Evening #9

Class began with an opportunity to explore the website Abledata.com.    It is a website that provides a space to search for a variety of products in assistive technology.

Gloves that speak for hearing impaired. 

This product has such potential.  Imagine gloves that could speak for a person who has been deaf since birth and never able to articulate in words what they wanted to say.  The possibilities are exciting.  By using a tablet and perhaps connecting the gloves to the tablet, these gloves could turn actions into words.  The tablet could convert actions to text. 
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Livescribe pen

The potential of the live scribe pen is great. To make this work however, you must pay the $300.00 for the pen and purchase special paper to use it.

-You can record audio while you write.
- It converts writing to digitized text
-Text is more useful when it is digitized.  You can play it back, move it to calendar, organize it and much more.

Students can hire note - takers.  SSRSB are going to start training note-takers for kids with LD & physical disabilities.





Tyler's journey through school to graduation.

Tyler was a young boy diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at a very young age.  As people became familiar with the various aspects of his condition, a plan of action was put in place for him.  To put this plan into action, it had to be a team effort with very specialized members on this team. 

Those involved in Tyler's program planning team were:

Tyler
OT
Physiotherapy
Resource teachers
EAs
Speech pathology
Teachers
Doctors
Xray technicians
Parents
Siblings
Pets

 Assistive technology used by Tyler over the years.

Some of the technologies have evolved to newer versions over the years.

Gr. 1 - Clicker 4

Gr. 3 - Wheelchair with laptop - controled by switch access with trigger site being his head.

Gr. 5 - To play video games he was using his tongue to play video games.

Along with his assitive technology, which has allowed Tyler to much more independent, Tyler has worked on his articulation and is able to speak much more clearly.  her has become very good at advocating for himself on issues that are important to him.

UDL is definitely incorporated into Tyler`s instruction and demonstration in class.  In band, he plays his music using the Ipad and his tongue.  He is a wonderful musician. 

As his team got to know Tyler, and Tyler got to know himself better, he moved from a switch access to direct access with his tongue.  A head switch is physically, visually and cognitively demangin.Now in order for him to use it efficiently, his hands must be tied down.  This is necessary due to his ataxia.  Otherwise, his arms will flail around and not have as much control.

As Tyler graduates, he will be moving on the the NSCC to take a business course.  This transition will require much planning on the part of his program planning team which will now include NSCC staff.  It is also crucial to Tyler's success that all members of his team have the proper training - as this is an essential piece of the puzzle.

Tyler will be using:
-digitized texts
-leanring management system with the least number of direct selections
-attendant care
-a note taker (will be trained)
-Voice dream APP




AAC - Augmentative and Alternative Communication

AAC is used to:
-make the best of an individual's inherent abilities.
-compensate for individual difficulties
-make communication quick, simple and effective as possible.

It encompasses a variety of strategies for commincating.

-signing
-pic symbol charts
-high tech options


People who use AAC are people who have Cerebral Palsy, LD, Strokes, Austism, Motorneuron disease, Parkinsons, MS, Head injuries, Dementia to name a few.

Evening # 8

A pivotal role in the household

 (Screen shots from video)

In tonight's  inspirational video, Marie-France Bru, a teacher with a motor-neuron disease (ALS), demonstrates how assistive technology enriches her life in many ways.

Using Switch XS using her cheek as her main control site, she is able to use her computer to do an extensive range of tasks such as:

Banking, groceries, Email, Online Shopping.  She also helps her husband with his research by communicating through CHAT.

Marie-France has developped keyboards she herself. She has also developed a rapis writing method based on keystrokes.  This allows her to enter as many abbreviations as she wants.  This plus word prediction and shortcuts allow her to write 4 times as fast as typing each letter.  She uses Proloquo to help with communication.










THE WRITING PROCESS (Screen shots from class)

In these writing sample, the writing process is challenging for him for a several reasons:

-poor pencil grip
-not a lot of fine motor control
-not very efficient way to write due to poor placement
-improper spacing
-visual neglect
-poor motor planning (placement on the page)



When the physical act of writing is a challenge,the output is compromised.Assistive technology can help in this domain as well providing opportunity for greater control of output.

Technology allows for digitized text to be edited easily. This enables students to go through the steps of the writing process with much more ease and success. 

Some options for brainstorming are:  Cloud art, inspiration, ibrainstorm, Simplemind (Android), MindMap (Chrome)

Using Ipads and AT fosters growth in students for a variety of reasons.  It provides greater independence, reaches the visual learners with a variety of graphics, photos, colours etc.  It allows students to multitask.  Is have speech to text capability and word prediction.  It is portable and provides easy access to the internet.  It is a win-win situation for most.






101 ways to Show What You Know 









100 UDL Apps to Show What You Know.

Diagnosis and Intervention Strategies for Disorders of Written Language (Screen shot)

There are many steps to follow in the writing process and at any point, something can go wrong.

