Recordable Book

http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/article|10001|10051|/HallmarkSite/GoldCrownStores/GCS_HOLIDAY_GIFTS_STORYBOOKS

Just saw an ad for these and although they look like they are going to be expensive (about $30 on ebay), I might pick up a couple then cross my fingers and hope they go on sale after the holidays. There are no buttons for the kids to push, the voice starts when the page turns. (Note the little dots on the page, similar to a self leveling product put out years ago by Chuck Frame. http://www.frame-tech.com/Home.htm) You could cover the pages with your own images and the possibilities are endless! So cool!

I'm baaaack!

Wow, sorry I have been gone so long. Or not, if you find my infrequent posts painful to read. The start of the school year included my son turning 22 as well as the usual work craziness. I've had a thousand different things I've wanted to post on, but not one ounce of focus. Anywho, I've been working on mouse skills in a variety of forms with a number of students recently and here are some thoughts!

Some kids (and adults) pick up mouse skills almost automatically and others seem to need a lot of teaching, tricks, and practice before they become proficient mouse users. I thought I would share some of the things I have tried over the years that have been successful in different situations.

1. Never throw away an old one button, USB, mouse with a ball! These mice…….. okay, I’m back after a little Google search for the correct way to describe more that one mouse, and the internet overwhelmingly agrees that some people use mice and some people use mouses. I think mice sounds better, so….. anyway, these mice, make great stepping stones between switches and mouse use. I take the ball out of the mouse, use a second mouse to position the cursor over a clickable spot on a web site or game, and then, even if the student moves the modified mouse around, a click still results in a response.

2. Use the Universal Access control panel to modify the size and speed of the cursor to make it easier to see and follow. There are several either free or inexpensive utilities for making the cursor bigger, brighter or more visible that are also useful for this including Biggy Cursor by RJ Cooper ( http://www.rjcooper.com/biggy/)

3. Startrail is a neat utility that adds a visual trial of stars, moon, clovers, and makes your cursor magically delicious, drawing attention to it’s movement across the screen. At $4.95 it’s a cheap fix, and fun, especially when training someone to use a head mouse. Available for the Mac only. http://www.pawn-soft.com/

4. I love the track pad on my MacBook Pro, and have found that several kids that have had a hard time manipulating a mouse, can use a track pad successfully. I also think that it is helpful that the move and click can be separated; I usually turn off tap to click. It is possible to buy a track pad for any computer at a variety of web sites. Cirque/ Adesso is a major manufacturer (http://www.cirque.com/desktoptouchpad/touchpad-mouse-overview.aspx).

5. One last trick for now, is to use a drawing tablet and pen. Some kids pick up on the concept of the tablet as a map of the screen and holding a pen. I also use a tablet and pen to motivate kids to practice writing. Many kids who are reluctant writers will hold the pen for the tablet and scribble and explore in Kid Pix or Tux Paint for long periods of time, when they won’t color or draw with more traditional tools! The tablet I use is the Wacom Bamboo, and it also came with a wireless mouse that uses the tablet. It has the advantage of NOT being an optical (no fascinating red light) or ball mouse (no opening on the bottom), and is only active when on the tablet. This helps to some kids learn how to manage picking up and repositioning the mouse more effectively. (It looks as though Wacom has updated their product line and my exact combination is no longer available, but check out the touch… very cool. Next paycheck!) www.wacom.com

Here are some web sites for learning how to use the mouse or mouse exploration.
Mouse Exercises- http://www.seniornet.org/howto/mouseexercises/mousepractice.html a mouse use curriculum designed for seniors but appropriate for older students learning to use a mouse or learning to use an alternate mouse.

Singing horses- http://svt.se/hogafflahage/hogafflaHage_site/Kor/hestekor.swf easy, click on horse makes it sing


games- http://www.pbclibrary.org/mousing/games.htm clicking, rapid-timed clicking, and clicking and dragging, includes classic games such as Battleship, Pong, IQ test etc.

Sebastian Chevrel- http://www.seb.cc/ the experiments area of this site has several Java or Flash experiments that make wonderful mouse exploration opportunities. One of my favorites is “spacializer”, but watch out for “Peep Hole” although it might be motivating for working with older users! (PG not R)

Click and Play virtual instruments- http://monxmood.free.fr/play.htm some of these may be small on the screen, but if you adjust your screen resolution they will look bigger and be better targets!

Neave- http://www.neave.com/ another artistic site, some fun games to click around and experiment in. Some may be a bit visually too stimulating for kids with seizure disorders.

Spider- http://www.onemotion.com/flash/spider/ game in which basic mouse skills control and feed spider.

Have fun and happy mousing!!

Finally, a salad I like!

Game Salad is a free game creation program that offers a potential landslide of opportunities for adapted gaming. It claims to be easy to use, but after playing with it for a while I'd say you need to be somewhat computer and game savvy, but it does not use complicated computer codes and with some practice I am sure that myself, and many others can learn to master this tool and create some really awesome things! I anticipate creating single switch games or games that utilize the Intellikeys keyboard for movement and other actions including blowing stuff up! I can wait to play with it some more, but it is a beautiful day, and I promised myself I'd go outside!
http://gamesalad.com/landing/overview
eileen

iTracker is too cool!

