Introductions - Tell us about Yourself

[KarenJanowski]

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

[Paula Walser]

Cindy I am really impressed - Twitter and the ning . I can see John is having a strong influence over you -- a good one! Welcome to the Ning!

[Javier]

My name is Javier Soto and I am the coordinator of the area of assistive technology of the Education, Science and Investigation Council of the Government of Murcia (Spain).

I have a blog in http://www.tecnologiaydiscapacidad.es . This blog has the purpose of sharing information, resources and reflections on the impact of the ICT in contexts of educational, social and personal diversity.

[Becca Berbaum]

My name is Becca Berbaum, and I'm the disability services coordinator for Illinois Virtual High School. Prior to my work with IVHS, I had been a special education teacher in central Illinois. IVHS hired me last fall (06), and allowed me to create the disability services position. The development process has been an exciting and rewarding challenge over the last year and a half. Like many of you sped. teachers and AT specialists out there, I just LOVE experimenting with new technology to come up with creative solutions for my students. Since I connect with all of my students online, I am working primarily with online technology to provide accommodations and modifications for my students in their online classes.

One of the downsides to my job with IVHS is that I'm the only one doing what I do. I'm so glad to have found a community of teachers and specialists here who I can learn from and share my discoveries with!

[Jennifer Corso]

Hi everyone! Well, I just stumbled upon this during some of my "down time" today & am completely impressed! What a great tool to collaborate with! I cannot wait to dig deeper and read more.
I am Jennifer Corso, an independent consultant for Assistive Technology in Central Mass. I also am a graduate of the Simmons College Ass. Tech Ed.S. program. I have been consulting independently for almost one year now. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, I served as a behavior specialist and assistive technology consultant as an employee of a school district.
I currently work 1-2 days per week in a couple different school districts. I am the mother of 15 month old twin girls & due w/ another baby girl in August. The 1-2 days a week is perfect for me right now as it allows me to be a primarily stay at home mom while doing what I love professionally.

[Daniel Cochrane]

My name is Daniel Cochrane. I'm a special ed. teacher in Wheaton/Warrenville, IL who sort of fell into assistive technology about 7 years ago when my caseload dropped and my administrator asked me to join the newly formed district-wide assistive tech team so I wouldn't have to split my FTE to different schools. I guess she noticed my enthusiasm for technology! Even though my caseload returned to full-time levels every year after that, I stayed on the AT team one day a week while another teacher took my kids. When administration changed, the new sp.ed. director asked me to do AT full-time. So, I let go of my teaching position (somewhat reluctantly - I loved the kids!) and have now been full-time AT specialist/coordinator for the district for the past two years. I maintain the equipment library, order new items, help school teams with AT evals and do training. I especially like to do teacher training. I'm most comfortable with AT for high incidence needs but am enjoying learning more about AT for low incidence needs, including AAC, my new interest.

This year I'm working toward a certificate in AT from the University of Illinois at Chicago and hope to get the ATP credential after that. But I've learned the most from attending Closing the Gap conferences for the last 5 years (or something like that) and enjoy following discussions on the QIAT listserv. It's nice to match the pictures here with some familiar names! I'll post mine when I find one.

[anne marie]

Hi -
I am Anne Marie and have been teaching students who present with significant special needs for 28 years in New England. I began teaching at a state institution, then for an educational collaborative and for the last 13 years in a public school. In addition, my husband and I share our home with two young adults who have special needs (one a former student). I have a wonderfully fulfilling and blessed life.
I am new to Blogging- just recently creating my own annemarie80.edublogs.org
Nice to meet you all and I look forward to sharing and learning and making new friends!
anne marie

[AndyWhite]

Hey everyone, I'm new to ning, and twitter, and all this web 2.0 stuff! BUT I am super excited to start using it. Originally from Maine (L/A area) moved around New England and now I am in New York City at a private school for children with autism. Love the work I do and I would love to add technology into my school...since right now the people in my school think its a smelly wet dog at the door step, still cute, but you don't want to touch it until it dries. Also looking for ways to get into the field of AT more. and I am a product of Mads and the Simmons College MsED program in Assistive Technology and PROUD of it!

[Samuel Charles Sennott]

Right on Andy. Didn't hear you made the move to NYC. Good luck and do Simmons proud!

[Angela Muscetta-Smith]

Hello All,

I'm Angela Muscetta-Smith. I working as a special ed teacher in the field deafblindness for almost 11 years. The students come with a unique set of challenges and joys. At our school we offer a variety of curriculum options to both day and residential students from age three to 22 who are deafblind with or without additional disabilities as well as students who are deaf with additional disabilities. I work mainly with the older students 18-22 years old.

I just recently completed the Masters program from Simmons College, Assistive Tech program. I am so glad I did it. What a life altering experience. I definitely had a passion of using technology in my classroom, but not on such a level for what I have learned from this program. I want to learn more and I hope keeping connected with Ning, Twitter, etc will continue my education. I'm excited...just like all of you to be in this field to have these great tools and knowledge to provide support for our struggling students as well as to find a network of people where we can bounce ideas off of.

So...if you hear of any job positioning in the Central MA area...think of me. I am at a crossroad in my life where I can use change and spend less time driving to work (a typical total day of commute time 2-2 1/2 hours).

[Shawn Malcomson]

My name is Shawn Malcomson and I am a consultant with Prentke Romich Company, an AAC company.

[Sally]

My name is Sally Hagarty, and I've been an assistive technology specialist since 2000. My background is in Special Education. I travel throughout the State of New Jersey, doing assistive technology evaluations in schools and homes throughout the state, for Elwyn Assistive Technolgoy Services. I love going to conferences every year, meeting other people who are involved in the field, and learning new software and hardware solutions. Networking on this site will be so helpful! Always great to read other's ideas and input.

[Marilee Lines]

I am Marilee Lines. By trade I am a speech pathologist. I am currently working as an assistive technology specialist in Virginia Beach, Virginia. This year my caseload consists of students who require AAC. I love the work and the students.