OSEP Funded Early Childhood AT Projects and Other National Resources

• OSEP Funded Early Childhood AT Projects
• Other National Resources

OSEP Funded Early Childhood AT Projects

• Tots'n Tech Research Institute (TnT) The Tots'n Tech Research Institute (TnT) is an inter-university collaboration between Thomas Jefferson University (TJU), Philadelphia and Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe. TnT conducts a national research program on the use of assistive technology (AT) to enhance the development of infants and toddlers with disabilities. A major component of the TnT's mission is to produce new knowledge and information about AT use and practices and, specifically, about the ways in which AT may optimize children's development and learning.
• Family Center on Technology and Disability The Family Center on Technology and Disability is designed to support organizations and programs that work with families of children and youth with disabilities, offering a range of information and services on the subject of assistive technologies. Some of these include: (1) A fully-searchable database containing reviews of books, articles, research and other materials of interest and utility to families of children with disabilities; (2) A monthly newsletter featuring discussions of leading-edge developments in assistive technology, highlights of member organization initiatives, updates on pertinent legislation and regulation, and many other items; (3) Online conferences addressing topical issues and providing access to leading national experts; and (4) Presentation materials on the subject of assistive technologies. The Center operates entirely through program support from the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
• Early Childhood Technology Integrated Instructional System (EC-TIIS) The Early Childhood Technology Integrated Instructional System (EC-TIIS) is an online training program for families and early childhood professionals. Consisting of nine high quality workshops, the project is sponsored by the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood Education at Western Illinois University.
• Early Childhood Curriculum Support: Predicting, Listening, Observing, and Recording--Integrating Technology (Project ECCSPLORe--IT) The ECCSPLORe-IT Curriculum integrates activities from a variety of curricular areas including art, music, movement, literacy, math, science, and social studies. Many of the activities are those which commonly occur in early childhood classrooms. Each activity is aligned with math, science, and social studies standards. A major focus of the model is providing opportunities to use and to produce interactive software.
• Let's Play! Project The Let's Play! Project provides education, service, and research on the effectiveness of accessible materials and supports to promote playfulness in young children with disabilities. Services provided through this project have allowed families with children with disabilities access to a variety of assistive devises and play materials as well as strategies to put play back into the forefront of their lives.
• Expressive Arts Outreach Project The Expressive Arts Project was developed by Macomb Projects at Western Illinois University in Macomb, Illinois. The major goal was to develop and demonstrate a developmentally appropriate, activity-based expressive arts curriculum model so young children with disabilities have access to activities in the arts that are an accepted part of regular early childhood programs in typical settings. Both low tech and high tech adaptations are used to make it possible for children with moderate to severe disabilities to participate in expressive arts activities.
• Project KITE Outreach: Kids Included Through Technology are Enriched Project KITE is designed to train parents and teachers to more effectively include young children with disabilities in their homes and classrooms in culturally sensitive ways through the use of assistive technology. The project focuses on children ages 3-8, from various socio-economic backgrounds and cultures.
• Culturally Responsive Early Intervention in Assistive Technology Training (CREATT) Culturally Responsive Early Intervention in Assistive Technology Training (CREATT--pronounced "create") is an innovative approach to effective service delivery for young culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) children with disabilities such as dual sensory, motor, cognitive, and/or communicative disorders. This model training program emulates best practices in early intervention and will train and graduate a total of 30 early intervention specialists in assistive technology (AT).

View an annotated list of other National resources, which provide information on assistive technology for infants, toddlers and young children.