Robbi is a 58 year old male that was born with Charge Syndrome (Coloboma of the eye, Heart defects, Atresia of the choanae, Retardation of growth and development, and Ear abnormalities and deafness). At the time of his birth, the Syndrome was unknown (It was not named until 1981). At birth his parents were told that his heart, sight, and hearing were affected (He was deaf and partially blind). For most of Robbi’s life, his parents didn’t know if genetics played a role in his condition (Later, scientists have linked a gene to the syndrome). The genetics testing was too expensive ($30,000). And knowing the cause was not going to help the solution. They decided early on that they would do whatever Robbi needed to become a contributing member of society.
When Robbi became school-age, special education was non-existent. His parents were told that they needed to move closer to Austin to receive services from state agencies. Holton, his father, traveled to Austin on several occasions and spoke to several agencies. The agencies that helped the blind said they couldn’t help because of his deafness and the agencies that helped the deaf couldn’t offer assistance because of his blindness. At the age of 6, they eventually enrolled him in the Alabama Institute for the Deaf & Blind in Talledaga. For the next 11 years, he spent 9 months at the school and would return home for the summers.
In 1997 Robbi’s retina detached. He had surgery and it was corrected but then it happened again and he lost complete eye sight. He became extremely angry. His parents didn’t know what to do. He was accepted into the Hellen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults in New York. He stayed for 6 months. He learned how to manipulate a Velcro calendar, cook, and use a cane for the blind. They tried to teach him Braile but he hated it. Instead he preferred the letters to be raised. He had a favorite book on airplanes that had the letters raised. His mom bookmarked his favorite pages. He learned how to be independent. His cognitive abilities (calendars, dates, times) amazed the staff. He was asked to stay longer so the staff could observe his thought patterns to enhance their teaching techniques. He spent a total of 13 months at the Center.
When he returned home, his parents helped him get a job at the local Pizza Hut. There he learned how to fold pizza boxes, wipe the tables, fold napkins and silverware, and fill the salt, pepper and cheese containers. Every Sunday, after church they would eat at the Pizza Hut. If for some reason his dad would take a different route, Robbi would get agitated. He could tell the direction the car was headed.
Robbi loves to sit outside on the porch swing but he doesn’t like it if the wind is blowing on him. Robbi loves chocolate. My grandmother, his aunt, always brings chocolates to the reunions. He knows that if she comes to say hi, he is going to get a treat.
He loves flags. He likes to make them wave. He usually has two with him at all times. My earliest memories are of him sitting at a table with his mom waving his flags. At the reunions we always sing hymnals at the end. He can tell when we’re singing. He knows when we pause. One year he was signing away to his mom. I asked what he was saying. She said he wanted to know when it was time to go. He thought we had ended but then the singing began again. Finally, we stopped for prayer and he was signing away again. She said he had been waiting patiently but he was ready to go home.
Robbi loves airplanes, not just any airplane. Every birthday and Christmas, his parents give him the same gifts. He waits eagerly for the last gift. He knows it’s going to be the latest Delta airplane model. His dad said they are not cheap and he usually buys several at a time through the internet. His mom said he became fascinated with Delta at an early age. He would always ride Delta to Alabama. She said he always had the sweetest airline attendants that would assist him. To this day he has not forgotten.
Robbi uses several low-tech devices. One is his Ambutech aluminum 4 section folding cane with a ball. His mother claims the cane is what helped him become independent after the loss of his total eyesight. I was able to watch him maneuver to the restroom using the cane. He walked slowly with his sister by his side. He moved the cane side to side in front of him to make sure that he would not walk into anything or anyone. His sister did assist him since it was an unfamiliar building and crowded with tables and people.
He also uses a general sign language that he learned as a child while attending the Alabama Institute. His mom said later they tried to teach him ASL but he mainly uses his first sign language. He communicates by signing in other people’s palms. A glimpse of his signing was caught in the video that his dad taped of him manipulating his calendar. He is counting the days as he puts the dates up.
That leads to his 3rd low tech device that I would like to mention - his calendar system. His mom said he learned it at the Helen Keller Center. She said he has his Velcro system that he MUST put together the first of each month. He also makes her buy an annual calendar each January. Each month he makes her describe the picture on the calendar. They mark any special days on it and count them out on a daily basis. Robbi has an amazing memory. He is able to recall events on any given day in his history (this is what amazed the staff at the Helen Keller Center).
Although, sign language opened doors for Robbi, he is very limited with his communication. Without the support of his family, I would not be able to communicate with him. Even others that know sign language may have difficulties without the use of a universal language. He was born and taught before the use of current-day technology.
The use of a walking cane helped open doors. Robbi was unable to even get from one place in his house to another without continuous human support. The cane eliminated the 1:1 support that he needed to be mobile.
The Velcro calendar helps Robbi keep all his thoughts in chronological order. His thought systems are so advanced that it even puzzles experts.
Robbi has many low tech assistive technologies in place that help him be as independent as he can be; however, with the newest studies on Charge Syndrome and the latest technologies, I wonder what the future holds for those that are born with Charge.
(i) Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences.
(ii) Autism does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance, as defined in paragraph (c)(4) of this section.
(iii) A child who manifests the characteristics of autism after age three could be identified as having autism if the criteria in paragraph (c)(1)(i) of this section are satisfied.
(2)Deaf-blindnessmeans concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
(3) Deafness means a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
(i) Emotional disturbance means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance:
(A) An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
(B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
(C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
(D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
(E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
(ii) Emotional disturbance includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance under paragraph (c)(4)(i) of this section.
(5) Hearing impairment means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance but that is not included under the definition of deafness in this section.
(6) Mental retardation means significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
(7) Multiple disabilities means concomitant impairments (such as mental retardation-blindness or mental retardation-orthopedic impairment), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. Multiple disabilities does not include deaf-blindness.
