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Powder River Basin Children's Center 
     "A special place for children to learn and grow."

Northeast Wyoming BOCES Assistive Technology Program:

In May 2007, Northeast Wyoming BOCES developed and implemented a dedicated assistive technology program to expand on continuous services being provided within the Powder River Basin Children’s Center (PRBCC) learning environment. By the beginning of the following school year, a total of 8 computers were added to classrooms, quadrupling the number of student workstations previously used. In addition, the CompassLearning online curriculum interface was deployed to replace existing A+LS software, available to students in all classrooms, offering a variety of Wyoming Standards Based curriculum titles in the areas of vocabulary, language usage, mathematics, reading, social studies, science and writing, as well as course and adaptive assessments in language arts, mathematics, science and social science.  

Kurzweil 3000 software and scanners were updated and expanded, offering students a comprehensive reading, writing and learning software solution for struggling readers that allows access to nearly any printed, electronic or web-based information. Users are provided with both visual and auditory feedback, including highlighted text and humanlike speech. Assignments can be exported to text documents on disk and even electronic audio files on portable devices that can be used in a variety of school environments or taken home.

As the assistive technology (AT) needs of students with disabilities within partner districts are identified by the coordination and cooperation of educational professionals, the technology department of NEW BOCES provides AT evaluations and assessments and researches solutions for services, equipment and training. This includes meetings with IEP teams, teachers, parents/guardians/caregivers and administrators who are dedicated to the implementation, use and tracking of appropriate AT strategies based on individual student need.

The assistive technology coordinator from NEW BOCES provides alternative assessment and training options, including traveling to partner district school programs for classroom observation, special education strategy meetings and equipment trials/training, as well as instructional training opportunities and demonstrations for the staff working directly with the students.

The AT assessment and demonstration center at NEW BOCES continues to grow with a variety of devices, consisting of two adaptive workstations with PC machines, touch screens and interactive software. AT equipment will include but is not limited to:  an assortment of environmental controls and switches; cause and effect switch activated toys, appliances and electronics; augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices; screen readers, voice recognition software and screen enlargement; adaptive, alternate and ergonomic keyboards and pointing devices; scanning and OCR systems with voice output for access to printed, electronic and web-based items.

The recent plan to integrate Smart Board technology at NEW BOCES is a large leap for staff and students in the direction of creating and sharing fresh and stimulating learning environments for special needs classrooms, as well as bolstering training and
presentation opportunities for our faculty, staff and administration.                            

In addition to assessment, demonstration and training, the technology lab is a resource for information. The AT center at PRBCC conducts requested presentations, training and workshops where teachers, staff and students can learn more about and evaluate adaptive equipment. We encourage those involved in the education of students with disabilities to ask questions and learn how assistive technology might benefit the needs of their students.