Ershig Assistive Technology Resource Center

WECU Assistive Technology Outreach Project 2008-09

Collaborative AT Consideration Process

Purpose:

The primary purpose of inviting the E-ATRC to join your team in a collaborative AT consideration process is to broaden the base of your decision-making team. The student’s IEP (Individualized Education program) team is already well-rounded and includes members with a variety of expertise. What may be missing (for the purpose of AT consideration) is someone with a broad perspective about the wide range of assistive technology tools available today. The E-ATRC’s coordinator, Linda Schleef, may be able to serve that purpose. Schleef is a special education teacher and is certified by RESNA (Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America) as an Assistive Technology Professional (ATP).

Format:

The format of the collaborative AT consideration is a face-to-face meeting with the student’s IEP team members, including the family (the meeting may or may not include the student, at the team’s discretion), to consider the AT needs of the student. The meeting can take place either at your school site or at the E-ATRC at Western Washington University. This location provides the added benefit of the availability of a large selection of AT tools for perusal by the team during the consideration process.

Process:

The collaboration utilizes the WATI (Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative – www.wati.org) AT consideration process and includes the following steps:

• Problem Identification
• Task Specification
• Solution Generation
• Option Selection

Participants are encouraged to provide a note taker for this meeting, in order to provide a record of the proceedings for the student’s file, as no formal report will be written by the E-ATRC staff.

The school team is responsible for following up on any suggestions made by the team during this process. E-ATRC staff will follow up with a courtesy phone call or e-mail to the primary contact in the months following.

AT School Starter Kit:

As a ‘thank you’ for your participation, your school will receive a collection of AT-related materials and tools that will help guide future AT decision making for your team.

Application or Request:

To request E-ATRC participation in a collaborative AT consideration, please follow these steps:

• Be sure to obtain a release of information from the student’s family before proceeding.
• Introduce yourself and your student in a brief (1/2-1 page) cover letter. Be sure to include information about how I can contact you, including phone number, e-mail address and available contact times (e.g. before and after your students arrive.
• At the WATI website (Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative), access the free assessment forms in the WATI Assessment Package at http://www.wati.org/content/supports/free/pdf/WATI%20Assessment.pdf. Note - you will only need to print off certain pages, as identified in the steps below:

1. Complete pages 20 and 21 – the ‘Referral / Question Identification Guide.’

2. Based on your selections on page 21, complete the relevant sections of the ‘Student Information Guide’ on pages 22-40.

3. Complete page 41, section 13 (General) of the Student Information Guide.

4. Then complete page 47, the ‘Environmental Observation Summary’, while thinking of a task that is particularly challenging for the student. Feel free to do this for more than one task, if you wish.

• Gather the completed forms (keep a copy for your records), and include any other relevant reports, such as the student’s IEP. Include a copy of the release of information form signed by the family.

• Mail the packet to:

Linda Schleef

E-ATRC / WWU

516 High Street, MH212

Bellingham, WA  98225

 

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