Assistive Technology for Gifted Students with NLD/Executive Function/Asperger's Syndrome

[KarenJanowski]

This is one of those challenging cases in terms of when are AT recommendations overkill?
In an ideal world, there are many free online resources I would recommend for organization, study skills, note taking, time managment, written organization, etc. Does this mean the school is required to offer a laptop?The school believes she (9th grader) is doing fine (A's to C's, mind you she is gifted). At home, they see her struggles. Her Agenda is difficult to read, her backpack is overflowing with notebooks, worksheets, papers, etc. She is a fluent touch typist, knows that organization and attention are difficult for her. The special education director just spent 60 minutes on the phone with me after reading my report in anticipation of the meeting on Thursday. She is worried that this opens a can of worms for others in the district. Professionally, I believe that the students "needs" the AT for a free, appropriate education. (needs is the standard, the language was changed from "requires.")
What is reasonable? What would you recommend? She has access to AlphaSmarts and desktops at school but no one organized system. What would your recommendations look like?

[Christine Southard]

This student should have access to a laptop, not a desktop, so that she is not confined to a corner of the room. If there are laptops available in her school, she should have access to one as needed. I don't think that the district should have to buy the student her own laptop, unless there are none available at all in her school. In that case, they should buy a few and make them available to students as needed. Laptops are more inclusive than desktops and should be available to provide access to learning. IMHO, AlphaSmarts make students stand out, and if laptops are available to other learners, she should use it too. And if the laptop has access to wifi, the student can easily access Google Applications which she could help with her organization skills in school and at home. I'm interested in knowing if/how other teachers in the school, gen ed and spec ed, are using computers/laptops in their teaching/student learning.

[Laura Leigh]

It is a difficult decision. And I don't know the accommodations/modifications she has in place. The Dana (more sophisticated sibling of AlphaSmart) is an alternative. Relatively inexpensive, and it has calendar feature to record assignments, etc. However the new little laptops are inexpensive as well ($400) and the screen is much more usable (for editing papers and seeing the whole page of what a student is working on) because they are larger. Student can use the calendar feature of the Dana or the little laptop to record assignments that are legible because they are keyboarded. To help with organization, I've used colored folders for kids and a strip of colored tape on the spine of the corresponding textbook. Of course this student will always struggle with organization and needs to develop lifelong habits of doing things like pulling everything out of the backpack every night and putting things where they belong. It is her lot in life. If she has a PDA phone or electronic organizer she can program in a daily reminder chime to help train herself to do those organizational tasks. In my district I struggle to figure what is appropriate in cases like this too!