Assistive technology, or just technology?
Kathy and her team would introduce Snap&Read and Co:Writer to entire classrooms (including the teacher, to save time by training all of the students and their educator at once), not just to the students who she had on her caseload. And when she did so, she refrained from using words like “assistive technology,” or singling out individual student needs, but instead told the class: “we’re going to give you tools to become better readers and writers.”
“Change the focus,” Kathy says. “Don’t make it a special ed thing.”
This UDL approach allowed all students to benefit from tools meant to fill the needs of a few.
When you can teach a whole class how to use the tools, Kathy says that most often, the kids who needed the tools the least were eager to adopt them because they saw an opportunity. They would use Snap&Read to cite sources, or Snap&Read to multitask, and even in a few cases, listen to a reading assignment while running track.
“It changes the whole dynamic, because then the students who really need the technology are like, okay, if the smartest kid in the class is going to use this tool, maybe I should use it too,” Kathy says. “It makes a huge difference. They don’t feel embarrassed or singled out.”