Assitive tech writing
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Assistive Technology to Support Writing
By Amber Smith
What is Writing?
HANDWRITING - Holding a pen and moving your hand from left to right, leaving marks on paper.
But there’s more!
Major Elements of Writing
Task Environment – problem/assignment
Writer’s Long Term Memory – stored knowledge of topic, audience, and writing plans
Writing Process Itself – Planning (stages of writing), Translating, and Reviewing
Writing Problems that Students with Disabilities Face
Planning – they don’t know how
Spelling – problems spelling words, identifying errors
Transcription processes – Spelling and Handwriting
Lack knowledge about what makes good writing and specific writing strategies
Specific Struggles
Students who are deaf and communicate mostly using Sign Language – Low literacy levels because English is a Second language for them.
Students with Physical Disabilities (CP, MD, etc.) – forming letters correctly and quickly and word alignment on paper.
Some Students with Autism, Down Syndrome or visual-motor LDs - dysgraphia due to poor fine motor coordination.
Specific Struggles...cont’dNote-Taking – Complicated for many students with LDs.
Skills needed:
Read and Write at the same time
Organize ideas that are presented
Distinguish what is important from what is not
Do everything above at the same time
Low-Tech Tools for Handwriting Difficulties
Pencil Grip
Slanted desk/table top
Anchor paper on a clipboard
Paper with raised or bold lines – helps students with LD and/or visual impairments
Rubber stamps – Math, Writing, Pictures, Names etc.
Pre-Writing Tools
Graphic Organizers & Concept Maps – paper and computer software – i.e. Inspiration & Mindview 3
Templates
Drafting Tools
Word Processing Applications – MS Word, Google Docs
Benefits:
Legibility of Text
Publish in different formats
Easy to change/revise
Supporting applications for Spelling, grammar, concept mapping
Changes without Rewriting Allow For…
No stress about Spelling during Composition
Less stress about organization / sequencing
More emphasis on content
Word Prediction Applications
These programs make an educated guess about what word the writer wants to type and gives a list of choices.
Co:Writer by Don Johnston
WordQ by goQ Software
WriteOnline by Crick Software (web-based, talking)
Google Scribe by Google
Speech Recognition
Speaker says the word into a microphone and the software recognizes words and writes them on the screen.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking by Nuance
SpeakQ by goQ Software
MacSpeech Dictate by Nuance
Reviewing
Text-to-Speech applications – Write:OutLoud
Helps students with poor reading skills
Text is read aloud by “chunks”
Speed & Voice can be adjusted
Text being read can be highlighted
Editing
Spell-Checks – Standard vs. Phonetic dictionaries
Talking Spell-Checks
Thesauruses
Grammar Checkers
Sharing/Publishing
Newsletters
Story-writing programs – graphics, video, sound with text
PowerPoint Presentations
provides engaging environment for pre-writing (organization)
provides an alternative to writing a paper but still is able to show knowledge.
Sharing/Publishing …cont.
Internet
Discussion boards
Blogs – “Web Log” or Journal – w/ student comments
Kidblog
Wikis- Students can add and edit info on the site
Note-Taking Mid-High Level Tech
Portable Note-takers – Neo (2), CalcuScribe
Smartpen – Pulse Pen and Echo Pen by LiveScribe
Braille Note Takers – Braille Lite M40 and BrailleNote by Human Ware
Capturing Devices – Mimio, SmartBoard, and Promethean ActivBoard
CART $$$– Communicative Access Realtime Translation for Deaf/Hard of Hearing students – word by word translation
C-Print $ - produces paraphrased records of class lectures.
Assistive Tech Plus…
“Assistive technology will succeed in helping students improve their writing skills only if it is paired with good teaching strategies.” (Dell, 2012, p49).
Training needed in:
The Writing Process – www.readwritethink.org
Specific Tech tools
How to use these tech tools to enhance the writing process