Assistive Technology Tutorial

Assistive technology devices range from high tech. to no tech. at all - there is a continuum.  They are becoming increasingly abundant and Special Education laws mandate the consideration of using the devices for all students students with IEPs.

Atomic Learning (http://www.atomiclearning.com/dns10pc) has a wide range of training options available for Assistive Technology devices.  I worked through the training for Dragon Naturally Speaking. The training was easy the follow and the best part is that it is broken into manageable chunks. I was interested in certain components, therefore I could click only on the parts I wanted to learn more about.

Dragon Naturally Speaking is a speech recognition software that allows the user to dictate anything into the program just through the sound of their voice.  It can be used to type any document that one would create using a keyboard.  The text can be manipulated and revised. The user can even dictate into a recorder when they are away from their computer and then download it at a later time. Dragon can also be used to surf the Internet through the sound of the user's voice.  There are recognition errors until the program is fully trained to the sound of the user's voice. This is a powerful tool for older students and adults who struggle with reading.  It gives them the freedom to express their ideas on paper.  However, the program takes some time to get used to and it isn't good for younger students whose voice is still changing.

IPads and Communication - Perspectives

This is a powerful video on the power of Assistive Technology:
Carly said, "One day your inner voice can come out. Mine did."

My last post was about applications for the iPad . There are many apps. out there; some are amazing, some are not.  With so many new tools available for the IPad, it is increasingly becoming a powerful tool for education. I set out to explore teacher and parent blog as well as other document to get insight about the users' perspectives.

Children's Perspectives:

• Can fulfill dreams and hopes which are the same as the able bodied world's.
• Can live independently and lead active lives.
• I Pads are flexible and portable
• Even with physical disabilities they are easy to use - touch and swipe directly on surface

Parents' Perspectives: 

• Their child can lead a normal life and join the working world.
• Child can communicate with world, order in a restaurant and advocate their own needs
• The use of IPads helps parents become more engaged with school -  http://www2.hull.ac.uk/ifl/ipadresearchinschools.aspx

Teachers' Perspectives

• IPad applications are often customizable to a specific student.
• Provides students a choice in communication - e-mail, messaging or speaking. It can even amplify a student's voice.
• If students all have one, then it helps to eliminate the digital divide. 
• IPads are easily damaged, difficult to monitor who has which one and replacement/insurance costs are great.
• Using IPads requires paradigm shift in how to teach.

Resources:

Dispelling the myths: http://depts.washington.edu/enables/myths/myths_aac_people.htm

iPad Be Nimble, iPad Be Quick:  http://www.edutopia.org/blogs/ipad-be-nimble-be-quick-matt-levinson

A Principal's Perspective: Preparing to Distribute Student iPads?

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/principal-perspective-ipad-all-students-ben-johnson

Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation: http://www.myasdf.org/site/media-center/articles/why-the-ipad-is-such-a-helpful-learning-tool-for-children-with-autism/

The iPad as a Tool For Education - a case study: http://www.naace.co.uk/publications/longfieldipadresearch

iPad Apps for Autistic and Nonverbal Children

 

 iPad Apps for Autistic and Nonverbal Preschool Children

IPads have revolutionized education.  They have so many uses. They can motivate, educate, reinforce,

Duck, Duck, Moose

review, teach, reward, test and even serve as a communication or writing tool.  I am sure I am missing many other uses, but the point is, they truly are amazing; they are small, portable, not embarrassingly bulky (maybe even cool to have) and customizable.  The above YouTube video is full of IPad applications that are useful for Preschool aged children who are regularly developing or need assistance.  I use them with my own children to reinforce their basic skills - they think they are just playing games.  To me, they are learning cause and effect (Duck, Duck Moose), generalization (Sound Touch), and writing (Little Sky Writers).

