The Assistive Technology Blog

Here's a great 66-minute conversation you'll find in mp3 format at http://www.edtechtalk.com/node/1762, otherwise known as "Women of Web 2.0 Show #32 Assistive Technology":

Join us as we converse with Karen Janowski, BrianFriedlander, Tammy Dupre, Joy Zabala and Deb Barrows, with the Women of Web, Jen Wagner, Sharon Peters and Cheryl Oakes.

Questions:

How is it that we identify assistive technology vs. good educational
practice?

What is the most signficant technology change that has impacted you and
your students in the past 3 years?

What happens when you have one child in a class that has to have a
laptop with spell check for writing papers and the others do not have
it? How do you answer the questions? How do you handle it?

What should happen to Standardized Testing in light of assistive
technology? Should children who have a prescription be allowed to use a
computer or is it an "unfair advantage" as some say?

Talk about learning disabilities and gifted children -- what happens
when a gifted child has a learning disability? Are teachers willing to
accommodate? How does a parent advocate such accommodation?

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The other day, we linked to Darrell's comments on the need for more consultation with/decisionmaking made by people with disabilities related to assistive technology companies (his blog focuses on visual impairments). Here's some related news:

In the last month [Microsoft] has begun to work more closely with an organization whose employee mix includes both visually impaired and blind people. {They will be looking at questions such as] can the application be fully navigated and/or accessed without a mouse? Does it work out of the box with third party screen reader applications like JAWS?

Read more here: http://navintmicrosoftcrm.blogspot.com/2007/05/assistive-technology-and-microsoft-crm.html

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Looking for some fun this summer!!!! Check out this website for free downloads of switch accessbile games. I had a great time playing the bubble pop game.

http://www.oneswitch.org.uk/

Posted by Mona at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Once again I was perusing different sights and came across a great low tech tool that we could ALL benefit from! It’s called the “Thumb Thing” which allows you to use only one hand to hold open a book--as long as the book isn’t too heavy!! Perhaps you’ve seen it in your local bookstore? It sells for only $3.00. Do you think it might be a useful adaptation for someone you know? Can you think of other uses for it? Please let us know!
http://www.thumbthing.com/index_e.htm

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Brian Friedlander just posted a review of Livescribe at http://assistivetek.blogspot.com/2007/06/livescribe-this-isnt-ordinary-pen.html. Click and read his thoughts on this digital pen that transfers writing to your computer--without requiring a slate/tablet format!

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Read Darrell's well-worded thoughts at http://www.blindaccessjournal.com/2007/05/my-thoughts-on-altruism-versus.html. Although his blog focuses on issues specifically related to blind access, His comments may give rise to new thoughts in all of us related to the decision-making structures of AT companies and AT providers.

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 6:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a new resource, a website dedicated to creating open source assistive technology tools! Users and contribute to the creation of new tools, try new tools, learn more. For more information, visit http://www.oatsoft.org/

Posted by Fran Smith at 8:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I was browsing the web I came across another great blog site for AT. The "Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs" blog site offers GREAT resources and links to a variety of activities particulaly designed for the SD population. Check it out at this link.

http://www.teachinglearnerswithmultipleneeds.blogspot.com/

Posted by Mona at 7:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While I was looking for information about the Early Literacy Skill Builder program I came across some other items that Attainment Company has available. I was particularly interested in the Curriculum Resources section. They have a lot of adapted materials designed for older students in formats that meet the needs of those with beginning literacy skills. You need to explore their sight for yourself. I am sure you will find things that would be of interest to your students!
http://www.AttainmentCompany.com

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Through a recent national webinar hosted by Dr. Dave Edyburn -- noted author on assistive technology -- a few good resources to consider when starting a dialogue about universal design for learning include:

Duffield, J., & Wahl, L. (2005). Using flexible technology to meet the needs of diverse learners: What teachers can do. San Francisco, CA: WestEd. Available online at: http://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/rs/763

Rose, D. & Meyer, A. (2002). Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age. Available online at:
http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/ If you don’t have time for the whole book, read Chapter 4 http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes/chapter4.cfm

Posted by Fran Smith at 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A new video podcast has been recently added to the AssistiveWare.com library, entitled "Me and My Computer". The video podcast features Elina Hughes who was born with cerebral palsy. The video showcases her success in using an Apple iBook to draw and write through the magic of assistive technology. To learn more, visit http://www.assistiveware.com and peek under Community.

Posted by Fran Smith at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blogs are becoming a useful web tool to share information in a ongoing and dynamic fashion. A few new blogs that we've found on the areas of assistive technology that are worth a try include:

http://teachinglearnerswithmultipleneeds.blogspot.com/
http://teachingeverystudent.blogspot.com/

Posted by Fran Smith at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Are you on the qiat listserve. The qiat listserve is for assistive technology practioners. QIAT stands for quality indicators for assitive technology. Check out the indicators if you are not already familiar with them. This is good information for assistive technology teams to consider as they are reviewing policies and procedures surrounding AT. Also, join the listserve to get into discussions regarding a variety of topics. The listserve generates a lot of e-mail but you can deselect this option and just review topic threads.

