[Athen] Input? Adding an Assistive Technology Specialty to my M.Ed.

[Place, Vicki]

We have IT with AT and it works out fabulously. We had Dan come do an evaluation of our college and we did as he suggested; added IT to AT. I came from IT and it takes the burden off IT and our AT people. Plus, I still get to be a geek. ☺


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Vicki Place
Information Technology Technician II
Department: Assistive Technology Center
Phone: (509) 542-4428
On-Campus Ext.: 2428
Location:  TD422
Mail Stop: MS-S4

  [cbc logo for email]

Assistive Technology Center (ATC)
(509) 542-5529
On-Campus Ext.: 2329
atc at columbiabasin.edu<mailto:atc at columbiabasin.edu>

The hardest thing to open . . . is a closed mind

From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Dan Comden
Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 11:56 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network
Subject: Re: [Athen] Input? Adding an Assistive Technology Specialty to my M.Ed.

Solid IT experience is lacking from many of the AT programs I've seen. I'd estimate that half of what I've done (at least) over the last decades has more to do with troubleshooting and understanding operating systems and networking as much as specific AT applications. Developing the ability to write and understand the basics of one or more simple scripting languages will serve an AT professional well throughout their career. Being able to know and use those IT skills also lets you get past first-tier support when seeking assistance from a vendor, increasing your ability to successfully resolve install issues with better efficiency.

We are increasingly asked to assist in assessing IT accessibility in a variety of settings, most of which are now web-based. A good foundation of HTML knowledge will help in understanding and communicating accessibility problems with apps and sites.

Many of us are in a unique (and really interesting) mix of doing tech, personal contact, and AT. The tech part often is neglected yet it's a vital part of our jobs. And for many campuses where the AT person is working within Student Services and not IT, being able to bridge that communication gap with local IT resources is a significant -- if not vital -- skill.

-*- Dan



On Sat, Jun 20, 2015 at 12:06 PM, Adam Kosakowski <kosakowskia at wcsu.edu<mailto:kosakowskia at wcsu.edu>> wrote:
Hello Everyone!

I have been working in our disability office part time for over a year now and I have realized I have a knack and a love for Assistive Technology!  I have a Masters of Education, but now I want to augment it with a specialty in Assistive Technology so I can one day have a better chance of getting a full time Assistive Technology Specialist position.  I have been looking into post-graduate programs and it's all pretty confusing to me, so I was hoping to get some input.

So far I've found:

30 credit "Sixth Year" programs like this one: http://catalog.southernct.edu/graduate/programs-and-degrees/special-education-sixth-year-professional-diploma-adaptive-technology.html
15 credit "Graduate Certificate" programs like this one: http://catalog.gmu.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=15&poid=5460&returnto=1028
and this ATACP program: http://tsengcollege.csun.edu/programs/ATAC  (This one is the quickest, so that's a huge plus)

Regardless of what program I complete, after I aim to sit for the ATP exam through RESNA: http://www.resna.org/certification/certification-directory.dot This I already know for sure I want to do!

I guess my questions are: What sort of program would you suggest to get the sort of position I want? What post-nominal letters should I aim for? What did you do to get such cool positions?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,

Adam Kosakowski M.Ed.
Math Specialist and Assistive Technology Specialist, University Assistant
AccessAbility Services
Western Connecticut State University
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--
-*- Dan Comden                       danc at uw.edu<mailto:danc at washington.edu>
    Access Technology Center   www.uw.edu/itconnect/accessibility/atl/<http://www.uw.edu/itconnect/accessibility/atl/>
    University of Washington      UW Information Technology

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