With the world advancing at a faster rate and scientist and engineers trying to keep up the demand and advances of technology in trying to best accommodate children and adults with disabilities, helping students with special needs in schools has always been a hard and challenging thing to do especially due to the pandemic requiring […]

Designed to help early childhood educators and primary teachers to support young children with appropriate technologies, allowing them to able to access learning activities, maintain and develop their independence and meet their learning goals.

A Speech Device can drastically improve your nonverbal child's communication. It will ease frustration and give them confidence. Here's how to get one.

Technology has become a game changer when it comes to helping kids with learning disabilities, Autism, ADHD and other special needs.

We can use switches for communication (like recordable switches) and we can use them to access items with wired or wireless switches.

Get the latest parenting news, best baby and kids products, recipes for kids (and for mom or dad), latest baby competitions and more from 4aKid

Download our free PDF: These assistive technology for autism have proven successful in helping many children to develop methods of communicating including gestures, facial expressions, and body language.

There are many adaptive toys for special needs children. . . you just have to know where to find them. This article offers a list of resources for choosing, finding, and adapting toys especially for your kid.

Spread the loveChildren diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience a variety of symptoms that can cause challenges in the classroom. Most of them will have some difficulty with social interactions including reading facial expressions and following a conversation. They might become easily upset by changes in routine, experience sensitivity to environmental stimuli, and become easily fixated on things. All of these present a problem for teachers, but there are lots of options for assistive technology that can help. If you have a student diagnosed with ASD in your classroom, consider whether some of these assistive technologies could help them […]

Increased level of participation within tasks/daily routines is one of the many benefits assistive technology has for people living with autism, discover more about it.

A must read for any IEP parent who has questions about Assistive Technology in the classroom. What it is, how to choose, how to put in IEP.

We asked Joan L. Green, a speech-language pathologist in Potomac and the author of “The Ultimate Guide to Assistive Technology in Special Education,” to share some of her favorite iPad apps for kids...

A child's medical costs are 10 times higher when they have cerebral palsy, but help is available in many forms.

Kids can use assistive technology to help with learning and thinking differences in the classroom. Learn about nine common examples of assistive technology and adaptive tools at school.

If your child has a learning disability, she may benefit from assistive technology tools that play to her strengths and work around her challenges.

So often children and adults with complex communication needs get stuck with their only augmentative communication option being a means to request. As if "I want" is the most motivating, most valuable or most important thing to say. Sometimes kids and adults spend years "working on" requests because someone has decided on an often arbitrary data point that will "prove" they are ready to tackle some other communicative function. Let's make the idea that there is more to life than requesting go viral! Posts pictures and videos of kids and adults using AAC for all kinds of things - even if they don't do it perfectly. Let's prove we support every kid and adult with complex communication needs having a robust communication system that is rich with core vocabary and implemented through evidence based practices like aided language input that lead to every AAC user being able to say #icandomorethanrequest. So let's post those pics and videos! Here are some to get us started: (Just to be clear - requests are absolutely a part of a being a competent augmentative communicator and are vital to any robust AAC system. I'm not "dissing" requests or teaching how to request. I am advocating that all communicative functions are important and that everyone should be able to do more than request!)

How much do you know about assistive technology, your child's IEP, and school accommodations? An expert on the topic fills you in.

Assistive Technology for People With Communication Disabilities Using Makey Makey: Objective: Build a cheap and easy tool to help people with disabilites to better communicate their basic needs. Materials: - Makey Makey - Used box - my box is 6.5 x 3.5", but you can use a box bigger than that if you want. - 8 Connector wires - Mom…

Things to Do With a Switch and a Battery Interrupter (Just insert the metal disc of the interrupter between the battery head and the receiver and plug in a switch, does not generally work with anything that recharges. Also, when using a battery adapted it will just turn the item on an off making things like a stapler or pencil sharpener "partner" activities. You may need to tape, glue or velcro down the devices built in power switch if you want it to be an independent activity. Many of these items are available at dollar, discount and salvage stores as well as flea markets. It generally costs less to adapt them yourself. Save your school budget for things you can't pick up for cheap.) 1. cut with battery operated scissors (pre-adapted) 2. have a race with toys that walk accessed through the switch (pre-adapted) 3. use walking switch toys to knock down block tower 4. use an adapted remote control car to knock down towers 5. put paint on the wheels of the adapted remote control car and drive over paper to make a painting 6. use a battery run electric razor and remove the pills from sweaters 7. turn on and off a hand held massager to give massages or to shake a box filled with paint covered marbles 8. turn on and off a flashlight (point it under your face and tell ghost stories, hit another switch to play ghost stories) 9. turn on and off battery operated holiday lights decorating your wheelchair 10. blow bubbles on your adapted battery run bubble blower 11. staple things 12. turn on and off a mini-tv 13. stir a drink 14. sift flour 15. be in charge of the pencil sharpener 16. dry your nails 17. open mail 18. sharpen the crayons 19. vacuum up bugs or dust bunnies 20. scare the pants off someone 21. make something spin in circles 22. cool off 23. spray a mix of water and food coloring over a stencil to paint 24. take a bubble bath 25. make spin art Using a Switch and an Electric Power Adapter (The Powerlink from Ablenet and the Electra from Tash with both interrupt the power to electric {plug in} devices and can be set to direct, timed or latch {first hit turns on, second turns off}. Oh, don't use it with high power items like microwaves!) 26. cool off with a plug in fan, attach streamers and watch them blow 27. make sailboats, place in a long underbed storage box of water, set up fans with switches, use fans to make wind, race the boats 28. turn on and off the lights in a haunted house 29. be the D.J. 30. use hair dryers to dry paintings 31. go apple picking then use a juicer with a switch to make juice 32. make ice cream shakes, use food coloring to make a color to go with your holiday theme, sell them for two dollars 33. use a food processor to mix up the ingredients to make recycled paper, use your fans to dry it 34. grind up oreos in a grinder or food processor to make "dirt" 35. turn on holiday lights or a holiday fiber optic tree 36. run a foot massager 37. use the switch and the overhead projector to shine a light onto a friend and trace silhouettes 38. make a funky sixties or seventies space by running lava lamps, a liquid projector, and groovy music all by switches 39. run a fog lamp to make the room spooky or mist-i-cal 40. turn on the black lights with all of your glow in the dark stuff around, make your own planetarium 41. use that sewing machine and make some curtains (or aprons...) 42. plug in one red light and one green light - now the switch user runs gym class 43. shave people's heads for a dollar during spirit week Things to do with specially adapted devices and a switch: 44-48. use a pouring cup to pour cooking ingredients, art supplies like glitter, to pour sand in the sand box, to measure for science experiments to to dump water over your friends head 49. Use and iScan to run your iPod 50. change the tv channels 51. listen to CDs 52. be a bookworm 55. spin 56. be a high roller 57. ring my bell or bells 58. bowl 59. scoot 60. joke

