She said assistive technology helps children with disabilities learn and function in school.
Johnson said assistive technology “can be any piece of equipment or product that can be commercially made, modified or customized, or even homemade that can increase or improve the child’s ability to function in the school environment.”
Assistive technology, she added, also helps the child in selecting and acquiring the device or product.
Johnson presented several examples of assistive technology like specialized software for writing and painting which allows students to press buttons to hear words, special keyboards with easy to distinguish keys, and a special earpiece to help students focus on one thing at a time.
The earpieces are not for the deaf or hard of hearing but for children who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“Under the law, each child with disability, no matter how mild, has to have assistive technology not only for the classroom setting but for outside, too, such as the gymnasium and other facilities during recess,” Johnson said.
She was among the presenters in yesterday’s 2010 Assistive Technology Fair held in the Taga Room of the Aqua Resort Club yesterday.
Other presenters included representatives from the Social Security/Medicare group, the CNMI Center for Living Independent, the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Center, the Northern Marianas Protection Advocacy System Inc., Northern Marianas College, PHI Pharmacy, Marianas High School special education, Kagman High School special education, Trankilu Alternative Financing Program, and the assistive technology program of the CNMI Council on Developmental Disabilities.