SonoFlex

The most important comment that the presenter makes is not to just give the tool to the student. We shouldn't use IPads to replace communication and social interaction, we should use it as a tool for additional support. As long as the child can learn to point and sweep, they can use the IPad as a tool.  The most amazing applications that were mentioned were Proloquo2Go, SonoFlex and Speak It since they allow nonverbal people the freedom to go out in the community and order food or interact - especially if they program their devices ahead of time. I haven't really thought about how a nonverbal child may respond if asked an everyday question from a well intentioned adult - Sono Flex allows the user to customize the page so that they can introduce themselves and answer basic questions - brilliant!

As the presenter mentioned, using these tools can be tricky in the classroom, since they are expensive and fragile, however, the benefits outweigh the risks.  There are covers that can protect the devices so that students can use them easily. 

Assistive Technology - Essential Questions

www.atinternetmodules.org

Assistive Technology Internet Modules provide valuable training for teachers at all levels.  The modules are user friendly and of great quality.  The information is very useful for guiding teachers in making informed decisions about students' use of and need for Assistive Technology. I had some initial questions to which I found some great answers - here is what I learned.

AT Assessment Process in the School Environment
Q: How is AT assessment initiated?
A: At an IEP meeting.  Then, information is gathered about the student, environment and tasks so that the student can perform as many tasks as possible, independently.

Q: Is there anything to guide the team?
A: Yes.  Guiding documents (SETT framework) can be downloaded at:  http://www.atinternetmodules.org/mod_view.php?nav_id=1435

Q: Who is on the assessment team?
A:  "Ideally, an AT assessment team consists of members of the student's IEP team inclusive of the parent and student (if possible), a person knowledgeable about AT, and any other specialist who can contribute to the student's technology use. It is wise to include an assistive technology specialist who can address issues related to interfacing the AT with the existing hardware and software used by the district. Typically, the IEP team is able to take on the role of an AT team, but at times this is not the case. The next section describes several assessment team models." (http://www.atinternetmodules.org/mod_view.php?nav_id=1434)

Q: Who is responsible for the purchase of the AT device?
A: The LEA is.  The IEP team is responsible for determining the student's need.

AT Consideration in the IEP Process

Q: What may be some situations where AT should be considered?
A: "Success in the AT consideration process gives students tools that offer access to the general education curriculum." http://www.atinternetmodules.org/mod_view.php?nav_id=1276 (Accessed 03/03/14).

Q: What should the IEP team consider?

A: "To meet the intent of the IDEA 2004, the IEP team needs to ask, "Does the student need AT to meaningfully participate and progress in the general curriculum?" The practical questions to be answered here are as follows:

• "What is it that we expect the student to be able to do in the educational program that he/she is currently unable to do because of his/her disability?" and
• "Would AT provide a solution for that?"

In other words, does this student need AT to:

• Navigate/access the school environment?
• Communicate?
• Hear?
• Participate socially?
• Physically access print materials?
• Decode/comprehend print materials?
• Produce written material?
• Access the computer?
• Do math work?
• Organize and study?
• Take state and local tests?
• Participate in recreation/physical education?
• Participate in student activities?
• Support vocational interests, work skills?" Directly quoted from http://www.atinternetmodules.org/mod_view.php?nav_id=1276 (Accessed 03/03/14).

Automatic Speech Recognition Module (ASR)
Q: What are some items to consider before jumping into expensive speech to text or text to speech software?
A: For cheaper alternatives, refer to the Wisconsin Assistive Technology Imitative (WATI) Chapter 5 - Assistive Technology for Writing, Including Motor Aspects of Writing and Composing (Nanke, et al. 2009).

Q: What is the best way to train the students, parents and teachers to support the child using ASR?
A: " The National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education, (n.d.b) provides a description of many of the considerations for training students with disabilities. Click here to view the training section of the article,"Spotlight on Voice Recognition." http://www.atinternetmodules.org/mod_view.php?nav_id=1191 (Accessed 03/03/14).

"Q. What reading level is required for successful use of ASR?
A. The general consensus among those who train students to use ASR is that a 4th grade reading level is preferred. ASR software requires constant monitoring to be sure the spoken words match the intention of the user. This will require a certain reading level and knowledge of parts of speech, homophones and other literary concepts. There have been users with lower reading levels who can utilize the software with text-to-speech feedback and other supports." http://www.atinternetmodules.org/mod_view.php?nav_id=1199 (Accessed 03/03/14).

