One of the hardest things I have ever had to do with my
teaching career was work with students who were multi and physically
disabled. It is not because of the planning or the countless hours of work
outside of school, but the knowledge that these kids are amazing and the world
doesn’t always see it. Students with physical disabilities can come in all varieties.
Some have the use of one arm, one hand, only one leg, or they can’t use any of
their exterior limbs. Working with these students is also difficult because
some diseases can’t be prevented and the child only regresses over time, while
others could have been prevented but the tragedies of the roads caused TBI (traumatic
brain injury).
Accommodating for students with physical disabilities and
multi disabilities can range from simply having a Personal Care Assistant with
the student throughout the day to push or navigate a wheelchair to more
intensive accommodations at specialized schools that provide speech, OT, PT,
and vision services to aid in improving academic, social, and physical
well being.
Assistive technologies are also useful for students with
multi disabilities and physical disabilities. There are technology resources
such as an IPad that can provide text to speech and speech to text, depending
on the student’s needs. Students also have devices called an Eye gaze that allows
for a student with a physical disability to navigate a computer screen or
answer simple questions by just the use of the movement of their eyes.
Regardless of what type of device is used, the needs of the student is different
case by case and an AT eval is important to determine the best fit for a child.
Fecich, S. (2015, July 7). GCSE657. Graduate Class. Lecture conducted from , 2015, 7 July- 2015, 20 August.
http://www.spinlife.com/critpath/match.cfm?categoryID=6
http://www.eyegaze.com/instrument-specifications/
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