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<font size=3>The ATACP training is great for starters. For more info
please visit:
<a href="http://www.csun.edu/codtraining/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.csun.edu/codtraining/</a>. I was in a similar position here at
Wheaton and this training helped me very much. I attended the training in
DC in 1998 and it was money well spent. Good luck!<br><br>
<br>
At 09:07 AM 6/28/2006, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">This is still a relatively
"new" field, Adaptive Technology. My bachelor's<br>
is in Management and Communications, with minors in English and
Secondary<br>
Ed. How's that for non-conformity?<br><br>
However, I'm a geek at heart and was the de-facto geeky person with
the<br>
answers everyone needed about software. That got me through the
80's as a<br>
secretary and administrative type person. Then I got into
academics, and am<br>
now working for the IT department at my campus (for the last six
years).<br><br>
I am not disabled, but have plenty of friends who are, and was blessed
with<br>
two children with special needs. My oldest has ADD and seizure
disorder, my<br>
second child as a processing disorder. When I was interviewed for
this job,<br>
which was really rather a new position on this campus and we were
creating<br>
new paths in the wilderness, the interviewers asked me how I would
get<br>
answers to accommodation questions. I said I had a blind friend in
Virginia<br>
I could call on whenever I wanted, and that I would do my research.
I guess<br>
I was convincing enough, and I got the job. I have very much
enjoyed what I<br>
am doing, and have tried to keep us on the cutting edge of adaptive<br>
technology accommodations as well as being a pioneer in the production
of<br>
audio text for our students, before there were standards or
tried-and-true<br>
ways to do it.<br><br>
I do recommend getting a subscription to Closing the Gap magazine.
The<br>
yearly Resource Guide they produce is like my bible. Their
conference is<br>
also supposed to be good, although I've never been. I try to always
go to<br>
Accessing Higher Ground conference in Boulder every November, it is<br>
primarily for Adaptive Technologists and I get a lot out of the
conference<br>
(and make good networking connections as well).<br><br>
Like some others, my job is not JUST adaptive technology. Because I
work<br>
for the IT department, I also have other duties that have nothing to do
with<br>
disability services. Ideally, I should be spending only 1/3 of my
time<br>
doing adaptive technology, per my job description. In reality, it
is about<br>
80%. I also run a general-use computer lab that houses some
specialized<br>
equipment for SWD's, and I also have direct responsibility for
maintaining,<br>
forecasting, and troubleshooting 1/4th of the campus computerized<br>
classrooms. So I keep busy. <br><br>
If I had to sum up, I'd say get plenty of technical experience,
especially<br>
software. If you have an ability to learn these quickly, and an
ability to<br>
use help files, this is the easy part of this job. Coming up
with<br>
accommodations can be a bit dicier, but there are lots of resources
out<br>
there to use, including networking on lists and etc. And never
forget that<br>
high-tech is not always the way to go...sometimes the simple solution
is<br>
best. We had a visually impaired student here who no amount of
technology<br>
was getting him through his algebra classes. Finally, we hired a
visual<br>
describer and gave her a sharpie marker and a big pad of huge-square
graph<br>
paper, and she got that guy through class. He actually finished
with a high<br>
B. Low-tech was the solution there, and is for some other things
too.<br><br>
Susan Kelmer<br>
Coordinator<br>
Information ACCESS Lab<br>
St. Louis Community College at Meramec<br>
314/984-7951<br><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Athen mailing list<br>
Athen@athenpro.org<br>
<a href="http://athenpro.org/mailman/listinfo/athen_athenpro.org" eudora="autourl">
http://athenpro.org/mailman/listinfo/athen_athenpro.org</a></blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Sue<br>
***********************************************************<br>
Susan A. Morgado<br>
Director of Technology Support<br>
Assistive Technology Specialist<br>
Library and Information Services<br>
Wheaton College<br>
Norton, MA 02766<br>
508.286.3754<br>
</font><font face="Comic Sans MS" size=3>
<a href="http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/IT_S/support/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.wheatoncollege.edu/IT_S/support/<br>
</a><a href="http://www/staff/suemorgado.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www/staff/suemorgado.html<br>
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