Category Archives: Theory Behind The Practice

Using the Least Dangerous Assumption to Inform Practice

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A guiding principle to help us presume potential is called The Least Dangerous Assumption, originally crafted by Anne Donnellan. 

The Least Dangerous Assumption is an inclusive approach to educational policy and pedagogy. It holds that in the absence of conclusive data, educational decisions should be based on assumptions that, if incorrect, will least likely limit the student. – Adapted from Donnellan, A. (1984). The criterion of the least dangerous assumption. Behavioral Disorders, 9, 141-150.

Simply put, if you don’t have enough information to make a decision pertaining to an intervention, choose the option that is least likely to limit the potential of the individual.

Watch this video featuring LCPS’s Assistive Technology Specialist Christopher Bugaj which describes the Least Dangerous Assumption.

Which Types of Words Are Represented Using Autodraw?

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Google’s Autodraw is a free, web-based tool which utilizes picture prediction. Users sketch something and Autodraw attempts to predict what that drawing might represent. This tool can be helpful for developing artistic expression but it can serve another purpose as well. It can help illustrate the idea that some words can be more easily implemented using an image than others. Let’s look at some examples below. Which words in the list below create pictures in your mind? Which would be more difficult to draw?

  • Cookie
  • Snow
  • Truck
  • It
  • Do
  • Make 

You might easily envision a cookie, truck, and snow. Why? These words create a picture in our mind. When you attempt to draw them in Autodraw, they can be much more readily recognized by the tool than words that do not produce pictures. Use AutoDraw and try to draw some words. You’re invited to get creative and pick 2 nouns, 1 verb, and 1 preposition (i.e., cup, door, run, in). Which words did AutoDraw successfully predict pictures for? Which words did Autodraw not produce images for?

Screenshot of Autodraw

A cup drawn in Autodraw

When teaching language using augmentative/alternative communication, recognize that some words produce a picture in a learner’s mind while others do not. Learners will need to experience what some words mean in more ways than simply showing them a picture. They’ll need to learn what the words mean through actions, play, analogies, metaphors, stories, examples, and experiencing others use them repeatedly!

What is Inclusive Design?

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Educators create experiences to support learners as they work to acquire and enhance new skills and abilities. Technology can be used to design the experiences for any learner. Educators provide options understanding that learner preferences are paramount. Not every learner needs to do the same thing the same way at the same time.

FLEXIBILITY IS KEY

The video below focuses on how designing instruction for students with disabilities leads to strategies used by the masses. Learn how to use accommodations as a roadmap for designing inclusively for all learners!