(8) Orthopedic impairment means a severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by a congenital anomaly, impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis), and impairments from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures).
(9) Other health impairment means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment, that--
(i) Is due to chronic or acute health problems such as asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, hemophilia, lead poisoning, leukemia, nephritis, rheumatic fever, sickle cell anemia, and Tourette syndrome; and
(ii) Adversely affects a child's educational performance.
(10) Specific learning disability. (i) General. Specific learning disability means a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in the imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.
(ii) Disorders not included. Specific learning disability does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
(11) Speech or language impairment means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
(12) Traumatic brain injury means an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Traumatic brain injury applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. Traumatic brain injury does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
(13) Visual impairment including blindness means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness. Tech in SpEd
What is Technology?
According to IDEA 2004 § 300.5 Assistive technology device. 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 a disability. The term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, or the replacement of such device. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1401(1)) § 300.6 Assistive technology service. Assistive technology service means any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device. The term includes— (a) The evaluation of the needs of a child with a disability, including a functional evaluation of the child in the child’s customary environment; (b) Purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing for the acquisition of assistive technology devices by children with disabilities; (c) Selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing, or replacing assistive technology devices; (d) Coordinating and using other therapies, interventions, or services with assistive technology devices, such as those associated with existing education and rehabilitation plans and programs; (e) Training or technical assistance for a child with a disability or, if appropriate, that child"s family; and (f) Training or technical assistance for professionals (including individuals providing education or rehabilitation services), employers, or other individuals who provide services to, employ, or are otherwise substantially involved in the major life functions of that child. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1401(2)) Tech Tools for Writing Have you ever wondered why a person with dysgraphia struggles? Click on the document below to be taken to a dysgraphic writing simulation.
Click on the above picture to find effective strategies for dysgraphia.
Tech Tools for Reading
Have you ever wondered why a person with dyslexia struggles? Click on the icon below to be taken to a dyslexia reading simulation.
Need help making an accessible test for someone struggling with reading?
1. Hearing Technology can broadly be defined as any device utilized for improving the level of sound available to a listener. Hearing technology can further be divided into two general subcategories of assistive listening devices (ALD) or personal amplification.
Assistive Listening Devices These devices typically are used to improve the signal-to-noise ratio in any given situation. In addition to increased volume, ALDs provide the listener with a direct connection to the sound source and help minimize the effects of background noise, distance and room acoustics. There are both individual ALDs and public or large group ALDs. All ALDs utilize a transmitter that sends a person's voice or other sound source to a receiver that distributes the sound evenly throughout a room such as in theaters and churches or directly to an individual. Sound is transmitted in four primary ways: Frequency Modulation (FM); Infrared (light); Induction Loop (electromagnetic); or through a direct connection. Some hearing aids have a special connection option called Direct Audio Input (DAI) that allows the user to connect directly to an FM system or Induction Loop receiver. In many instances, one can even connect directly to other devices such as a computer, TV, MP3, iPod, or radio.
Frequency Modulation (FM): One fairly common device teachers may use is a FM device. The student has a receiver and the teacher's voice is transmitted through a device.
Personal Amplification: These devices are designed to provide an individual with increased access to sound across all environments. They are chosen based on an individual's preferences, degree and configuration of hearing loss, and special features. Devices in this category must be obtained and fitted through an audiologist. Although many sources do not consider personal amplification as assistive technology, assistive listening devices and other auditory-based devices (MP3, TV, computer) may be connected through these systems, so they will be explained briefly. Also, some funding sources provide resources for personal amplification under the category of assistive technology.
Hearing Aid: There are numerous manufacturers of hearing aids, but all have the same basic components and purpose of amplifying sound. Styles of hearing aids include behind-the-ear (BTE); in-the-ear (ITE); and in-the-canal (ITC). They vary based primarily on size and features. In the past, most hearing aids had analog circuits that processed sound in a linear fashion so that what came in was made louder in equal amounts. Today with improvements in technology, most hearing aids are digital and programmable which allows them to be set very specifically based on each individual's hearing level at different frequencies. Many have special processing capabilities that help improve speech recognition, noise reduction, and overall performance. Many hearing aids include a telecoil (t-coil) or telephone switch that allows the user to access the electromagnetic energy in telephones as well as many publicly available assistive listening devices (ALDs). There is also the option of having a hearing aid integrated with an FM system that does not require direct audio input (DAI) or connection to other devices.
2. Alerting Devices: Alerting devices typically provide an amplified and/or visual signal or vibration used to get the attention of the deaf or hard of hearing individual. They can be used for public emergency alerts like fire alarms and tornados or for every day situations like the telephone ringing or a baby crying.
Other examples include:
Alarm Clock With Flasher: When the alarm goes off, a light flashes.
Alarm Clock With Strobe: Emits a strong powerful flash when the alarm goes off.
Alarm Clock With Flash and Vibrator: Can be used with flashing light or vibrator or both simultaneously.
Shake Awake Travel Alarm Clock: Placed under your pillow, this vibrates and/or sounds to wake you up.
Door Beacon: When someone knocks at the door, the beacon flashes. You can choose a small strobe light or a stronger one.
Wireless Strobe Door Chime: The door chime sets off a strobe light.
Smoke Detector with Strobe Light
Smoke Detector that can be hooked to a bed vibrator.
Super Phone Ringer: This rings the phone really loud, for people who are hard of hearing.
Phone Flasher: A light flashes when the phone rings.
Click on the above picture for links to find photos for your stories.
Google Images, Boardmaker Pro, N2Y Symbol Stix Prime (must have a subscription), Microsoft Power Point and Pictos can be used for Social Stories, Communication Boards and making Picture Assessment Choices.
