Latest news, weather and high school sports for Albany and Southwest Georgia

ALBANY, GA -- Albany Tech has seen an increase in the number of students with special needs.  An increased student population also means an increase in special needs students. 

FOX 31 News spent time with Krystle Robertson, a hearing impaired student who uses technology to participate in class.  Krystle says she was ashamed of her disability for a long time and school was hard because she didn’t know sign language and was forced to read lips. 

Now she uses the C.A.R.T. or Communication Access Real Time Translation system to learn. The C.A.R.T. system allows Krystle to follow along in class with her computer.  Her professor wears a microphone, a captionist out of state translates everything the teacher or other students say into short messages, and Krystle keeps up with class by reading the messages on her computer screen. 

Albany Tech Special Needs Coordinator Regina Watts says the school is constantly expanding how to help their students.  “We have a range of assisted technology that we are using to help our students with special needs to level the playing field.  For those students to be able to interact with the high tech piece of equipment, they’re able to be more equipped to go into the real world to obtain employment” says Watts.

Robertson says after taking online classes, the C.A.R.T. technology allows her to get the true college classroom experience.  “It’s great to know that Albany Tech is helping me with my disability.  If I didn’t have help I don’t know what would happen.  I wouldn’t understand what my instructor would say.  I’d be behind in assignments.  It would be a nightmare!

Krystle is majoring in Business Administration Technology and hopes to become a medical coder.  She smiles when discussing the C.A.R.T. program because she says it makes her feel normal.