Special Education Report

Dufferin-Peel Special Education and Support Services is committed to improve accessibility for students with disabilities and to provide opportunities for their involvement in the identification, removal and prevention of barriers to their full participation in the life of the school.

The board strives to provide support through the continual improvement of access to board facilities and/or programs and services. Personal Equipment and Computer-based Assistive Technology provide students with diverse learning needs with support for literacy learning and equipment to access the curriculum and/or alternative programs.

Special Equipment Amount 

Guidelines for accessing Ministry of Education funding for individualized equipment is described in:   http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/funding/1112/2011_12_SEA_Guidelines.pdf   Types of equipment may include: computer hardware, assistive technology software, customized woodwork, mobility supports, FM systems, augmentative communication devices and CCTVs.

Funds can be used to purchase personal equipment for any student with a special need;

• where the equipment is required to support the student’s access to the Ontario Curriculum and/or alternative program. 

Students need not be formally identified as exceptional students, but;

• the equipment must be recommended by a qualified professional and
• evidence of the use of equipment must be documented in the student’s IEP or in other program documentation

Parents are informed about the processes involved in acquiring individualized equipment:

• through board staff such as special education itinerant teachers, consultants, speech-language pathologists, psychologists or school administrators or
• through Community Care Access Centre service providers such as occupational therapists, physiotherapists or other staff.

Computer-based Assistive Technology

In addition to computer hardware/software acquired through the SEA process, Dufferin-Peel elementary and secondary schools have access to specialized computer programs to support the literacy learning needs of all students. These programs include Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and text-to-speech software, speech-recognition software, word prediction software and software to support planning and organization. 

Computers with AT software are deployed in secondary Planning for Independence Program classes and in elementary Needs Moderate/Needs Severe classes.  This technology enhances and extends previously deployed alternative access and augmentative communication supports.

The board also recognizes the potential for these technologies to support the needs of all students.  Consequently, Ministry-licensed assistive technology programs have been added to the standard suite of software on all computers in the board’s elementary schools. 

As new technologies emerge the Special Education and ICT Departments will continue to collaborate around the means to extend assistive technology access.