I did a google search for an iSight eye tracking program last week and found iTracker. A sweet little program for the Mac (and PC) that is cheap ($30 for the Mac version) and runs quite well! It is lacking in a few functions, but according to the developer, they are adding them in the next release, but for basic head mouse users, or to just add to your tool box of things to have on hand it is quite functional and worthwhile to have on hand!
http://www.eyetwig.com/151141
Here is some video of me using it with Speaking Dynamically Pro on an iMac. Sorry for the poor quality!
More video of it in use with student soon.
"High-end" technology for the masses! Hurray!

Mr. Potato Head

I am working with a preschool student who is very typical in many ways except speech production. She has a decent sign vocabulary and picked up communication symbols quickly. We began her on a Springboard Lite this spring. I was working with her last week and we were playing with Mr. Potato Head. I decided to model the use of the color page near the end of our session, and after showing her 1x, this is what she came up with, a couple miss hits, then, BAM! "I want blue shoes." Thus our Mr. Potato Head was complete with about 8 arms, 2 tongues, and 2 sets of blue shoes! (This was not a mistake, it was exactly what she wanted, she gives a false name when using the Springboard and thinks it's hysterical!)

Leadership Day 2009

This is in response to Dangerously Irrelevant's call for posts... http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2009/07/calling-all-bloggers-leadership-day-2009.html
Learn to use what is on your computer. Create and utilize policy that will ensure every employee in your district knows what is on the computer in his or her classroom, office, lab, etc. This includes the Internet. School systems spend untold amounts of money on software, tools, technologies, unimaginable amounts of time on recreating the wheel, and store massive amounts of materials, when a good portion of those things are already available on the existing computers. They are the universal design features built into operating systems, the unused tools in standard software programs and suites, freeware, shareware, open source and Linux software, and websites. Allow access to and provide professional development in utilization of Web 2.0 technologies.

Work to close the digital divides. It still exists in many households. The current trend toward “cloud” based services is going to leave these families even further behind.

Invest in Universal Design for Learning: In addition to encouraging your staff to use more effectively what is already on the computers provide support, training and encouragement, to use those tools to enliven their teaching, and reach and include more successfully a broader range of students. Make sure that every teacher, para-professional, and related service provider can show a student how to make the text larger on the screen, and enable text to speech. When purchasing new materials make sure they meet UDL criteria (www.cast.org).

When the UDL features are not enough to provide student access make a commitment to delivering a full range of assistive technology devices and services to your learners. Have staff dedicated to Assistive Technology implementation if your district is large enough. Ensure that the proper ongoing training for staff, student, parents, and others is provided so that challenges can be resolved and the greatest chance of success is achieved.

Believe in your students.

There once was a young man named Sam,
Whose speech was like that of a clam,
So we got him a box,
With the name, Dynavox,
Now he’s a conversational Grand Slam!

I have been working with a SLP in our district to get a Dynavox for one of our high school students, and it finally came in last week. Sam had been using a laptop with Boardmaker Plus as a communication device while we waited for his device to come in. He is very proficient at locating vocabulary, expressing his needs, and had even begun to create his own boards. He is still working on creating longer sentences, staying on topic, and some of the finer points of conversation. I made a home visit to get the device set up and found that the family had already done a good job of setting up the device, but that the device had not shipped with Speaking Dynamically Pro. We made some initial changes and I gave them a brief rundown of the InterAACT software, but we decided to go ahead and try to get the device unlocked and put SDPro on the device as he was already well versed in its use, but to also try to use the existing software. I did a second home visit today to let them know that the unlock code was on the way and to try to merge his old boards while we were waiting. Sam brought the Dynavox out, and proudly showed me two new boards that he had programmed on his own based on printouts and manual boards from his old system! He used the “my picture” templates built in which we had briefly discussed on my first visit to make boards for his job at the aquarium! Can I just tell you I had goose bumps, I was teary, I was so excited that the family now thinks I am a total nut job! It had to be one of the most amazing moments in my career!
Just wanted to share!
eileen

coffee pots

I was getting ready for class the other morning, and it dawned on me that my Keurig coffee pot was a fine example of Universal Design, and/or Assistive Technology. The pod based coffee pod removes the fine and gross motor challenges of prying apart coffee filters, putting them in the holder, measuring and scooping coffee, dealing with a glass carafe, and depending on the model, only needs to be filled once every dozen cups or so. It brews right into the cup so no pouring is needed, another step saved. The little pods are just tossed, so fewer things to wash! Brilliant design. I wonder if we could get insurance to pay for them?
Just a thought.

What I should be doing!

Welcome to my Blog!
Now that I am but 2 days away from finally graduating with my Masters degree and being a real assistive technology specialist I have finally decided to start a blog! After all, I have to exhibit my ability to utilize all this cool web 2.0 stuff right!??
So, what will my blog be about?
A. Miscellaneous ramblings
B. More ramblings
C. Possibly some thoughts about the practice of assistive technology in a mid-sized urban school district.
D. Cool things hopefully.