Introductions - Tell us about Yourself

[KarenJanowski]

Welcome to the Assistive Technology Network. Please introduce yourself and let us know where you are from.

[Brian Wojcik]

My name is Brian Wojcik and I am the Coordinator of the Special Education Assistive Technology Center at Illinois State University. I have been working in the area of assistive technology in schools for over a decade and a half. My interests include assistive and special education technology delivery systems in schools, the pedagogy of using technology with diverse learners and the differentiation the development of 21st Century Skills in diverse learners.

[KarenJanowski]

I'm Karen Janowski, an Assistive Technology consultant from Reading, MA who loves the collaborative connections that result from social tools such as this. Social Networks help me to create my personal learning community and I'm very excited to be on the ground floor of the creation of the Assistive Technology Social Network.
I have created a blog which you can access here - http://teachingeverystudent.blogspot.com which highlights my passion for working with struggling learners.

[Christine Southard]

Hi! I'm Christine Southard, a special education teacher on Long Island, NY. I graduated in 2002 from a Inclusive Based Teaching College dual certified in Elementary and Special Education. I recently returned to college for a 2nd Masters degree in Educational Technology.

[Kerry Russell]

My Name is Kerry Russell, a special Education Teacher and Assistive Tech Specialist at Blue Hills Regional Technical High School. I am finishing up my final semester at Simmons College. Shortly I will be obtaining my Ms.Ed in Assistive Special Education Technology. I am a past student of the incredible and all inspiring Karen Janowski. It is an honor to be apart of this site and be able to share, as well as, learn from all of you. Kudos Karen!!

[Kirsten Haugen]

I'm Kirsten Haugen and I started in early childhood special ed, migrated to assistive technology when I ran into the good folks at the Center for Accessible Technology in the early 90's, became a consultant and trainer when I moved to Florida in 1997, and since moving to Oregon in 2001, I've leaned more and more toward being the mom of two boys, one of whom has Aspergers. Along the way, I've done work for IntelliTools, DJI, the Alliance for Technology Access, Child Care Information Exchange, the World Forum on Early Care and Education, and others. Thus, my interests are mainly in assistive technology, early intervention, childhood mental health issues and literacy. I also run an afterschool multimedia publishing program at our local elementary and dabble in web site creation for our school.
Wow, I recognize a lot of QIAT folks here - but how fun to put some faces to names and to see all the shared wisdom fall into a more 'durable'/'organized' format. Thanks Brian & Karen for getting this started!
My nascent blog is found at http://haugenka.edublogs.org/

[K Greenhaw]

Hi. My name is Kathleen and I am the Web Manager for EnableMart.com, an online marketplace dedicated to providing assistive technology and assistive living products and resources to individuals with disabilities, senior citizens and other members of our national and global communities. Our goal is to continue to grow our company based on the concept that there should be no barriers to the experiences in life. We hope to continue to develop and spread this ideology by reaching out to community members and their needs, while staying abreast of the latest AT developments. I would love to start a dialog with any industry members, educators, or other groups looking to share information about new and useful AT products and resources. I ran across this forum and was very impressed with the varied topics, useful information and dedicated online members. I look forward to reading more posts and will certainly pass on any breaking news or product information I come across that might benefit the AT community.

Feel free to stop by our website at: EnableMart.com and take a look around. If you have any questions you can send me a message here or leave us a question at: [e-mail].

Thank you so much!

[K Greenhaw]

I wanted to update everyone and let them know that as of today, I am leaving the AT industry and moving on to a new position outside of EnableMart. I want to thank everyone for their kind words and replies in this forum and for letting me contribute to the various topics on AssistiveTech.Ning over the past few months. I will continue to sign on periodically to check up on the topics and posts here and look forward to hearing about updates and information in the industry down the line.

Thanks again!

[Jim Sprialis]

Hi I'm Jim Sprialis and I work for the Education Department in South Australia. I am a Project Officer in Communication and Learning Technologies for students with disabilities and learning difficulties. I started my career as an early childhood educator and 'fell' in to special education 8 years later. I have had teaching roles across all levels of schooling in this field. A major emphasis has always been technology - access tools, AAC devices, environmental control systems, etc.
In my current role, I service the entire state of South Australia. Its taken me to some great places including in to the middle of the country to remote indigenous communities.
I'm very much looking forward to what is my first real jump in to networking technologies.

Our school holidays start today, but I thought I'd get this post in now rather than later.
I also thought I'd post some information I received from a listserv I subscribe to.........

New Mozilla email application with symbols.
>
> Is there community interest in using email with symbols?
>
> Mozilla have asked us to demonstrate interest.
>
> regards
>
> Jonathan Chetwynd
> Accessibility Consultant on Media Literacy and the Internet
You may wish to email Jonathon with your thoughts on this proposal.
[e-mail]

regards
Jim

[Kirsten Haugen]

Welcome, Jim!
Regarding your note about email with symbols would be a definite boon for many purposes. How do we let them know? Hey, and maybe we should start a forum on new tools, strategies & other discoveries...?
thx,
Kirsten

[KarenJanowski]

Great to have you here, Jim. I love how social tools allow us to connect globally!

[Jim Sprialis]

Hi Kirsten

Thanks for the welcome.
In regards to the contacts.. I found Jonathon's contact details (mentioned in my first posting) in the email I received from a listserv in the United Kingdom. Here is the link should you or anyone else in this group would like to subscribe.
http://lists.becta.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/senit

The SENIT list is for teachers, advisers, and others working within education to share practical advice about how ICT can be used to support pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities. There are currently about 400 members.

regards
Jim

[Samuel Charles Sennott]

Jim,

That is amazing how people all over the world can connect! What simple possibilities.