Dr. James Fleming was a featured speaker last month at the Association of Higher Education and Disability’s 21st annual Accessing Higher Ground Conference in Colorado leading a session on assistive technology and learning disabilities.
Fleming’s presentation, “Educating College Level Students on Assistive Technology,” was selected for the “Accessible Media, Web and Technology” Conference through a proposal process. Using Beacon College as his launchpad, his hour-long lecture explored the growing need to understand and incorporate assistive technology in education and the workplace.
He recalled the creation of the college’s Introduction to Assistive Technology course — a mandatory class for computer information systems majors — meant to align with the mission of America’s first accredited college or university to award bachelor’s degrees primarily to students who learn differently. The course examines the use of assistive technology especially when used to assist individuals with cognitive disabilities. The course also defines assistive technology, and reviews governmental, medical, and educational dimensions and the application of assistive technology.