Bookshare.org Offers 17,000 Royalty-free Texts You need a Ph.D. to figure some of this stuff out, she said. In March,Bookshare announced a partnership with indiana University (IU), http://www.visionwire.org/news36.htm
Extractions: For special-education teachers, providing required reading for blind and learning-disabled students is a significant challenge. Now, thanks to the aid of Bookshare.org, a non-profit digital book service based in Palo Alto, Calif., educators have access to a library of thousands of titles they can download and reproduce for use on screen readers or as MP3 files. Across the country, special-education teachers are turning to Bookshare.org to help provide the visually impaired with volumes of textbooks and literary works they otherwise might not have access to. Advocates of the technology say the paperless books make in-class reading assignments easier for these students, many of whom get left behind while educators labor to scan printed text into cumbersome Braille embossers and other assistive-learning devices, such as screen readers and MP3 players. JoEllen Waddell, program support teacher for Cooperative Education Service Agency 5, one of 12 such organizations across the state of Wisconsin responsible for helping educators implement special-education plans and other services, said at least 20 students enrolled in the three schools she oversees currently have access to Bookshare.
Extractions: Media Relations Home Media Relations Resources Expert Sources Faculty Honors News Tips News Release Archives ... Student Honors Headlines in Business Education General News Information Technology ... Social Science Other Resources Alumni Athletics Events Calendar More IU News Sources ... IU President Children with emotional disabilities need special help, IU educator says Many teachers lack the necessary preparation to successfully work with children with emotional disabilities, according to Theresa Ochoa, an Indiana University School of Education professor who is researching ways to improve this situation. "Teachers expect that students with emotional and behavioral disorders can behave if they want to, but this is the wrong premise because the emotional disabilities within these students are not readily apparent or visible," said Ochoa, an assistant professor of special education who studies emotional behavior disorders. She said the problem is complex as students with these emotional disorders are not able to process information and understand the consequences of their behavior like most children. "This means the results for the student are more often punitive instead of positive," she said. Ochoa is addressing the situation through the development of multimedia ways to train future teachers who work with these problem students. "We are using CD-ROMS and disk case studies in a Problem Based Learning concept. Our students work with disability and school discipline modules that incorporate visual and audio components," she explained. The Web link for the project is
Extractions: This worksheet may be useful in assisting the IEP team with determining the need for ESY. A short question/answer section that summarizes the ESY issues addressed in this report also follows it. The Sevier County Department of Special Education hopes that IEP teams across the county find this useful when addressing ESY at the initial IEP meeting for each child with a disability in the Sevier County School District. Extended school year (ESY) services are special education and related services that are provided to a student with a disability in excess of the traditional 180-day school year as part of a free appropriate public education in accordance with the IEP. They are provided at no cost to the parent or student. The primary goal of ESY services is to ensure the continued provision of an appropriate education. ESY services are for students who need the service in order to maintain current information, skills, or behaviors, rather than to develop or enhance new skills and behaviors. New goals and objectives are not usually added to the IEP unless they are necessary for such maintenance. The section of the IDEA regulation regarding ESY services states: (a) General.