To access the qiat website go to:
http://sweb.uky.edu/~jszaba0/QIAT.html

The link for joining the listserve is:
http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/QIAT.html
You just go to "Join or leave the list" within the body (not on the links bar on the left). After
that, you should be able to sign up.

Posted by Mona at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Attainment Inc. has introduced ELSB (available Fall 2007). It is a research based literacy curriculum designed for students with moderate to significant cognitive disabilities and for students with autism. ELSB is recommended for ages 5-10 years and includes phonics and sight word instruction. This looks like it’s is yet another great curriculum resource for teachers of this population!
If you would like to see the research check it out at UNC Charlotte.
http://education.uncc.edu/access/RAISEProject.htm

Check out the information on Attainment’s website in the Fall 2007 and if you have money to spend for materials, and you teach children of this age, you might consider this curriculum!
http://www.AttainmentCompany.com

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Looking for another FREE speech aloud tool? Try this website, http://www.wordtalk.org.uk/, to learn more about a product that speaks text aloud in MS Word!

Posted by Fran Smith at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First, click on www.mypageup.com to see what I'm talking about! Once you're done thinking "Why didn't I invent that? Another chance to make my million--lost!", let's think through a few ways to use this nifty tool.
#5 You physically can't look down at the paper lying on the desk--due to motor or range of motion concerns or even the fact that you have a crick in your neck!
#4 You're working at the computer while referring to paper resources and need to reduce the motion and stress of looking back and forth between the vertical monitor and horizontal paper.
#3 You need a consistent place to post task instructions/checklists for collaborative or cooperative groups, but find that the task lists get lost in the shuffle of project materials and once it's out of sight, it's out of mind.
#2 You need a way to focus a student who has the typical "desk swamp"--papers everywhere, things flying off of the table surface, and no good way to focus on one set of instruction, task sequence, or text while working on a worksheet, essay, project or other task, so you set up a PageUp as a reserved location on the desk to maintain task directions.
#1 You are looking to add another cool, flexible AT tool to your toolbox and see that the PageUp can help everyone, not just those of us with disabilities!

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 5:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The CAST Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Book Builder is up on the web at http://bookbuilder.cast.org/.
According to the CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology) Site:

Use this site to create engaging digital books that build reading skills for students. Your universally designed books will engage and support diverse learners according to their individual needs, interests, and skills.

Flexible, digital media is a cornerstone of the UDL philosophy--try it out and let us know what you think!

Posted by Susanne Croasdaile at 6:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just read about this free software on the qiat listserve and thought I would give it a try. Dasher is a free software that allows for text entry by using one continuous motion of the mouse. Think of it as driving through a dictionary. By "steering" the mouse you can zoom in on a word or letter. It's tricky, but I can see the potential for people who can't manipulate a keyboard. It is even available for eye gaze users. See what you think. Enjoy the "gaming" experience.

Download the free Dasher program at:
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/

Don't forget to download the tutorial too. You'll need it!!

Posted by Mona at 8:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What child is not motivated to learn when they have a computer at their fingertips? If you didn’t see 60 minutes on May 20, you’ll have to check it out on-line. An MIT professor, Nicholas Negroponte, has dedicated the last two years to developing a laptop that is highly durable to water and extreme temperature and only $100 a piece. Negroponte is willing to make these available to families in the US—with a stipulation—buy one for your child and buy one to give to a child in a poor country.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/20/60minutes/main2830058.shtmlInteresting idea! Tell us what you think!

Posted by Kelly Ligon at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you're looking for an inexpensive text reader with more functionality, you might consider Text Aloud, http://www.nextup.com/TextAloud/index.html a>. This robust product will read email, internet pages, assist while you're writing, and allow one to create Mp3 files for portable storage. The product is inexpensive ($29) and offers a free 30 day download.

Posted by Fran Smith at 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Podcasting is quickly becoming a technology that many wish to use for capturing on-the-spot discussions and interviews. Once audio is captured, these files can be easily converted and customized to Mp3 tracks that can be posted to blogs and web sites. In fact, we've posted a few on our web blog and plan for more. The free program Audacity, provides a very useful tool for accomplishing this conversion process. Several mp3 players provides external microphones and lapel microphones that can capture live audio on the fly. For those interested in recording and transcribing audio, digital recorders such as the Sony ICD-SX57 256 MB Digital Voice Recorder combined with the new Dragon Naturally Speaking v.9.0 can assist with this solution. Users however must train their voices with Dragon for smooth transcription of recorded audio....and as well for the additional voices. There are certainly many choices to consider if this is a direction you are considering!

Posted by Fran Smith at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The National Center on Technology Innovation will be hosting a blog discussion with Fraser Shein, CEO and President of QuillSoft.on technology, design and literacy. The discussion runs from May 30 - June 6, 2007. For more information visit, http://www.nationaltechcenter.org/index.php/2007/05/29/17fraser-shein/

Posted by Fran Smith at 7:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)