Purpose
The Illinois Assistive Technology Guidance Manual is intended to be a roadmap and reference manual for Illinois schools, parents, service providers and other parties engaged in the provision and use of AT in Illinois’ K-12 schools.
The manual defines AT, both in terms of what it is, how it is described in the law and how it relates to other important school initiatives. Much attention is paid to the process by which AT is provided to students. With the knowledge that every school district is different, the manual doesn’t attempt to prescribe the detailed steps of the process but rather, lays out in detail the higher order concepts, legal considerations, infrastructure considerations, tools and tips; creating a framework and common-understanding that can drive the development and execution of sound processes within school districts and foster a common understanding between parents and educators involved in the process.
Updates
The process of providing and using AT in schools is affected greatly by the domains it touches. These domains include technology, special education law & policy, educational pedagogy and the needs of the individuals involved in the provision of AT in schools (including educators and parents). Each of those domains is dynamic and ever changing. Therefore, our intent is that, based on the availability of funding, this manual will be a living document that will be amended and revised regularly to address the evolving nature of AT.
How can you interact with the AT Manual on this website?
Download – Select Download from the Illinois AT Manual menu choice above to download a copy to your local computer as a PDF document. Depending on your browser settings the manual may open up in Adobe Reader where you can save it to your local hard drive or print a copy. The Download page also includes options to download a large print, braille (BRF format) or plain text version, to offer a variety of accessible formats.
Read Online – Select Read Online from the Illinois AT Manual menu choice above to quickly open the manual and easily browse the pages online using an e-book like interface.
Feedback – Select Feedback from the Illinois AT Manual menu choice above to provide us with feedback about the manual. We are interested in ANYTHING YOU WISH TO TELL US about the manual. Did we omit something you think is important? Did you find an error? Did the manual have an impact on the provision of AT at your school district? Did the manual have an impact on a specific student? Did the manual improve your ability as a parent to work with your school district? We value any feedback you wish to provide.