Educators, teachers and an Educational setting, have one common aim, to deliver an inclusive education. The Australian Government ensured this when it passed the Disability Discrimination Act, 1992, the Disability Standards for Education, 2005 and when ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) in 2008 (Foreman & Arthur-Kelly, 2014). An inclusive education cannot be done as a result of an individual only, it can only be achieved with assistance and not only from people but also with aids. As the name suggests, Assistive Technologies are various materials, services, systems and devices that provide assistance to the user, helping improve, enhance and/or develop the ability to achieve …show more content…
(IDEA, 1997). In today’s day and age teachers and educators have an ever-increasing variety of assistive technologies available to them to support students in a mainstream classroom. The variety of assistive technology available ranges from low to high-tech and in various price ranges (ARACY,2013). Low-tech refers to equipment or devices that do not require batteries to work this may be in the form of scissors that a teacher can assist the student with cutting, rubber grips on pencils to help with pencil grip and picture cards used for cues. High-tech refers to equipment or devices that usually require batteries and the user will need training to be able to utilize the technology. High-tech assistive technology may refer to voice recognition software, alternate computer equipment, for example, keyboards and mouse and touch screen devices. Equipment or devices in the mid-range usually need batteries, but only require minimal training for the user to be capable to operate them. These may include books on CD, timers, switch operated toys and …show more content…
(atsa). This being the case it is vital for teachers to have an idea what the main purpose of the technology will be. Teachers have a duty to know each and every one of their student and have a clear idea of what their students need to help them grow and develop. Effective teachers will have developed, either during pre-service and or during their time as a teacher, the knowledge and skills to assess students’ needs, be confident to make modifications to the curriculum content and be confident to utilize assistive technology where required. (Salamaca statement, pg27). By using assessments gathered from various stakeholders and team members a clear understanding should be made of what assistive technology will be supportive to the