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A Checklist for Making a Successful Transition
from High-School to College
Introduction
An expert, that is, on his or her own disability and on the best strategies for accommodating that disability in a post-secondary educational setting. For some students, the most promising accommodations will utilize adaptive technology. A student who can benefit from adaptive technology will be more likely to succeed if he or she arrives at college ALREADY POSSESSING the appropriate adaptive technology skills (as well as study skills and independent living skills).
Adaptive technology is frequently very expensive, and some adaptive technology requires a significant period of training and practice to become usable. In many cases, a year or two ahead of the start of college is not too soon to begin thinking about adaptive technology; acquiring the technology and the skills to use it effectively is a step by step process, and that takes time. Students who plan to go to college should begin with step one below as early as possible.
1. Learn to use a computer.
Even if you plan to study something as non-technological sounding as "14th Century Literature", you will need to know how to use a computer. This is especially true if your disability makes writing and/or reading difficult in some way. Computers can help you to do things that are essentially non-computing tasks, such as reading a book, doing math, or doing research, with the help of adaptive software and/or hardware. If you plan to study something that is even remotely technical, you can count on a computer being an integral part of your college experience. The following are basic computer skills that every student (but especially those with disabilities) should have:
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Typing - this skill is especially important for students who are blind or visual impaired, as much of the adaptive technology geared for visual impairments is operated via the keyboard. Students with hand-related disabilities should at the very least be familiar with the layout of the standard keyboard.
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Windows - Although there are adaptive technology tools available for both the Mac and the Windows operating systems, most students should concentrate their efforts on learning Windows, since the most up-to-date adaptive technology tools are usually developed for Windows. Also, the business world, and much of the academic world, uses Windows, and so your time is best spent learning the system that you will probably use in the future.
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Internet Skills and Email - there is an enormous amount of information available via the Internet, and many college courses today use the Internet to some extent. Learn what browsing is an how to do it, how to search and use the Internet for research, and how to use Email. Stick to a standard browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox, both of which have features which make them more accessible to those with disabilities.
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2. Make it your business to find out what technology is appropriate to accommodate your disability.
This is a thinking/researching process:
- What are your educational disability-related difficulties? Taking Class Notes? Reading? Writing? Using a computer? Organization? Using equipment such as microscopes?
- What do you need to be able to overcome these difficulties? This can be an easy question or a hard one to answer. Often the answers don't become clear until you do the next step.
- What adaptive technology exists that may help me? To answer this one, you need to do some research. It is an expensive, but very common mistake, to choose the wrong adaptive technology, either because the need is not clearly identified, or because the functions of the adaptive technology are misunderstood.
has years of experience with helping students with disabilities identify and learn to use the adaptive technology that is the best match for them.
The following are some other good sources of information. Resources specifically located in Maine generally have equivalents in other states.
If you don't now own a computer, you (or someone helping you) may find one to use at school or at your local library. Use a search engine on keywords, such as "blindness" or "adaptive technology". There is a super-abundance of information available on the web! A good place to start is the DO-IT project at the University of Washington at http://www.washington.edu/doit/
They may be able to connect you to adaptive technology being used in your district. Your school district may provide you with adaptive technology to assist you with your schoolwork, in accordance with the IDEA laws, if it is necessary to your education.
TEC is a "lending/demonstration library" of adaptive technology for individuals with all types of disabilities (not just CP).
With offices located around the State of Maine, this non-profit disability service organization and its Independent-Living Specialists can be valuable resources for information about adaptive technology and funding for adaptive technology. 1-800-640-7200.
Regional offices, located around the state, have many resources for adaptive equipment and may be able to help with the cost of purchasing adaptive technology and other tools necessary to succeed in college. Serving high school age and up. 1-800-315-1192 in Portland
Most colleges have an individual or a department that helps students with disabilities find appropriate accommodations on campus. Ask the admissions office about how to contact this person or department. Before you apply, ask what adaptive technology is available and supported on campus.
If the school already has adaptive technology appropriate to your disability, you will save yourself a lot of time and aggravation by acquiring and/or learning to use the same or similar technology. If they tell you that they have no adaptive technology to accommodate your disability, you will need to decide whether or not you will be able to pursue your education effectively at that school.
Such as the Iris Network, the Baxter School for the Deaf, United Cerebral Palsy, the Muscular Dystrophy Foundation, Learning Disabilities Association of Maine, Pine Tree Society, among others. These organizations may be able to provide resources for adaptive technology commonly used by others.
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3. Acquire and Learn the Adaptive Technology Appropriate to Your Disability.
To get to this point, you must have first jumped these hurdles:
- Get a computer (usually) and learn to use it (if that's possible without adaptive technology)
- Find out what adaptive technology you should be using.
- Buy that technology, if possible, and learn to use it.
In moving through this process, the number one concern for many students, parents, and special education professionals is money. Computers are expensive, and so is adaptive technology, especially when you figure in the cost of training. As you research your options, keep funding sources in mind.
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4. Its never too early.
Even freshman year of high school is not too early to begin the process of acquiring adaptive technology and to develop skills using it. It takes a significant amount of TIME to research computers and adaptive technology. It may take quite a bit of TIME to find the finances to purchase the appropriate equipment. TIME will pass while you locate the proper vendor and/or training. Learning to use a computer is a process that takes TIME, even if you do not have a disability. Learning to use a computer with adaptive technology is even more TIME-consuming. Once you actually get to college, it will take TIME to learn the unique computing environment on campus and how to utilize whatever adaptive equipment is in place. If there is none, you will have to think ahead even more, because it is your responsibility to let the college know that you need an accommodation involving adaptive technology. And that will take even more ....TIME.
If you plan to succeed in college, plan way ahead. Don't wait until your first day of college to think about adaptive technology.
TIME is of the essence.
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5. Some Examples of Adaptive Technology for specific disabilities:
- Learning Disabilities: Extra-large monitors, portable word-processors for note-taking, computer software to enlarge text and/or read it out loud, typing echo software, spell-checkers, grammar-checkers, word-prediction software, scanners to convert hard-copy text to computer text , voice-recognition typing programs
- Visual Impairments: Extra-large monitors, screen-enlargement and screen-reading software, typing echo software, CCTV to magnify books, magazines etc., scanners to convert hard-copy text to computer text for magnification or use with text-reading software, talking calculators, large key labels on keyboards
- Blindness: Screen-reading software, scanners to convert hard-copy text to computer text for use with text-reading software, braille displays, text-to-braille conversion software, braille printers, talking calculators and scientific equipment, braille note-takers
- Mobility Impairments: specialized keyboards and other input devices, voice-recognition software, word-prediction software, scanners to convert hard-copy text to computer text
This page was last updated on April 19, 2010
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