Smart Tools

Resources for Students with Disabilities

With the Internet, a bigger world will open up for students with disabilities.

These include education options, better teaching techniques suited for their needs, news on assistive technology, and networks, among others.

Here are some online resources and tools to help students with disabilities:

For students with low vision

  1. Access Adobe - Adobe Acrobat Software to help visually disabled people work effectively http://access.adobe.com/
  2. Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Visually Impaired http://www.aerbvi.org/
  3. Closing the Gap - resources on computer technology and special education
    http://www.closingthegap.com/
  4. eSight Careers Network - an employment and career networking site for the blind and visually impaired http://www.esightcareers.net/
  5. Disability-Related Resources on the Internet http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/DRR/
  6. Equal Access to Software and Information (EASI) - resources on computer access for disabled people http://www.rit.edu/~easi/
  7. Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision http://www.blind.msstate.edu/

For students with hearing impairments

  1. Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf - worldwide membership organizations and information centers on hearing loss http://www.agbell.org/
  2. American Academy of Audiology http://www.audiology.com/
  3. American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) - for information on speech language hearing http://www.asha.org/
  4. Clearinghouse on Mathematics, Science, Engineering and Technology (COMETS) - science, mathematics, engineering and technology with technical signs for hearing impaired students and their teachers http://www.rit.edu/~432www/mc/techsign.shtml
  5. Deaf Resource Library - reference materials and links for deaf cultures in other countries http://www.deaflibrary.org/
  6. Gallaudet University - extensive resources for teaching hearing impaired students, and demographics and research on the hearing impaired worldwide
    http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/
  7. Handspeak - dictionary on visual language http://www.handspeak.com/
  8. Job Accommodation Network (JAN) - for job-hunting based on disability
    http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/comm.html
  9. Pepnet Resource Center - an American collaboration of postsecondary educational centers for the hearing impaired http://www.pepnet.org/
  10. Postsecondary Education Program Network - for an on-line orientation to teaching hearing-impaired students http://www.sewardls.com/pepnet/cover.htm
  11. Teaching Science, Engineering, and Mathematics to Deaf Students http://www.rit.edu/~easi/easisem/lang1.htm

For students with learning disabilities

  1. Access Unlimited -links to websites about disabilities http://www.accessunlimited.com/
  2. Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (CHADD) - on AD/HD research, treatment and advocacy http://chadd.org/
  3. Council for Learning Disabilities (CLD) - on conferences, research and teaching tips
    http://www.cldinternational.org/
  4. Disability-Related Resources on the Internet http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/DRR/
  5. International Dyslexia Association http://www.interdys.org/
  6. Learning Disabilities Online in Depth - resources about learning disabilities
    http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/resource-guide.html
  7. The Faculty Room Knowledge Base http://www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/kb.html
  8. Yak-Yak Software - software assistance for phonetic spelling http://www.yak-yak.com/

For students who are mobility-impaired

  1. Family Village:"A Global Community of Disability-Related Resources" - on adaptive technology and products and communication connections http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/
  2. Muscular Dystrophy Association http://mdausa.org/
  3. National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) - news and educational programs on multiple sclerosis http://www.nmss.org/
  4. Spina Bifida Association http://www.sbaa.org/
  5. Trace Research and Development Center - research center on technology and disability http://www.trace.wisc.edu/
  6. United Cerebral Palsy Association http://www.ucpa.org/

For students with health and psychiatric impairments

  1. Academic Accommodations for Students with Psychiatric Disabilities - for teaching students with psychiatric impairments http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/psych.html
  2. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - information on the understanding and treatment of behavioral and mental disorders http://www.aacap.org/
  3. Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, How-to Tips for Educators http://www.bu.edu/cpr/reasaccom/index.html#top
  4. Depression and Related Affective Disorders Association (DRADA) http://www.drada.org/
  5. Mental Health Information Source http://www.mhsource.com/
  6. Obsessive Compulsive Foundation http://www.ocfoundation.org/

(Published 10 December 2007, Smart Schools Program)