Pre-college

Led by Trinidad State Junior College (TSJC) Project E.S.T.E.E.M. (Experience Science, Technology, Engineering, Electronics, and Math) provided youth with disabilities an opportunity to experience programs at TSJC that contain a computer science component. TSJC collaborated with the School to Work Alliance Program (SWAP) to host the full-day event which culminated in an evening in which both students and their parents participated.

DRobotZ was designed to better expose and prepare students who are deaf or hard of hearing to college life and computing careers. With funding from AccessComputing, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) developed and hosted a two-week residential summer camp in Rochester, New York for high school freshmen and sophomores who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Despite legislation established to allow students with disabilities to fully participate in classrooms, there is still a prominent gap in the science performance of students with and without disabilities (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2005). While expectations for students with disabilities have increased considerably, the instructional materials used in the science classroom generally remain limited to printed text and paper-and-pencil activities. Often, these static media pose barriers in learning for students with disabilities, who are often struggling readers.

The National Federation of the Blind Youth Slam is for high school students with visual impairments who want to engage in challenging activities designed to build confidence and increase science literacy. At the 2007 and 2009 Youth Slam events, teams from the University of Washington offered instant messaging (IM) chatbots as a topic for student in the computer science track.

The Signing Math Dictionary (SMD) uses the SigningAvatar accessibility software to provide an illustrated, interactive, three dimensional (3D) sign language dictionary of standards-based mathematics terms for students in grades four through eight who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Course curricula can be enriched by integrating accessibility for people with disabilities as a topic for discussion and application. Students whose education includes an opportunity to learn about accessibility may be more likely to practice accessible design techniques and implement universal design in their future careers.

Dr. Stephanie Ludi, software engineering professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, is working to increase the participation of people with visual impairments in computing fields. The Robotics Track, part of the 2009 National Federation of the Blind Youth Slam summer camp, is designed for high school students who have visual impairments and would like to learn more about computing.

DO-IT Scholars is a college preparation program for teens with disabilities. Originally funded by the National Science Foundation in 1992, DO-IT Scholars was institutionalized with Washington state funds in 1998. The program also receives funds from Microsoft and Boeing.

The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) invited a group of thirty high school seniors with disabilities, along with their teachers and parents, to a transition event. The UAA Transition to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) event exposes students, teachers, and parents to STEM programs on campus and facilitates the transition from high school to college.

Mary Driscoll teaches in the special education and learning assistance program (LAP) at Evergreen Elementary School in Spokane, WA. Following a presentation on assistive technology by DO-IT staff, Ms. Driscoll applied for and received an AccessSTEM minigrant to purchase technology for her school.