Assistive Technology of Alaska

Writing Supports

Mystie Rail, ATLA

HOUSEKEEPINGHOUSEKEEPING

• Sign-In

Sheet

• Evaluation

s

• Give-Away

ATLAATLA• Federal Tech Act Project

– Information– Demonstrations– Training– Loans– Re-use and recycle

• Other Activities– Ordering AT devices and products– AT workshops– AT assessments

OBJECTIVESOBJECTIVESToday we hope you learn –

• new strategies to support the writing process.

• new strategies to support the physical process of writing.

• new resources that you can begin using TODAY!

ASSISTIVE WRITING SUPPORTSASSISTIVE WRITING SUPPORTS

WHAT IS ASSISTIVE WRITING TECHNOLOGY?•takes the place of pen/pencil•still able to produce a hard copy•may need to be portable•is a tool to allow students to meet the writing requirements of the curriculum

WHAT ASSISTIVE WRITING TECHNOLOGY IS NOT!

•not computer-aided instruction•not the only tool to be considered•not the answer to all writing situations/needs

SETTSETT

STUDENTSTUDENTWho are students that experience

barriers to writing?

NEUROLOGICAL EXAMPLES– Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder

– Traumatic Brain Injury

– Graphomotor

– Dysgraphia

– Learning Disabled

– Autism

STUDENTSTUDENTWho are students that experience

barriers to writing?

PHYSICAL EXAMPLES– Cerebral Palsy– Tremors and Ataxia– Spinal Cord Injury– Muscular Dystrophy– Blind / Visually Impaired

ENVIRONMENTENVIRONMENT

• What are the structural and physical arrangements of the environment?

• What supports are available to both student and staff?

• What materials and equipment are currently available?

• What are the physical, instructional, and technological access issues?

• What are the attitudes and expectations of the staff and family?

TASKSTASKSWhat are we expecting the student to

accomplish?

EXAMPLES• What SPECIFIC tasks occur in the student’s

natural environments that enable progress toward mastery of IEP goals and objectives?

• What SPECIFIC tasks are required for active involvement in identified environments? (related to communication, instruction, participation, productivity, environmental control)

TOOLSTOOLSLOW to MID TECH IDEAS

•Adapted writing tools•Alternative input devices

• special keyboards, mice, switches•Writing Guides•Slant board•Handheld voice recorder

any other ideas?

TOOLSTOOLSHIGH TECH

•Handheld devices•Livescribe Pulse Pen•Headmouse + OnScreen Keyboard•Talking Word Processor•Software:

• Speech-to-text • Word Prediction• Mindmapping

DRAGON: The Other White Meat

FEATURES

What do you want to do?•Dictate into all applications•Control menus•Format & edit by voice•Mouse control by voice•Web & browser links by voice•Smart formatting•Ability to create scripts & macros creation •Different modes (Spell, Numbers, Dictation, Command)

AM I A GOOD DRAGON SLAYER?

•Motivation is KEY!

•Speak fairly clearly

• Can’t mumble or slur

• Accents are not a problem

•Cognitive Impairments

•Print Impairments

PREPLAN DRAGON EXECUTION

•USER – Are they able to use DNS independently

•DRAGON – Which version is going to be the best & most flexible

•MICROPHONE

•Compatible•Environment•Durable•Comfortable•Purpose of Dragon?

•COMPUTER

•Speed, Memory, plenty of Space

•ENVIRONMENT – Where will they be using Dragon?

•SET UP

INITIAL SET UP

INITIAL SET UP

INITIAL SET UP

INITIAL SET UP

LIMITATIONS & PITFALLS

•Nuance Tech Support – charges $10 fee on website to credit card before any useful dialogue

•Voice files and libraries are a game of cat & mouse to find

New in DNS 10

Accents now availableVersion 10 starts & launches applications fasterDragon Voice Shortcuts – natural language

Example:• “Search web for Plantronics”• “Search desktop for Dragon Presentation”• “Search Amazon for Foot Bath”• “Search YouTube for Dragon videos”

•Option to not train after initial setup•And the best one yet!

•New third option for “special” training specifically for people with impaired speech or children

WORD-PREDICTIONWORD-PREDICTIONUses knowledge of syntax and word frequencies to predict

the next word in a sentence as the sentence is being entered, and updates this prediction as the word is typed.

MIND-MAPPINGMIND-MAPPINGHELP FLIP THE SWITCH

MIND-MAPPINGMIND-MAPPINGHELP FLIP THE SWITCH

•Brainstorming•Mind mapping•Clustering•Graphic organizers•Response journal•Free writing•Answering questions

www.bubbl.uswww.webspiration.com

http://freemind.sourceforge.net

FREE

WHAT’S IN THE LAB?WHAT’S IN THE LAB?

LEARN HOW TO USE AND APPLY THE FOLLOWING TOOLS FOR

READERS OF ALL AGES..

•PULSE PEN •WEB 2.0 APPLICATIONS•IPOD TOUCHES•DRAGON OR MACSPEECH•CO:WRITER

THANK YOU!THANK YOU!

WWW.ATLAAK.ORGCHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE INFO

ATLAAK.WORDPRESS.COM

FOLLOW US….

TWITTER @ATLAAK FACEBOOK.COM/ATLAAK

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Assistive Technology of Alaska

Writing Supports Lab

READ IT RIGHT…READ IT RIGHT…

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