Assistive Technology Continuum

adaptedinnovation.blogspot.com

Assistive Technology devices range from no tech to high tech.  Perhaps because of its title, assistive technology people often think that the tools involved are computers and advanced gadgets.  However, this isn't the case.  In fact, when considering tools, professionals shouldn't automatically think complex and expensive, simple modifications should be the first course of action. However, as Dell, A., Newton, D. and Petroff J. in their book Assistive Technology in the Classroom (2012), mention that "there are advantages and disadvantages to each of these input and output methods.  The match between students' needs and assitive technology solutions must be carefully considered. (p.205).

Continuum of Mouse Alternatives

Windows and Macintosh computers have graphical user interfaces (GUI) build in.  This make it easier for the user to just point and click on the desired link or icon on the screen. However for people with physical disabilities, this may be a difficult challenge.  Therefore, there are solutions that range from low tech. to high tech. that can make computer use accessible for people with these fine motor or vision disabilities.

activewin.com

Trackballs: 

• Stationary - great for individuals with limited range of motion
• Operated with only the thumb
• Variety of shapes and sizes
• Keyguards can be applied to the ball to prevent unintended clicks

www.freewtc.com

 Joystick:

• Stationary base: ideal with individuals with limited range of motion
• Good for people with limited finger movement
• Button position prevents accidental pressure
• People can rest their hands on the base without clicking
• Handles can be adapted to different grasping abilities
• Often plug and play

www.onbile.com

 Touch Screens:

• Input from direct touch
• Great for young children or people with severe disabilities
• For students with good motor control IPad offer great Special Education Applications

atto.buffalo.edu

 Head-Pointing Systems:

• High tech. and relatively expensive
• The head points and infrared dot onto the screen and the person clicks a switch with some part of their body. 
• Good for people who cannot operate a mouse with their hands
• Users must be able to hold their heads still and, manage several applications at one time.

www.eyegaze.com

 Eye-Gaze System:

• Tracks movement of the eye to direct mouse pointer
• Can click by blinking of the eye, switch or hovering
• Great for people without reliable muscle movement
• Must have predictable eye movement

Computer Accessibility Features for students with disabilities

www.microsoft.com

In addition to having Universally Designed features built in to all computers, there are also special features for people with disabilities.  These Macintosh and Windows features take into account people who have visual, physical or hearing challenges. 

Here are a few of these features:

www.thewindowsclub.com

STICKYKEYS: Allow students to press keys sequentially instead of all at once. For students with Cerebral Palsy, pressing several keys at once is challenging.

SLOW KEY: This feature helps students with hand tremors, muscle weakness or poor fine or gross motor control because it ignores unintentional and brief key strokes.  Pressure must be applied to the keys for them to work.

www.daube.ch

MOUSEKEYS: Allows users to execute all mouse functions by using the numbers on their keyboard.  This is great for students with severe physical disabilities.

Universal Design features that facilitate computer access

www.dailymail.co.uk

Dell, A., Newton, D. & Jerry, P. in their book Assistive Technology (2012) note that "wanting to sell as many computers as possible, the (computer) industry recognized the commercial value of designing operating systems that are usable by as many people as possible. (p.164)" Some of these Universally Designed features that they mention in their book are:

• choice of mouse or keyboard shortcuts to control the computer - this is great for users who find it difficult to control the mouse. Students with fine motor control difficulties, limited range of motion or visual impairments
•  voice control - this is great for students with motor control issues, muscle weakness, fatigue or vision impairments
• accommodate left or right handed users 
• size of icons - speed of the mouse - this is useful for students with poor hand eye coordination, visual impairments, hand tremors, mild motor issues or cognitive disabilities
• user pace - slowing the mouse pointer speed may assist students with visual tracking difficulties, fine motor issues

All of these features ensure that the product, which in this case is the computer, can be used by as many people as possible.  Brilliant marketing!