Definitions
As in many professional fields, special education has specific terms and vocabulary to guide understanding and decision-making. Some of the important terms used in the field of assistive technology include the following:
Assistive Technology : AT Device & AT Service
Accommodations
Accommodations vs. Modifications or Alterations
AT Device
Any item, piece of equipment, or product system whether purchased off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities {IDEA 2004, Part B, Section 612, (1)]. An assistive technology device helps individuals with disabilities function more independently.
AT Service
Any service that directly assists an individual with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology device. This may include evaluation, customization, repair, maintenance, and training on how to use the device.
Accommodations
Accommodations are practices and procedures that provide equitable access during instruction and assessments for students with disabilities. They are commonly categorized in four ways:
- Presentation
- Response
- Setting
- Timing/scheduling
Accommodations are intended to reduce or even eliminate the effects of a student’s disability; they do not reduce learning expectations. The accommodations provided to a student must be the same for classroom instruction, classroom assessments, and district and state assessments. (Note: Although some accommodations may be appropriate for instructional use, they may not be appropriate for use on a standardized assessment. There may be consequences (e.g., lowering or not counting a student’s test score) for the use of some accommodations during state assessments. Be sure you are familiar with Maryland policies regarding accommodations during assessments. Students who use accommodations in school will generally need them at home, in the community, and as they get older, in post-secondary education and at work. Accommodations for instruction and assessment are integrally intertwined.
Accommodations vs. Modifications or Alterations
Accommodations do not reduce learning expectations; they provide access and opportunities for success. Modifications, or alterations, refer to practices that change, lower, or reduce learning expectations. Modifications should be considered when a student continues to experience difficulty making progress in the general education curriculum even with accommodations. However, modifications can increase the gap between the achievement of a student with disabilities and expectations for proficiency at a particular grade level. Unnecessary or inappropriate use of modifications may undermine a student’s potential for success and have adverse effects throughout an educational career. Examples of modifications include:
- Requiring a student to learn less material (e.g., fewer objectives, shorter units or lessons, fewer pages or problems).
- Reducing assignments and assessments so a student only needs to complete the easiest problems or items.
- Revising assignments or assessments to make them easier (e.g., crossing out half of the response choices on a multiple-choice test so that a student only has to pick from two options instead of four).
- Giving a student hints or clues to correct responses on assignments and tests.
- Adapting difficulty and complexity of language.
**2006-2007 Maryland Accommodations Manual: A Guide to Selecting, Administering, and Evaluating the Use of Accommodations for Instruction and Assessment, Oct 2006
