Assistive Technology for Reading Webinar

Resource 1 : Audible.com

• Audible.com is a great program that has been set up by Amazon that provides over 150,000 different books in audio format. These audiobooks are a great resource for every classroom. They are helpful for all students, but especially those who have vision problems and those with dyslexia. Students with vision problems will benefit from this because if they are not able to see books that are to read in class, they will just be able to listen to it. Audible.com will also have students interested in what they are reading because they have celebrities, authors, and professional narrators narrate their books. A membership to Audible.com cost $14.95 a month, or if you want to buy it by the book, it will cost you a different range of prices for each book. But if you sign up now you can get a free 30-day trial!

Resource 2 : Voice Dream 

• Voice Dream is an App that can be found on the AppStore for all IOS devices. This program is a text to speech program that can help any student with their writing. The program also works with voice dictation. This program also highlights the words on the screen as it is reading them. The program allows you to import files from BookShare, Dropbox, Gutenberg, Microsoft Office, and PDFs. There are also many different voices that are available to choose from. This program will be great for all students who may have reading disabilities, especially those with dyslexia. They will receive help with reading, writing, and fixing grammar. This helpful product is cheap too! It only costs $9.99!!   

 Resource 3 : Reading Pens 

• Reading Pens are a very cool tool that I have never seen used in the classroom. Students will hold the pen and follow along the text using it. As they follow along with the text, the pen will scan the text, and give the students the option to hear the words spoken aloud, define the words, and the correct pronunciations of the words, all within seconds. These pens are a great tool for any student who has a reading disability, especially those with dyslexia. There are many different brands of reading pens, but the most popular are Wizcom, IRISPen, PenPower, and MoralRegion. These pens cost around $200, but can be well worth the cost! 

Resource - Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Dragon NaturallySpeaking software is a voice recognition software.  When using this software, students are able to speak to type, instead of actually typing their assignments. As the students speak, Dragon NaturallySpeaking will record their words and type them on the screen. This product can help all types of learners. It can especially help those with poor fine motor skills who may have difficulty typing. This is a very user-friendly product, and it is offered across all operating systems! This can be a little expensive, but will be well worth it for your student!

http://www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm

Resource - Read&Write

Read&Write software provided by TextHelp is a great product for any student who may have reading difficulties. It is a very user friendly literacy software that can be used by students who suffer from dyslexia and other learning difficulities. The program provides different functions such as reading on-screen text aloud and checking written work. The only drawback to the software is that it is very expensive, costing over $500. It does come with a 30 day free trail, and I can tell you that it is very easy to use.

https://www.texthelp.com/en-us/products/read-and-write-family

Past Event Cards

Students with autism commonly have trouble relating past events. Past Event Cards can be created to help autistic students to remember the events that happened to them early in the day or even yesterday. These cards usually have pictures on them that will relate to the different events that occurred in the student’s day. They are great for helping the student discuss their day with their parents at home! 

Choice Cards

Like Break Cards, Choice cards are also cards that can be used with autistic students. Choice Cards are cards that have pictures of items on them that offer students a choice of 2 or more items to have. Teachers can use these for almost everything that they do in the classroom! Everything from snack time to work time to free time. We currently have a student who uses choice cards every morning to pick out what he wants to eat for lunch that day.

Break Cards

Break cards are items used in the classroom by students to show that they need to take a break, and need some time away from what they are doing or who they are around. These cards are to be used by the student when they are feeling frustrated, upset, or anxious when doing an activity. The student should have the card in their desk at all times so they are accessible for them to show the teacher.

 

 

Autism and Expressive Communication

Expressive communication is a broad term that describes how a person communicates their wants and needs. This includes verbal and nonverbal communication such as facial expressions, gestures, vocabulary, and syntax. Students with autism suffer difficulties in using expressive communication. This creates many difficulties for students with autism because they will not be able to communicate the way they want with family, friends, or teachers. Students with autism will have difficulty in social interactions and communication with others. There are different ways that teachers can help students who suffer with poor expressive communication skills such as: teaching them to ask for help when needed, building off of the students strong points, providing scripts or templates, and simple things such as pausing and giving students more time to think.

IEP Example 5 - Andy

Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance: Andy uses a variety of sounds, gestures, signs, and picture/symbols to communicate with his family. He is very social and enjoys parallel play. Andy does not communicate vocally in the classroom, but does use some gestures. At school Andy will sign, but only with prompts.

