Simply knowing that a student has a right to and a need for AT is often not enough to ensure that the student receives it. This is the point where true advocacy begins. If a parent feels AT is required after the student is found eligible for special education, he or she should request in writing that the district provide an AT evaluation in the same manner as he or she did for the initial request for evaluation. Again, the parent is not expected to be an expert on the topic, but a letter which states only that the parent wishes for an AT evaluation may not provide sufficient information for the district to develop an appropriate evaluation team. The first step in the evaluation process is for the district to determine the composition of the evaluation team.
Most districts have, or have contracts with, AT evaluation entities.
Evaluating for only one disability may provide a recommendation for a device the student cannot actually use or use efficiently. Otherwise, once the hardware is provided, the student must wait while the software or peripherals are selected, ordered, and frequently debated, by the parties. Many experts, regardless of how well versed they are in their fields, may not know enough about current assistive technologies to truly evaluate the student's needs. For instance, a speech pathologist may not have attended any recent conferences on augmentative communication, done any recent reading on the topic, been trained to use a device, nor ever programmed a device for a particular student. Such a pathologist would not know what options are truly available for the student.