FARMINGTON - Loraine Spenciner, University of Maine at Farmington professor of special education, has received a $10,000 award to continue work on assistive technology at UMF from Maine CITE, a statewide program designed to help make assistive and universally designed technology more available to Maine children and youth, birth through age 20, who have disabilities.

Assistive technology devices, often referred to as AT, are the tools that enable children with disabilities to be successful, receive their education in general education classrooms and show their strengths and abilities when they participate in local and statewide assessments.

The award will allow Spenciner to continue to develop pre-service educators' skills and abilities using assistive technology across the curriculum. The teachers in training will assist students with disabilities achieve Maine Learning Results, the state educational standards that identify the knowledge and skills essential to prepare students for work, higher education, citizenship and personal fulfillment.

Over the past 15 years, Spenciner has built a large collection of materials and devices that can assist students with disabilities access the general education curriculum and improve their work toward high achievement.

Students majoring in education and related fields can use the materials to learn more about AT devices and can borrow them to use in their practica, internships and student teaching field experiences.

Additionally, the grant will allow Spenciner to continue her outreach work with children with disabilities and their families, and students and teachers in the region while also focusing on alternative and augmentative communication devices, designed to assist people with severe communication disabilities.

Area families and school teams may visit the Theodora J. Kalikow Curriculum Materials Center in the UMF Education Center to learn more about the materials and may borrow them for a limited period of time.

The center is a resource offered free to UMF students, faculty, professionals in the community, individuals with disabilities and their families. It provides information about assistive technology, how to use and evaluate various AT devices and a place to view and sign out the equipment.