Assistive Technology for Young Children : Creating Inclusive Learning Environments

Assistive technology (AT) can help young children with disabilities fully participate in natural, inclusive learning environments—but many early childhood professionals don't get the training they need to harness the power of AT. Fill that gap with this unintimidating, reader-friendly resource, the go-to guide to recommended AT practice for children birth to 5. Developed by two leading early childhood specialists with in-depth expertise in assistive technology, this book demystifies AT and gives readers solutions they can implement right away, regardless of their technical experience. Early childhood professionals will learn about the broad spectrum of AT supports for children with disabilities-from low-cost, low-tech options such as Velcro and homemade switches to higher tech options such as speech-generating software. Educators, early interventionists, SLPs, and other professionals will

• discover how AT tools can help children make progress toward specific OSEP outcomes
• follow the guiding principles for selecting, purchasing and implementing AT devices
• determine funding options for assistive technology
• assess children's needs and identify appropriate tools and strategies for individual children
• use AT to aid implementation of universal design for learning
• embed AT into activity-based intervention
• involve family members in all phases of AT service delivery
• support communication, language development, and early literacy skills
• increase opportunities for play through AT that supports motor, cognitive, and social skills
• teach computer skills to young children with disabilities, making adaptations when necessary
• understand the current laws that help increase access to and availability of AT

To help them get started with assistive technology, professionals will get a CD-ROM with 3 in-depth, printable forms for evaluating children's AT needs, determining which types of tools and strategies to use, and creating individualized AT "toolkits" that help children meet OSEP outcomes and developmental goals. Readers will also find extended case studies and child profiles, so they can see how AT supports the participation and achievement of children with a range of disabilities.

A must for AT novices and seasoned users alike, this professional resource and supplemental textbook will help readers use the best of today's technology to ensure a fully inclusive education for young children.

Kathleen Curry Sadao, Ed.D., Program Specialist, Supporting Early Education Delivery Systems (SEEDS) Project, Sacramento County Office of Education, P.O. Box 269003, Sacramento, CA 95826.

Dr. Sadao has been in the field of early childhood special education (ECSE) for more than 25 years. She received her doctorate in educational administration from University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1995. During the 1980s and 1990s she traveled the Pacific Islands providing training and technical assistance to newly developed ECSE programs as a Head Start Technical Assistance consultant and later a National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center coordinator. Her research focus has been on interagency collaboration, parent involvement, inclusive practices, and cross-cultural issues in education. In 2007, she coauthored a book with Dr. Nancy Robinson focused on interagency collaboration and evaluation. Since 1997, she has spent her time in California focused on preservice and in-service training programs in ECSE as a faculty member of the University of the Pacific, Gladys Benerd School of Education, and as an administrator of an early intervention program. Most recently, under the auspices of the Supporting Early Education Delivery Systems (SEEDS) Project at the Sacramento County Office of Education, she has worked as a program specialist developing training materials for the field and facilitating a state-level assistive technology (AT) work group creating web-based AT training products. Currently she and her SEEDS Workgroup on Early Education Technology (SWEET) team have been fieldtesting the AT training modules around the state of California. She has presented her work at the Council for Exceptional Children, Division on Early Childhood, conference and other state, national, and international conferences and has published several articles on the SWEET AT efforts.