{"id":19,"date":"2014-03-18T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/?p=19"},"modified":"2014-07-16T22:24:46","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T22:24:46","slug":"telling-at-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abilitytools.org\/blog\/telling-at-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Telling AT Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"


By guest blogger Fred Tchang, Director of Assistive Technology Services at Advancing Opportunities<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt always seems impossible until it\u2019s done.\u201d Nelson Mandela<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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Fred Tchang, Director of AT Services<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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It seems impossible to many people that a person who is blind can use an iPhone, that a person with a significant physical disability can drive himself to work, or that a person who can\u2019t read can go to college. Impossible, until they see it done.<\/div>\n
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Throughout the years, I\u2019ve spoken with people who are unsure that their child\/student\/client could achieve a life goal, even with the support of assistive technology (AT). They might think that AT is just for people with physical disabilities or those who are good with computers or for anybody else but themselves.<\/div>\n
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Even people with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities need to learn what\u2019s possible. Sometimes it helps to see examples of other people, who are just like them, actually using, benefiting from and explaining their AT to convince them that, yes, this could make a difference.<\/div>\n
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Which of the following AT examples do you find the most compelling?<\/div>\n
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  1. Reading an explanation of how word prediction works: \u201cWord prediction is a specialized writing software for people with learning disabilities. As you type, it presents a list of words that it thinks you are trying to type.\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. Listening to me give an example of how a student can benefit: \u201cStudents who have a lot of difficulty with spelling can use this software to help them spell words that they would otherwise not use because they cannot spell them.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. Watching a video of Brody<\/a>, a 6th grader, tell you himself what a difference AT has made in his life.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n