We purchased an iPad & bluetooth keyboard for DS7. Having control over the apps and ensuring he's using the same device & programs at home and at school - not to mention ensuring he actually has a device in each and every class! - were key for us. So far it's working well, but we did have everyone at the school on board.
We also chose to provide our ds' AT (originally a laptop, now an iPad). We had a similar situation to what you're experiencing with AT Pemberley. The laptop we were offered from the school came without ability to add software, and the school tightly controlled what would be loaded - for instance, we had a list of about 10 different types of software that we wanted ds to have access to (each of which the district had site licenses for), but because the district laptop was parsed out through the AT department, each piece of software had to be installed one at a time and then ds had to go through an eval period in which data was taken of writing assignments done without the software as a benchmark, and then again after a trial period of use, with the software and showing a "significant" improvement. We felt this was a test set up to fail, because due to his expressive language disorder, ds couldn't produce much writing even with accommodations at that point in time - but he *needed* the accommodations for his dysgraphia. Our school was also requiring us to sign to pay for full replacement value of a brand-new laptop if ds took the school-issued laptop home - yet the laptop the school issued was at least 5 years old. It was also not in good shape - it wouldn't hold charge, and ds had to sit next to an outlet with it plugged in in order to use it. We also found out that support would be non-existent outside of the initial training in the software. So - we fought the battle to win the right to have ds use school district AT, only to find that it was limiting - if he used it he would lose most of the software he was already using at home, he would be limited in where he could sit in the classroom, and he wouldn't have any technical support. Even if we'd had a really good workable solution from the school district, it still wouldn't have provided ds with AT over the summer and it would not have been as forward-looking or moved forward with ds as he matured as we could be when we make the AT choices. So we opted out and chose to spend the money ourselves to give ds the AT he needs. While it's not legally something we should have to do, we simply felt that our $ and time were better spent focused on our ds' actual needs than on a legal and emotionally draining battle with school. It's worked well for us, but that's just us.
polarbear
