Special Education

Techniques and subject matter designed for students whose learning needs cannot be met by a standard school curriculum.

Sub-headings:

Learning Disabilities

Mentally Handicapped

Students whose intellectual functioning is below the mean.

Resources in this category:

Alliance for Technology Access
http://www.ataccess.org/

ATA is "a network of community-based resource centers dedicated to providing information and support services to children and adults with disabilities, and increasing their use of standard, assistive, and information technologies. Centers can be found all across the country." Links to 60 vendors of adaptive equipment, FAQ, web accessible design, success stories, related WWW sites.

Another Path: A Comprehensive Guide to Homeschooling your Deaf or Hard of Hearing Child
http://www.deafhomeschool.com/index.html

This site covers the basics on homeschooling such as curriculum ideas, as well as more specific resources, such as speech therapy, for schooling children with special hearing needs.

Blind Readers Page
http://blindreaders.info/

"This site is a guide to sources of information in alternative formats (braille, recorded cassettes, large print, e-texts, web audio) accessible by people with print disabilities - those with visual and physical handicaps as well as dyslexia. It is also a guide to information about blindness, visual handicaps and other handicaps, with a special collection of Wisconsin resources. There are about 2,300 individual links, all evaluated, annotated, and organized by subject."

Braille School
http://www.brailleschool.com/

Try these free online Braille tutoring services and other tools for the visually impaired and their families at Braille School.

Children's Literature & Disability
http://www.nichcy.org/pubs/bibliog/bib5txt.htm

"This list of Resources You Can Use is intended to help parents and professionals identify books that are written about or include characters who have a disability." Resources are grouped by disability, and contain information about the intended age group of each resource.

Closing the Gap
http://closingthegap.com/

A commercial site, Closing the Gap is an organization that provides information about applications of computer technology in special education and rehabilitation. It publishes a reasonably priced directory of resources featuring thousands of commercially available hardware and software products and organizations that serve people with special needs and sponsors a conference on that topic. The web site has a few selected articles on disbility technology topics and information about purchasing Closing the Gap's commercial products.

disABILITY Information and Resources
http://www.makoa.org/index.html

A long list of articles about disability and links to disability resources on the Web, including databases, resource sites, events, products, services. Special page with numerous links to sources for information on accessible web page design.

FAPE
http://www.fape.org/

"The Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE) project is a strong partnership that aims to improve the educational outcomes for children with disabilities. It links families, advocates, and self-advocates to communicate the new focus of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The project represents the needs of 6 million children with disabilities."

LD Resources
http://www.ldresources.org/

Site features articles and essays on learning disabilities and the use of aids, technologies and strategies to help those with LD. Links to related Web sites, free newsletter.

National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education through Technology, Media and Materials
http://www2.edc.org/NCIP/

National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education through Technology, Media and Materials is a project of the U.S. Department of Education which "promotes the effective use of technology to enhance educational outcomes for students with sensory, cognitive, physical and social/emotional disabilities." The site has online workshops for teachers, an online library, facilitated discussion, links to related sites, video profiles of successful programs and a mailing list.

SchwabLearning.org: A Parent's Guide to Helping Kids with Learning Differences
http://www.schwablearning.org/

Includes sections on identifying kids with learning differences, managing learning differences, and connecting with other parent. Also includes guides to adaptive technologies.

Special Education News
http://www.specialednews.com/

Special education news for educators and families.

Trace Research and Development Center
http://trace.wisc.edu/

The mission of the Center is: "To advance the ability of people with disabilities to achieve their life objectives through the use of communication, computer and information technologies." It is a research, development and resource center affiliated with the engineering department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Main sections of the site are "Designing a More Usable World," "Cooperative Electronic Library," and "Publications and Media Catalog." Includes some articles online, searchable index of article citations and links to related sites.