Annual Goal: Andy will increase expressive language production by using a variety of communication methods in the classroom, including sign language, gestures, communication boards, pictures, and simple voice output devices during four out of five opportunities.

 

• As a nonverbal student, Andy’s communication board is very important to his success in the classroom. He will use this to communicate with his peers. These voice output devices will also help Andy communicate with his teachers.
  
  

  This IEP was located at 

  Chapter 15 – Documenting Assistive Technology Into the IEP Documenting Assistive Technology into the IEP by Penny R. Reed, Ph.D. With contributions from numerous WATI Consultants (http://www.wati.org/)

  
  

IEP Example 4 - Becky

Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance: Becky is learning to read and is anxious to complete writing assignments with her peers. She is not able to produce handwritten material due to severe spastic quadriplegia. Becky is interested in using the computer and has been introduced to it. The staff has helped Becky experiment with several switches in a variety of locations. She seems to be most accurate using a switch mounted next to her head.

 

Annual Goal: Becky will use a single switch mounted on a switch-mounting arm positioned to the right side of her head and scanning software to access the computer 9 out of 10 times for a variety of educational assignments.

• This will help Becky to use the computer in a more manageable way. The scanning software will help her to complete her educational assignments.
   
  This IEP was located at 
  Chapter 15 – Documenting Assistive Technology Into the IEP Documenting Assistive Technology into the IEP by Penny R. Reed, Ph.D. With contributions from numerous WATI Consultants (http://www.wati.org/)
   

IEP Example 3 - Johnny

Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance: Johnny uses his right hand to write and to physically position his left arm and hand. He has difficulty managing papers as he writes. He collects and utilizes a lap tray, incline board, non-slip mat and modified clipboard but often waits for staff to set up modifications.

Annual Goal: Johnny will initiate the set-up of his writing station 80% of the time given a chart of needed materials for each task. 

• Johnny’s laptop tray, incline board, non-slip mat, and modified clipboard is used to help him write and keep his papers together. This makes up for his weak left arm and hand. 
  
  

  
  

  This IEP was located at 

  Chapter 15 – Documenting Assistive Technology Into the IEP Documenting Assistive Technology into the IEP by Penny R. Reed, Ph.D. With contributions from numerous WATI Consultants (http://www.wati.org/)

IEP Example 2 - Mary

Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance: Mary currently communicates with sounds that are not always understood by those around her. She often becomes upset when she is not understood. She likes people and likes to be around both adults and children. She is beginning to play simple games.

Annual Goal: Mary will communicate her interests and needs in three or more environments/situations using a single message voice output device.

• Mary will have a voice output device that will help her communicate with her classmates, and this will help her to keep her calm and not get upset with her peers. The device will also help her while playing games with her classmates.
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• This IEP was located at 
  Chapter 15 – Documenting Assistive Technology Into the IEP Documenting Assistive Technology into the IEP by Penny R. Reed, Ph.D. With contributions from numerous WATI Consultants (http://www.wati.org/)
   

IEP Example 1 - Eric

Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance: Eric participates in regular education programs for his academic subjects. His hand strength is limited and he fatigues quickly when doing any handwriting task. Civics and English homework are a particular problem because of lengthy assignments and reports that need to be completed.

Annual Goal: Eric will use a computer or portable word processor to complete 100% of his assignments in 10th grade English and Civics classes.

• By using a portable word processor, Eric will be able to complete his assignments in English and Civics class. Since he has limited hand strength, he will be able to use the portable word processor on lengthy assignments in the appropriate manner. 
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  This IEP was located at 
  Chapter 15 – Documenting Assistive Technology Into the IEP Documenting Assistive Technology into the IEP by Penny R. Reed, Ph.D. With contributions from numerous WATI Consultants (http://www.wati.org/)

Assistive Technology in the IEP

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), if a student has a learning disability, assistive technology (AT) must be considered for that student. Assistive technology should be considered in every student’s IEP regardless of his or her disability. The IEP team must consider the student’s strengths, weaknesses, and abilities when determining the assistive technology for the student. The team will use all of this information to determine the best device for the student. AT can range from low tech to mid tech to high tech, and all of these could be effective for students. The assistive technology that is chosen should help the student succeed in their classroom. In the next few posts, I will be discussing how assistive technology is used in the IEP process.