Leah Shaw

EDTC625 Fall 2017

Assistive Technology Interview

Interview with Susan Duggan, Southern Middle School Library Science Teacher and Technology
Integration Specialist

Discuss your educational background and why did you choose to work with assistive technology.

I received my bachelor’s in education. After receiving my master’s degree in educational technology, I

decided to use my knowledge to helping students in need.

Describe a student with a challenging learning disability and how you supported him/her using assistive
technology hardware and/or software.

We have a student who does not communicate vocally but loves music. He loves apps on the iPad that
allow him to play different sounds and musical instruments.

What assistive technology software do you find most helpful for students with disabilities? Why?

I find that we have a lot of students who struggle with reading. TTS (text-to-speech) allows students to
have the text read to them which is also available to most of them when they take the PARCC
assessment.

What assistive technology hardware do you find most useful for students with disabilities? Why?

I have found the FM system to be very useful with students with hearing problems. I have a student with
hearing difficulties and with wearing the system around my neck, you would never know that she has
any issues.

What are some emerging assistive technologies? How will they help students?

With improvement in technology, proofreading systems and word prediction software will benefit
students with their writing skills.
Leah Shaw
EDTC625 Fall 2017
Assistive Technology Interview

What is the process for teachers of accessing assistive technologies in the school system?

The need for AT is addressed during a student’s annual IEP meeting. Special education teachers work
with other teachers to implement technologies when necessary.

I had a very nice interview with Susan Duggan. She works closely with students and teachers
with integrating technology seamlessly into curriculum. She’s very knowledgeable about the technology
in her building.

Ms. Duggan mentioned text-to-speech programs which is a technology with which I’m less
familiar. I can definitely understand the benefits and believe it would be an easy technology to integrate
into a classroom.

Ms. Duggan discussed an FM transmitter for a hard-of-hearing student. This was a technology
that was new to me. One similar technology that I had used when I was teaching was a microphone
around my neck with speakers built into the ceiling. While that may not be helpful for a student with
significant difficulties, it was beneficial to those with minor hearing difficulties as well as all students.

Knowing that I had taught music at one time, she briefly recalled a child who enjoyed music, but
didn’t communicate. Instead of demonstrating his knowledge with his voice, he could demonstrate
knowledge with iPad apps. For example, instead of singing the direction of a melody, he could draw it.
Since the interview, I’ve been experimenting with different iPad apps to see how they can be used
differently, and brainstorming their possibilities as assistive technology.

In an elementary music class, students typically don’t do any writing, so it’s unlikely that I’ll
experience assistive technologies for writing skills.

This was a beneficial interview, and it showed me that it’s important to know and understand
assistive technologies in order to support students and their teachers.