The purpose of this section is to attempt to explore the following key points:

1. 1. How to determine the specific current needs of your students so you can tailor your use to meet those needs.

   2. How educators themselves should facilitate conversations between them and students with disabilities

   3. What questions to ask in order to facilitate and communicate amongst students, educators, guardians, and administrators

In order to determine current needs of students with disabilites in the classroom, it is important to first prioritize the relationship between you and the student (Branstetter, 2020). What this means is that educators need to foster a positive learning environment for all student; they must "feel that the adults in their lives care about them and are there to support them" (LD Online, 2021). Building a relationship with students is the key in effective learning. Trust is a critical element in effective communication (Folkman, 2020). People who are trusted are more likely to have students voice their needs as they feel comfortable in demonstrating autonomy. With trust in place, there comes various ways in which the needs of the students with disabilities can be determined

In order to determine the needs of students with disabilities, we need to determine what assumptions educators have in the first place (Sejdic, 2021). Some assumptions, for example, students with disabilities are incapable of forming genuine relationships, can be harmful. So instead of making these types of assumptions, educators need to make assumptions based on the combination of experiences, available data, current research, and the input of people with disabilities so that the assumptions have a positive effect (Sejdic, 2021). However, educators need to ensure that they use a wide range of data and research. For example, educators know that communication is crucial in respecting and gathering insight into the struggles of people with disabilities (Stoddart & Turnball, 2016).

Though abled-bodied people will never truly understand the experiences of people with disabilities, conversations allow for people to reflect on their own thoughts and actions regarding others. Furthermore, students with disabilities are still discriminated against due to society's perception on disability. The attitudes of peers towards students with disabilities were positively correlated with the frequency in interacting with them (Szumski et al., 2020). This means that the less interactions with students with disabilities, the more negative the attitude was towards them. This is why conversations with students, both able-bodied and disabled are important in providing an outline of what students are thinking to ensure these assumptions are reflected or corrected. Working with these assumptions allows for educators to seek out information and prepare things to support students with disabilities.

However, the best thing to do is to ask the students with disabilities directly (Sejdic, 2021). Even if educators spend time looking at literature and data on how to approach and tackle issues regarding disabilities, such as discrimination, lack of autonomy, and perceptions, each student's experiences and needs are vastly different. To lump students with disabilities together would not do them justice. It is important that the student is provided opportunities to tell educators their needs. This can be done through conversations, written forms, videos, audios, surveys, interviews, artwork, infographics etc. (Sejdic, 2021). It is crucial that there is flexibility in how the student with disabilities shows and determines their needs. The educator works collaboratively with the student, not against them.

After reading "Determining Current Needs," participate in the Padlet by providing inputs into the following questions:

1. Can you think of other ways in determining the needs of your learning community?

2. What underlying assumptions did you have in regards to technology and students with disabilities?

Facilitating conversation between educators and students with disabilities is crucial in developing and maintaining motivation and autonomy. Feelings of autonomy affect motivation; people who have more say in their actions and aims are more likely to be motivated to engage in the activity (Wang & Louick, 2020). What this means in terms of integration of technology into their lives is that in order to have a successful and meaningful discourse with students with disabilities, the educator needs to ensure that the student has autonomy in how technology is used. The student with disabilities needs to "want" to use it, not be forced into using it.

In order to foster autonomy supportive practices, it is important that the educator listens and positions students as decision-makers (Wang & Louick, 2020). Examples of this are (Wang & Louick, 2020): Giving students chances to express their beliefs and understandings, encouraging them to ask questions, make comments and provide criticisms, and recognizing students point of view. What educators need to be wary of is asserting themselves as the only expertise in a student's decision in technology integration. Educators need to collaborate with the student, their guardian(s), and other educators to ensure that the needs and wants of the students are met.

Even though technology can make it "easier" for educators to communicate with students with disabilities, it is imperative that the communication mode displayed by the student with disabilities is incorporated into interactions (Guess et al., 1985). Educators should enter a communicative relationship with students with disabilities and ensure they are equal partners in the reciprocal social relations (Stoddart & Turnball, 2016). To do so requires the educators to respect and preserve the dignity of the student with disabilities (Stoddart & Turnball, 2016; Guess et al., 1985). Preserving dignity necessitates communicating with the guardian(s) of the student with disabilities. Children with disabilities from birth display preference in the way they interact and engage with others (Guess et al., 1985). The caregivers of the students with disabilities are able to recognize the communication modes of their child and can inform educators of it (Guess et al., 1985). This allows for all stakeholders involved in the process to determine the needs of students and to communicate respectfully and effectively.

In order to determine the accessibility needs of students with disabilities, questions about them, their preference, and thoughts are essential. In collaboration with Dr. Stack and Dr. Janz, here are some following questions educators can ask in order to assess whether technology use in their classroom is ideal:

1. Who are the stakeholders in the purchase and use of the specific educational technology?

2. Who and how do each stakeholder benefit from the use of the technology?

3. How can the technology be detrimental to the stakeholders?

4. What are the possible uses of the technology?

5. Who have you consulted in making decisions about what technology to purchase?

6. What perspectives have you heard?

7. What perspectives are absent?

8. Have you consulted with people with disabilities who you expect the technology to be used for?

9. Will the technology be available to students with disabilities at home or just at school?

10. Where will the funding come from?

11. Will the cost to purchase the technology take away funding support for students with disabilities?

12. Is there the budget to maintain the technology?

13. How do the students with disabilities and their parents feel about the technology?