The Internet supplies you with an endless array of ways to learn more about AT. Today, I listened to a WEBINAR, I am providing the link so that if you like what you read you can access it and learn more!
Key Points Text Reader (add the content you want the child to have access to - assists student with reading disability) or a Screen Reader (voices all content on the screen - assist student with visual impairment).
Resource - Accessible Instructional Materials Centers
cast.org (Center for Applied Technology - I have reviewed this in prior blogs)
Bookshare: Accessible Online Library for electronic text - Membership fees are waived for K-12 students (orthopedic impairment, visually impaired, or has a reading disability). Bookshare - Click here to register your school or gain membership for your students :)
Text To Speech Software - Features to look for:
High Quality Voices (will give some inflection and sense of fluency)
Modify Text Interface (continuously or self-paced - allows teacher time to teach meta cognition and reading strategies during the pauses)
Built-in dictionary - especially helpful for the student who is using text to speech to gain access to grade level content
Highlight and Extract key information - Can virtually highlight or extract important information and create a new document - allows student to engage with the text.
Insert - Modify - Create a Scaffolding for the Reading - Only a few programs have this unique feature.
Ability to convert to a MP3 file - creates connection between home and school
The journey continues ... this blog review 2 websites to help you meet your Assistive Technology Needs. Kid Blog - click here to check out this website! This journey of self-discovery and special education "education" by blogging has been a wonderful experience. The kind of experience is one that I think children should experience, and what a great way to give a "VOICE"to a child who might otherwise
might not feel heard. It is a free service, while there are additional features available for a small investment; at the time of this blog -$ 25 a year - for Premium. A teacher can set up a class account and give a forum for discussion without the constraints of the limitations of classroom discussion, especially for a child with communication difficulties.
Digital Story Telling - click here to check out this website!
This is another FABULOUS way to give your students a voice. With digital storytelling, you can work with the child to share their experiences with pictures, video and a voice overlay. With the addition of a communication board, even a student with the most communication difficulties can tell their stories. The goal of many teachers is to find a way to give a voice to their students, and this is the easiest way to make it happen. Through this website, there is a 3 day workshop that would educate teachers on how to utilize their i-pads to assist their students in telling stories. The workshop shows a teacher how to use photos and video and how to integrate it into a video.
On my continued journey to understanding the use of Assistive Technology I will take you through several examples of applying the use of Assistive Technology to meet specific needs. The examples of IEP goals were taken from The Wisconsin Assistive
Technology Initiative. 1) Present Level of Academic
Achievement and Functional Performance:Becky is learning to read and
is anxious to complete writing assignments with her peers. She is not able to
produce handwritten material due to severe spastic quadriplegia. Becky is
interested in using the computer and has been introduced to it. The staff has
helped Becky experiment with several switches in a variety of locations. She
seems to be most accurate using a switch mounted next to her head.
Annual Goal: Becky will use a single switch mounted on a switch-mounting arm
positioned to the right side of her head and scanning software to access the
computer 9 out of 10 times for a variety of educational assignments.
2) Present Level of Academic
Achievement and Functional Performance: Andy uses a variety of sounds, gestures, signs,
and picture/symbols to communicate with his family. He is very social and
enjoys parallel play. Andy does not communicate vocally in the classroom, but
does use some gestures. At school Andy will sign, but only with prompts.
Annual Goal: Andy will increase expressive
language production by using a variety of communication methods in the
classroom, including sign language, gestures, communication boards, pictures,
and simple voice output devices during four out of five opportunities.
3) Present Level of Academic
Achievement and Functional Performance:Joey is a 20 month old with developmental
delays. He is beginning to respond to visual and auditory action toys and
laughs or makes sounds when a toy is activated. He will sometimes reach out to
attempt to make the toy move again. Joey’s parents are happy to see him
responding to toys and beginning to make sounds, but would like to see him
making more attempts at communicating his wants and participating in turn
taking games with the family.
STO 1: Joey will use a switch or
voice output device to actively participate in play experiences to communicate
interests to his parents or other caregivers in four out of five opportunities.
4) Annual Goal: Kelly will use an adapted
keyboard with custom overlays and a computer with talking word processing to
complete all academic work. STO 1: Using an adapted keyboard with a custom
spelling template, Kelly will complete a 10 word weekly spelling test taken
from second grade curriculum and his current reading materials, with 80%
accuracy once a week.
5) Present Level of Academic
Achievement and Functional Performance: Steven is a four-year-old boy diagnosed with pervasive
developmental disorder. His placement is in an Early Childhood
classroom. He is
able to understand and comprehend when spoken to, but does not communicate his
needs consistently. When choices are simplified and broken into steps, Steven
will try to communicate wants and needs. Peer interactions are limited.
Annual goal: Steven will use a picture
board or voice output device to express wants and needs to adults and peers in
both home and school at least four times each day.
Today's blog is my journey into expressing my limited understanding of the
Break Card - "Home-Made" on Word
communication difficulties a child with Autism might face. A child with Autism faces many communication challenges stemming directly from the inherent characteristics of Autism. While each child's ability to communication will vary - there will be some
degree of a language difficult. The difficulty could range from not understanding the nuance of language, inferring, or taking the spoken word literally. Many children with Autism have difficulty reading the body language and social cues of the people around them. Children with Autism also have difficulty expresses their needs and wants; this can be from a lack of vocabulary; or at the other extreme a huge vocabulary that is content specific and does not meet everyday needs.
