Assistive Technology General Resources
AAC TechConnect— AAC TechConnect has created Device Assistant, a resource designed to provide information on nearly 100 AAC devices currently on the market from major manufacturers. The information is provided in cooperation with all the manufacturers and the feature-match tool can be used to search for a device, and also for side-by-side comparisons.
AAC-RERC— Augmentative and Alternative Communication Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center functions as a collaborative research group dedicated to the development of effective AAC technology. This Web site includes a variety of research-based information including handouts of presentations and webcasts.
Ability Hub — The purpose of abilityhub.com is to help individuals find information on adaptive equipment and alternative methods available for accessing computers.
Abledata — Provides objective information on AT and rehabilitation equipment available from domestic and international sources to consumers, organizations, professionals, and caregivers within the US.
ACOLUG — The Augmentative Communication On-Line User’s Group is an Internet Listserv that allows users of augmentative communication and their families to communicate with each other and with professionals who are interested in augmentative communication.
Alliance for Technology Access — This site provides information and resources on AT that can facilitate children with disabilities to live, learn, work, define their futures, and achieve their dreams.
Alliance for Assistive Technology (ATA) — ATA aims to increase the use of technology by children and adults with disabilities and functional limitations. ATA encourages and facilitates the empowerment of people with disabilities to participate fully in their communities.
Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs — The Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs (ATAP) is a national, member-based organization, composed of state Assistive Technology Act programs funded under the Assistive Technology Act. ATAP provides support to state AT program members to enhance the effectiveness of AT programs on the state and local level, and promote the national network of AT programs. ATAP represents the needs and interests of the state ATprograms and is the national voice of the AT programs.
Assistive TechnologyTobii ATI — This site provides training documents for Tobii products.
AT Training Online Project — Provides information on AT applications that help students with disabilities learn in elementary classrooms.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication Connecting Young Kids (YAACK) — YAACK deals with issues related to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and student. This site is full of great information and strategies for getting started with AAC. This is a great site to check out early on if you have questions or are considering AAC assessment for a student.
Book Builder —This interactive online tool enables educators to develop their own digital books to support reading instruction for children aged 3 through 10. Here teachers can create, edit, and save universally designed texts that support diverse learners.
Bookshare — Bookshare has e-books available for individuals with print disabilities. This service is now free to public schools.
The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) — CAST is the developer of the Universal Design for Learning framework. This site includes free books, web-based software applications, and training materials.
Center for Implementing Technology in Education —This site isfunded by the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Special Education Programs.
Cited.org provides support to teachers and administrators through identification of best practices, innovative online technical assistance tools, professional development, and communities of practice.
Click, Speak — A free Mozilla Firefox extension that reads the Internet and highlights phrases and sentences as it reads.
Closing the Gap — This site provides parents and educators with information that enables them to locate, compare, review, and implement AT.
Don Johnston Webinars and video training — The site provides training in Don Johnston products such as Co: Writer, Read: OutLoud, Write: OutLoud, etc.
Dynavox — This Web site provides free online training for products within the Dynavox company.
Early intervention for young children with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other disabilities — This site provides guidelines for early intervention to maximize the language and communication development of young children with special needs.
Family Place in Cyberspace — This site is located on the Alliance for Technology Access Web site and is an initiative funded by the Stulsaft Foundation to address the AT needs of families of students with disabilities. It includes links to other family oriented resources as well as case studies, FAQs, and, general information on AT and schools.
Georgia Project for Assistive Technology (GPAT)— This site provides information regarding AT with the aim to improve student achievement, productivity, independence and inclusion.
Great Schools.org — Links to articles about family support geared towards children with learning disabilities.
LD Online — This site has a variety of resources for families, teachers and individuals with learning disabilities.
LibriVox — LibriVox is a collection of free public domain audiobooks in MP3 format narrated by volunteers.
Literacy Instruction — Literacy instruction for individuals with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other disabilities — This site provides guidelines for teaching literacy skills to learners with special needs, especially learners with complex communication needs such as autism spectrum disorders, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, developmental apraxia, and multiple disabilities.
National Assistive Technology Research Institute (NATRI) — NATRI is an organization the University of Kentucky and the US Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs support. NATRI conducts research that produces data and products that will help improve the delivery of AT services to students. Besides a host of general information, their Web site includes specific information for families in their AT Planner: From IEP Consideration to Classroom Implementation.
National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education through Technology, Media and Materials (NCIP) — This link will take you to a resource in the library of the Web site for the National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education through Technology, Media and Materials (NCIP). Information includes Parent-Professional Partnerships in the consideration of AT, as well as function-specific topics (seating and positioning/communication).
National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) — NECTAC has extensive resources for states about using AT with children, abstracted bibliographies, links to federally funded projects about AT with infants, toddlers and children. Copies of state resource materials may be accessed by using the pull-down topical menu and selecting AT.
National Resources for Parents of Children and Youth with Disabilities —This site includes a variety of links to resources (not AT specific).
NIMAS — This site serves as a resource to state- and district-level educators, parents, publishers, conversion houses, accessible media producers, and others interested in learning more about and implementing AIM and NIMAS.
Pacer Center (Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights) — Simons Technology Center includes links to free downloads as well as information resources that can be purchased from the center.
Paint.net — This is a free image and photo editing software for Windows that can be used to create accessible quizzes, tests, and worksheets.
PBS Parents: Inclusive Communities — Includes links to a variety of resources about AT and disability-related topics.
Pennsylvania Training and Assistive Technology Project — This site provides resources and videos for training.
Project Gutenberg — Searchable database for free public domain e-books in various formats.
Project Participate — This site provides families, educators, administrators and therapists with simple strategies to increase the active participation of children with disabilities. There are several pages on “Gadgets & Gizmos” that present inexpensive, do-it-yourself solutions for reading (e.g., turning pages), writing (e.g., drawing with markers), play, and home.
Quality Indicators of Assistive Technology Consortium (QIAT) — This site offers an e-mail listserv allowing individuals to network with AT leaders throughout the U.S. The listserv provides a forum to ask questions regarding AT, UDL and instructional technology.
Special Education British Columbia The Learning Center — This site provides software and hardware AT resources that support participation, communication, and learning of students with disabilities.
Standards.Gov— This site provides background materials and useful links for locating information about the use of standards in government for regulatory and procurement purposes.
TeacherTube — This educational site featuring lesson plan videos and teacher/student-made videos.
TechMatrix — TechMatrix is a free tool for finding assistive and learning technology products for students. Users can generate a matrix based on subject and type of learning support.
The Assistive Technology Training Online Project (ATTO) — ATTO provides information on AT applications that help students with disabilities learn in elementary classrooms and includes basic information about AT, AT decision-making, device tutorials, and links to national AT resources. This is an easy-to-navigate site that contains useful information for parents and caregivers.
The Tots ’n Tech Research Institute (TnT) —TnT provides information regarding AT for infants and toddlers.
Tots ’n Tech — This site for a national research program about AT that includes information about adaptations and devices for infants, toddlers and children. Includes resource information and links to many useful sites.
WordTalk — This is a free text-to-speech program for the PC that works within WORD and Outlook.