There is a reason why many speech therapists advise the use of music in speech development. Music is a language we can all understand. Sometimes the sound of musical instruments is all we need to relax. Other times a certain song can bring happy memories flooding back! Special needs kids benefit from music because it [...]

What is IDEA in Special Education? Understanding this legislation inside and out isn't easy, but being familiar with the basics is vital!

A must read for any IEP parent who has questions about Assistive Technology in the classroom. What it is, how to choose, how to put in IEP.

How do you define good health for your child with autism? Finding balance as a parent can be a challenge, especially when you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day.

A blog about parenting kids with special needs

This post is part Seven of the Special Needs iPad & App Series. Almost from the day the iPad was launched there was an immediate buzz about the special needs apps that...

When a meme describes how you feel about special education...

Assistive technology devices may include low-tech items like a raised table or sophisticated software for voice recognition. By increasing independence and access to education, these devices allow students with disabilities to function more fully, particularly if the technology gains social acceptance. Many students ...

After decades of basic chalk and talk classrooms (desks in a row facing the chalkboard) new concepts like flexible seating options, collaborative learning spaces, and other concepts are being embraced as part of 21st century classrooms and schools. Read more about the health benefits of alternative positioning solutions for students with special needs. Flexible […]

What is assistive technology (AT)? It's any device, software, or tool that lets people with disabilities work around challenges. AT tools can help with reading, writing, math and other tasks.

Free shipping on qualified orders over $99! Explore our large selection of toys and therapy products for children with special needs like ADHD, autism, or sensory processing disorders. Shop online!

Complex Child is an online monthly magazine about caring for a child with complex medical needs or a disability.

In the List of Free iPad Apps for children with Special Needs: Part 1 you will find 40 Free iPad Apps for students with Special Needs.

Click to read CCS 2020 Catalog Vol. II

504 Plan vs IEP: List and chart of 10 Differences between an IEP and a 504 Plan. And, a list of what is the same--is a 504 the same as an IEP?

How is the adult special needs community going to receive adequate supports, maximum independence, and safety with the limited budgets available in most states? Could technology be the answer?

Home Tips for Parents of Children with Special Needs

If you have a child with special needs you now how difficult transitions are. Children with special needs, especially children with autism have difficulty with moving from one activity or...

In this post, you'll discover the significance of using Assistive Technology in your classroom, from basic tools to advanced devices. Find tools to help kids!

I have said it before and I’ll say it again…Miss B LOVES bouncing. I’m not talking a gentle bounce…but the kind of bounce that shakes her whole body and shifts her proprioce…

Fire Prevention Week was originally established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. This huge fire killed more than 250 people and left 100,000 homeless. The fire began on October 8, and continued into October 9, 1871. According to popular legend, the fire started after Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lamp, setting her barn on fire, from where it spread to the whole city. Fortunately, historians have begun to take the blame off of poor old Mrs. O’Leary and her cows - who were actually asleep in the barn at the time. Fire drills are crucial to the safety of children in schools - and homes. Knowing the routine of what to do when the alarm rings can avoid injuries and even save lives. But fire drills are disruptive experiences, loud and confusing, for many children with special needs who do not always understand what is happening, who hate changes in routines and schedules, and who cringe and cover their ears at any loud noise. Visual cues are an important of learning and remembering any task or schedule for kids with autism - and many other special needs. Have visual cues for fire drills posted in the classroom. Have each child have his/her own copy in his/her desk. Allow them to carry these visual cues throughout the fire drill, to help remind them - without verbal nagging or unnecessary verbalizing. Take this set of visual cues for use in your classroom or home. How do you keep your kids safe during emergency drills?