This link to Autism World is a great site to check out for additional information. Autism World
Choice Cards - "Home-made" on Word
When you have a student with ASD you can investigate specific ways to help the child because there are specific skills that are involved in expressive communication. For communication to be effective there was be intent of some desired response. Because expressive communication is defined in the context of social situations you can see why a child diagnosed on the ASD spectrum would experience difficulty.
After reviewing an article by Susan Stokes (Autism Specialist) I have narrowed down her information to target a few key strategies for teaching.
Parent - What I did today
As with any instruction, begin with the child - find their strengths and interests. When you know this you will be able to target their reasons to communicate - with this motivation, you can then use these situations to motivate the child to participate. I am adding sample break cards which are an integral part of expressive communication - and a cornerstone of student involvement.
Another important part of communication for a student with Autism is their ability to "tell" their parents at the end of their school day. The teacher can write the questions on the back of an index card, and have sample pictures on the other side or on a ring. You can use the same picture icons that were used for their choice or break cards, just change the format.
We continue our journey on Assistive Technology (AT), I am going to target specifically the considerations for addressing assistive technology during the IEP process. Remember your ultimate goal is to first determine if AT is needed to allow the student to meet their IEP goals. If you find the student does need AT to meet their goals, you should refer pack to the SETT process created by Joy Zabala (see 10/1/13 blog) so that you examine the Student, Environment, Task and finally the Tool. AT should be integrated throughout the IEP and it needs to be supported with training and services for all those involved with the student. One also needs to consider that all goals or AT needs might not be met with a single AT device. AT devices can be found on a continuum of low-tech (pencil grip) to high tech (augmentative alternative communication device).
On my continued journey into the world of Assistive Technology, this blog will highlight several youtube videos that show the various viewpoints of the use of ipads and ipad APPs for communication for children with autism.
60 Minutes episode highlighting how parents express gratitude for how APPs for the ipad an other touch and tap tablets have opened avenues of communication for their children with Autism.
In both medical clinics and at home children with autism are given a path towards independence with the use of an iPad.
A family's struggle to reach their son with autism, Applied Behavior Analysis was not covered by their insurance, therapy would cost upwards of $10,000 a month .... this is how they found another way.
How augmentative alternative communication changed this girl's life and opened her world to her parents and family.
In this final video you met Carly. If you found her story as moving as I did, you may enjoy visiting her website.
I could very easily use an iPad or Apps in my classroom. I have experience using the Kindle Fire HD - and many of the applications would be similar. The initial cost of the iPad is greater than the Kindle (and some other tablets), but the built in Universal Access Features, and APPs designed specifically for the iPad could offset the upfront costs (mini $330 new, iPad2 $ 399 new - refurbished could be as low as $279).
The Apps are a proven method for teaching finger isolation and the tap and swipe movements ~ especially for students with extreme restrictions in mobility and fine motor skills. It is the addition of the Apps that has been a means of entry into the world of expression and communication for children with autism.
Like any technology - the only way to gain a comfort level is to use it. Initially, I recommend going to an Apple store. You will find on display iPads with many APPs already installed. Technology advances quickly ~ daily searches will provide you with the best information (the 1st link below, while interesting, is almost 2 years old - dated information).
I have posted several YouTube videos on this blog in case you do not have immediate access to any devices.
Now that I've examined AT in theory and in case study application - it is time to put my knowledge to the test. Use this link to create a user ID and password, and you will have access to tutorials, case studies, videos, pre and post assessments which will allow you to gain an understanding of your current knowledge of AT - and areas where you may need additional study or training. Assistive Technology (AT) internet modules
I completed 3 modules and while I scored 100% on the first 2 Pre-assessments, I do not feel 100% confidence in my AT application knowledge. Having scored only 5/7 on the Automatic Speech Recognition Module, I can see a HUGE benefit in participating in the remaining 5 current modules, and look forward to the upcoming 33 "coming soon" modules. The strongest message I walked away with to guide my understanding is using the SETT framework (Joy Zabala). Within the first module, there is a video to guide understanding; I have also added a YouTube video to this blog for your reference. S - Student E - Environment T - Task T - Tools With my limited experience in the IEP process, I feel better prepared to be an active participant in the AT consideration process. It is easy to see how an IEP team could make the common error of checking the box "no" for AT devices and services and not adequately support their decision. Following the SETT framework could help avoid the common pitfall. It would be easy to fall prey to the notion of, "we could never afford that device" or " we are not even sure it will work"; but knowing each state has a resource center that provides information, training, and trial time with the device should give the IEP a sense of relief. Use this link for: Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs
Another resource I will keep handy is Tech Matrix Use this link to access TechMatrix By using the Search box you will increase your comfort level with investigating and suggesting possible AT considerations to the IEP team. A key to remember is you do not need to be an AT expert to make an AT suggestion!
There is a dearth of paper and information on AT, but a savvy user will access one of the many expert created checklists that guide you through the process (they also are housed in sites that offer all supporting documentation to explain each section) My initial experience with the ASR module, is what I fear many schools using older computers and/software would face. My MacBook Pro - 6 years old - does not have the operating system necessary to fully participate. Again, using SETT, is beneficial- in determining if ASR is the correct tool for a student, you must examine what has already been tried, what skills the student had; what access to curriculum has been limited that ASR would allow; the student's willingness to commit time and tolerate frustration during training. You should also determine the need ASR is filling; for example navigation and control or reading and writing disability.
Text Reader (add the content you want the child to have access to - assists student with reading disability) or a Screen Reader (voices all content on the screen - assist student with visual impairment).
