Custom AT Classes, Workshops, and Webinars
Technology Training tailored to your needs and schedule
I offer webinars, hands-on workshops, and school professional development on a wide range of topics and technologies relevant to learning differences, ADHD, and executive function challenges. Instruction is tailored to the audience's needs, skills, and "comfort level" with all-things-tech. Please look through my current and previous classes for topic ideas and possibilities (feel free to suggest variations or something new), then contact me to discuss your ideas.
Scheduled Classes and Workshops 2025-26
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- June 22, 2025 - Generative AI Literacy: A Hands-on Workshop for Educators, AT Specialists, and Disability Service Providers (2025 IHD/AzTAP Evidence for Success Disability Conference - sessions presented in-person onsite)
Generative AI Literacy: A Hands-on Workshop for Educators, AT Specialists, and Disability Service Providers
(2025 IHD/AzTAP Evidence for Success Disability Conference - sessions presented in-person onsite)Generative artificial intelligence (genAI) is rapidly reshaping many aspects of life, including education and supports for people with disabilities. To harness its benefits, educators and disability‑service providers must understand how genAI works, where it excels, and its inherent limitations, then make informed decisions about its use. However, recent surveys indicate fewer than half of all educators have received any professional development on using genAI.
Through lecture, demos, and hands-on activities, AT consultant Shelley Haven will provide participants with the foundational knowledge, practical skills, and (just as importantly) confidence to effectively apply genAI to teaching and learning tasks, with a focus on disabilities and assistive technology accommodations. Participants will use a selection of generative AI tools to explore key concepts and real-world applications.
What to bring: A Mac or Windows laptop, Chromebook, or large screen iPad (external keyboard strongly recommended). Registrants will receive a list of selected free apps plus instructions by early June so they can create accounts prior to the workshop.
Key Learning Outcomes:
- Explain the fundamental concepts behind generative AI – what it is (and is not), how it works, and its inherent limitations.
- Differentiate between the ever-increasing plethora of genAI and AI-enhanced tools by identifying the critical features that set them apart.
- Create effective text prompts and image prompts for educational and accessibility tasks.
- Describe at least four best practices that address genAI issues such as equity and access for all students, privacy, bias, and ethical use.
- Apply a methodology to determine whether specific tasks are better supported by genAI tools or traditional “fixed function” assistive technology tools.
- Explain how schools, agencies, or organizations can identify their genAI needs and make plans for improvement.
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Date: June 22, 2025
Time: 9:30am - 4:30pm MST (most of Arizona is currently on standard time)
Location: Wild Horse Pass Resort, Chandler, AZ
To register: visit https://www.ihdconference.org/registration/
For complete conference details:
https://www.ihdconference.org
https://www.ihdconference.org/conference-program/
- Sept. 5, 2025 - Overview of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Context of Assistive Technology
(University of Wyoming ECHO in Assistive Technology - Fall 2025 series) Overview of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Context of Assistive Technology
(University of Wyoming ECHO in Assistive Technology - Fall 2025 series*)Assistive technology tools have employed AI for decades – think OCR, speech recognition, collision-avoiding wheelchairs, and AAC vocabulary prediction. However, the fairly recent arrival of generative AI (GenAI) capabilities adds a new layer to the discussion of using AI to support individuals with disabilities.
To make informed decisions about AI as AT, educators and disability‑service providers should understand how AI works, where it excels, and its inherent limitations. AT consultant Shelley Haven will explain the must-know basics of AI (and especially GenAI) and share guidelines for AT decision-makers to consider on how and when to use AI-enhanced tools.
Learning Objectives
- Explain what AI is (and is not) and its inherent limitations.
- Distinguish between types of AI, and explain why GenAI is such a game changer.
- List factors to consider when evaluating GenAI vs. traditional "fixed function" AT tools to support a user's needs.
