, Google Texas Technology Access Program. And we'd be happy to help you. So. Yeah, so I hope you got some little nuggets that you can take back to your team, and really work together to help all of your students. Awesome. Thank you so much, Anita. And in the chat, I've put the links to my website first. That's where the resources for today are going to be housed. Which is also on this QR code. The video and everything will be loaded. Let's see, make sure you can see. Okay, good. The QR code or the link that's in the chat will get you to my site where all of our recesses are. T time is all the way at the bottom. Under the T time link and they are housed there until January when they will go over into the live binder. If you haven't heard about the New Bridge course that started at the beginning of this month, it is a Browno touch plus online self-paced training course. It includes lessons and resources. Has courses that are available. That link is also in the chat as well as in the handouts. And I'm gonna go real quick on this part October fifth and October is all. Things O and M. So we will have travel tech with Andrew Bennett. Or Burnett, Jim Allen is coming to talk about O and M in 3D printing. Then October nineteenth, we're going to have no session. And then October 20 sixth is Andrea Bishop and Kelly Nicholson talking about how to include travel tech in your lessons. You are closing code for today is 2 3 7 5 8 9. Thank you for those of you you that have been using this last link.