Announcements June 10, 2005

Assistive Technology Center Coming Soon


Recently, Cotting School received a sizable donation from the estate of Ms. Dorothy Pace. Ms. Pace, who attended the School in the 1930’s, never let polio-induced paralysis hold her back. With education and support from Cotting, she started and ran many companies including Pace Industries, which employed 130 workers, each of whom had a disability.

Inspired by her ambition, the Trustees are using her funds to establish an Assistive Technology Assessment Center (ATAC) at Cotting School.

The goals of the ATAC are:
• Provide comprehensive, multi-disciplinary assessment of students AT needs within a
meaningful educational setting.
• Generate findings that become part of the student's instructional profile and provide a
record of recommended services, devices, and instructional practices.
• Create a vehicle to organize and store data about the use of AT at Cotting so that we can
better monitor and respond to changing needs and trends.
• Provide recommendations of AT devices and services that increase access to curriculum,
learning, and independence.
• Provide support and education to families in using AT in multiple environments.

Examples of areas that the team might explore in the ATAC include:
• How can the student with no hand use participate in a writing task?
• What is the best access method for a student to use the computer?
• Which augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device will facilitate language
development?
• Have we identified age-appropriate software to increase curriculum learning?

Construction is already underway so that the Center will be up and running by the beginning of the school year in September. In the future, we plan to extend services to the general public, where there is great demand for assistive technology services.