Assistive Technology Consideration

Every IEP Team in Alabama answers the Special Instructional Factors question: Does the student need assistive technology devices and/or services? The question must be answered at every IEP meeting, and a Yes answer must be addressed in the IEP.

• IDEA, 20 U.S.C. §1401(1)–(2);  34 CFR §300.105, assistive technology  https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/b/300.105 

• 34 CFR §300.324(a)(2)(v), AT as an IEP special factor  https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/d/300.324 

• 34 CFR §300.172, accessible instructional materials  https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/b/300.172 

• Alabama Administrative Code, Rule 290-8-9-.05 and Rule 290-8-9-.07(6)–(7)

What counts as AT.  An assistive technology device is any item, piece of equipment, or product system — whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized — used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability. AT does not include a surgically implanted medical device or its replacement.

AT services are part of the decision.  Assistive technology services include the evaluation of the child's needs, including a functional evaluation in the child's customary environment; purchasing, leasing, or otherwise providing the device; selecting, fitting, customizing, repairing, or replacing it; coordinating AT with other therapies and services; training for the child and, if appropriate, the family; and training for professionals who work with the child. An AT decision that names a device without the supporting services rarely succeeds.

Conduct real trials.  Before writing a device into the IEP, arrange a trial in the settings where the student will use it — the classroom, the lunchroom, the bus. The functional evaluation in the child's customary environment is a required component of an AT evaluation and is also the best predictor of whether the device will be used.

Home use.  On a case-by-case basis, the use of school-purchased AT devices in a child's home or other settings is required if the IEP Team determines the student needs access to the device to receive FAPE. Document the team's decision and rationale either way.

Accessible instructional materials.  The LEA must take all reasonable steps to provide instructional materials in accessible formats (large print, Braille, digital text, audio) at the same time other children receive those materials. Order early: accessible-format textbooks can take weeks to arrive.

• Answer the AT special factor at every IEP meeting with a documented rationale.

• Include AT services (training, trial, maintenance) along with any device identified.

• Document Needed / Not Needed, frequency, location, and duration on the services page.

• Order accessible-format materials at the same time as standard materials.

• The AT special factor answered Yes with no device or service described in the IEPA device documented without any training or support for the staff and student using it

• AT considered only for communication, not for academic and functional needs

• Accessible-format materials requested after the school year begins

SES Subject Resources  https://www.alabamaachieves.org/special-education/subject-resources/: Assistive Technology section and the alternate-format textbook process for students with print disabilities. See also:  Augmentative and Alternative Communication and Alabama AT Resources and Device Access.