*NOTE: This is the first session in a six-session, bi-weekly series on artificial intelligence (AI)
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Date: Sept. 5, 2025
Time: 12:00 - 1:15pm MDT (2:00pm EDT, 11:00am PDT)
Location: online
For information on entire series, and to register: visit https://tinyurl.com/3e5kfcn4
- Oct. 3 to Nov. 2, 2025 - Advocating for Assistive Technology Devices and Services: Get Students the Tools They Need (2025 Dyslexia Advocacy Conference - Virtual Conference by the Dyslexia Training Institute)
Advocating for Assistive Technology Devices and Services: Get Students the Tools They Need
(2025 Dyslexia Advocacy Conference - Virtual Conference by the Dyslexia Training Institute)Assistive technology (AT) can help struggling students leverage their learning strengths and bypass weaknesses to improve performance, independence, and self-confidence. However, not every student who can benefit from AT is provided tools appropriate to their needs.
The reasons are varied: schools may misunderstand their legal responsibilities, lack a systematic process for identifying kids who could benefit, buy into myths about AT, or simply not know what's possible with the right tools. When this happens, it falls to families, private therapists, and advocates to make the case for technology. This session will provide a framework for effective AT advocacy.
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Date & Time - live presentation: Oct. 3, 2025 – 12:00-12:50pm PDT
Dates - recorded presentation: Oct. 3 through Nov. 2, 2025
Location: online
For complete conference details and registration: https://www.dyslexiatraininginstitute.org/fall-conference/
- June 23, 2026 - When Students Chat with Chatbots: Features, Settings, and Practices to Increase Safety and Reduce Risk
(2026 IHD/AzTAP Evidence for Success Disability Conference - sessions presented in-person onsite) When Students Chat with Chatbots: Features, Settings, and Practices to Increase Safety and Reduce Risk
(2026 IHD/AzTAP Evidence for Success Disability Conference - sessions presented in-person onsite)For many students, generative AI chatbots have become a regular part of school life, whether as learning supports or always-on homework helpers. While educators likely understand the potential for "chatbot cheating", these tools can also pose less obvious risks for young learners, including:
- Attention drains from endless chatbot conversations
- Oversharing personal information (which chatbots store in memory)
- Influence by chatbot's authoritative "voice", even when it shares misinformation or bias
- Humanlike empathy ("That's a great idea!") that encourages interaction like a trusted friend.
AT consultant Shelley Haven will demonstrate chatbot features, settings, and practices that can help educators reduce these risks while supporting more effective student use.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- Identify key safety and trust-related risks students may face when using generative AI chatbots
- Run a "safety audit" of chatbot settings and create guardrails for student use
- Teach students how to improve their fact-checking and sourcing habits
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Date: June 23, 2026
Time: TBD
Location: Wild Horse Pass Resort, Chandler, AZ
To register: visit https://www.ihdconference.org/registration/
For complete conference details:
https://www.ihdconference.org
https://www.ihdconference.org/conference-program/
- June 24, 2026 - Technology to Compensate for Working Memory Challenges: Externalize, Categorize, and Organize
(2026 IHD/AzTAP Evidence for Success Disability Conference - sessions presented in-person onsite) Technology to Compensate for Working Memory Challenges: Externalize, Categorize, and Organize
(2026 IHD/AzTAP Evidence for Success Disability Conference - sessions presented in-person onsite)Working memory is the brain's mental workbench, the space where we hold and manipulate information long enough to make sense of it and act on it. It's also a critical part of executive functioning with an integral role in many academic and work tasks: reading comprehension, writing composition, math problem solving, taking notes, following directions, managing tasks, and building mental concepts. When working memory is overwhelmed, students and employees may struggle.
Using examples from various academic and workplace settings, AT consultant Shelley Haven will demonstrate pairing working memory compensation strategies with specific technology features to help externalize (offload) information with digital tools, categorize it into meaningful chunks, and organize it for more effective use, long-term retention, and recall.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- Identify common working memory obstacles that affect academic and work tasks like reading, writing, math, note-taking, planning, problem-solving, and retention
- Explain how externalizing, categorizing, and organizing information helps to reduce working memory demands
- Select at least three AT tools or features that help compensate for working memory challenges and explain how they can assist learning and work-related tasks
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Date: June 24, 2026
Time: TBD
Location: Wild Horse Pass Resort, Chandler, AZ
To register: visit https://www.ihdconference.org/registration/
For complete conference details:
https://www.ihdconference.org
https://www.ihdconference.org/conference-program/