• Picking up the pencil
• Brain tells the hand to pick it up and hold it in a comfortable position
• Seating and Positioning - must have core stability
• Holding the pencil tightly (too tightly - anxiety?)
• Apply appropriate pressure on the page
• Pen/paper positioned correctly, sitting upright.
• Attention to task.  Recognize Target Audience. Value the importance of the task.
• Recall format of writing intention.
• Language (grammar, letter formation)

All require the writer to keep themselves tending to the task and self regulation is important.  There are many brain process in play and it can be exhausting for anyone but more so for those with challenges (physically, intellectually, behaviorally)

Pencil grip, Positioning, and Handwriting OT Perspectives video

Strategies they gave for students to stabilize themselves prior to writing.

• make like a puddle
• tummy at the table (lean in to the table when preparing to write.
• wrap legs around the table

Low Tech AT for Handwriting Video
foam tube, put pen through - easier to hold
hand brace for pen or pencil
pencil grips
writing bird
tripod for pencil - you move along
pen again

two types of fingertip pens

Product demo - Inspiration 

Simplemind free android

 Mindmap Chrome

Clicker Connect

1st steps to independent writing.

ESL

Struggling Writers

Young students

Clicker Sentences 

Build first sentences one word at a time 

Co write universal - can initiate the idea and tell in extreme detail but when they pick up the pencil their writing is very limited BIG and BAD.  

Speech to text does not work for these students. 

"For some people the words don't come out right.  There is a wall between idea and expression.   Spelling and grammar get in the way.  Word recall is a barrier."

 Topic dictionaries using Co writers - words are subject related.

Speech to text does not work for student who have apraxia, of speech language issues as well as those students who have difficulty organizing their ideas - those who tend to ramble on.  Not ideal all the time.

Evening # 7

Climbing the Wall

Collaboration

 Teamwork 

Encouragement

Success

A sense of accomplishment!
Pure Joy

These are the thoughts that ran through my head as I watched the video Climbing the Wall. There is no doubt that prior reaching this point, there has been much work done by all involved in assessing the physical needs of this individual in order to create a suitable plan with adequate supports to ensure success. Building rapport among participants is also an essential part of this process and not something that happens over night.  This requires work on the part of all who are involved.  It is very obvious in this video that great time has been put into both components of this process.  The relationship is strong between participants as you can tell by the encouragement throughout and the pure joy for all involved at the end.  

Other words used to describe thoughts on this video

This activity demonstrates UDL principles. Having a definite end goal and offering multiple ways of attaining this goal, while considering potential barriers to learning, educators, support staff and family members can all be part of the planning process.  In doing so, clear instructions and teaching can be delivered and re-evaluated based on progress.  In the end, as long as students are able to demonstrate that they have attained their goal, using strategies, supports and methods that suit their needs and learning style, they have achieved success.

Collaborating with...

 The collaborative aspect of Google Apps for Education has added a whole new dimension to group work in that the stress of having to find time to meet face to face to collaborate in no longer a necessity.  Group work that was once tedious and stressful in it's logistics, has now become  that much more convenient.  Creating a group folder allowed us to each dump in information we felt useful to our topic as we found it and other group members could peruse on their own time.  Google Docs allowed us to all work on the same document as we built it and the chat aspect in google docs allowed us to chat about our product as we worked on it together during class time.  Collaboration, team work, problem-solving and the reassurance knowing that aspects can always be retrieved describe the group work in this assignment. 

Evening #6

Evening # 6...

The Reading Process - Discussing Marilyn Jager Adams' model.

Brain Area Activation

The brain of a struggling reader works differently than that of a strong reader.

The importance of the talking to the student and explaining to them that there brain works a little differently than others and telling them why.  This empowers them and allows them to understand their abilities.  It also helps their self-esteem as students understand that their struggles are legitimate ones and nothing that is their fault.  With this, they are more willing to explore strategies that will help guide their learning.

Clicker Sentences

• For emergent literacy learners 
• Students who have cognitive delays
• Enables students to engage in text – and have them reading & writing
• You can quickly create & model /modify   for individual students’ needs
• You can share them through email or dropbox
• It is a proven literacy support tool.
• It is a cross-curricular tool
• Can scaffold & grow with students
• Students can grow with the app. 
• Software - $800/license  /  App - $30

  Android, Mac/PC, Chromebook/Chrome Web Browser Compensatory

Textbook in iBook

iBooks – eTextbooks

Possibilities - students can:

-Highlight

-Define

-Email

-Notes – can make flashcards / Shuffle

-Definitions

-Glossary

 -Portrait vue – continuous page

-Rotate / examine

-Highlight & Read aloud

iBook eTextbooks are:

MULTISENSORY & INCREDIBLE

All very interactive

Any videos are close captioned

Digitized text can be updated immediately.

Beware of PDF textbooks – not interactive.