Final Thoughts...

Over the course of this class I have continued to learn a great deal about Assistive Technology and its essential place in not only schools, but in my own classroom. I must admit that at the beginning of both of these courses, AT was not a world where I was comfortable or familiar. I now feel more confident, and am looking forward to the incorporation of all types of AT into my classroom. One of the things that stood out to me in terms of student learning was to always presume confidence not only in non-verbal students, but in all students. This is a message that is loud and clear, but that is sadly sometimes not heard. I think it is one that we need to always be mindful of.

One thing that I am excited about is the possibilities of using I-Pod Touch! I am sensing a future where I-Pod touches will come in class sets like calculators do today...and I don't think we're that far away! After seeing first hand all of the possibilities that an I-Pod can offer a student, I am eager to get this ball rolling. I can say the same for students using mp3 players to create and record their own movies using movie maker. I am beginning to think of curriculum and where I might want to incorporate the use of this technology.

I realize that money plays a huge role in the effective and realistic implementation of AT into schools...But I have also been astonished by the amount of Low-Tech AT that can be created just from items from the dollar store. This was a fantastic experience and I gained many ideas from my classmates about how to best meet the needs of a student, at virtually no cost. A little creativity goes a long way.

Another great course, and though I know the learning continues, I am inspired.

Fighting Against the Odds...What Would you Fight For?

Adaptations have enabled many blind and visually impaired poeple to participate in competitive sports...but what is offered to non-athletes who are interested in a healthy lifestyle and exploring fitness options?

In 2008 a swim coach from the University of Notre Dame provided some options. Annie Sawicki who coaches paralympic swimmers at the master level developed a new technology that provides access to independence and self confidence for visually impaired swimmers. Swimming blind would present several problems. At the forefront would be drifting to the sides of the lane and not knowing when you reach the wall. After some failed attempts to develop an electronic device, Sawicki developed the AdaptTap Lane Gate System. It is designed to improve the orientation of the swimmer and allows them to swim straighter and faster.

It is a device that involves floating touch points that have sponge type balls which allow blind swimmers to have a better awareness of their surroundings for the entire length of the pool. These touch points are attached to lane lines which give the swimmer both lane and wall orientation. Nearing the end of the length, the touch points change in size and texture so that the swimmer is aware that they are nearing the end of the lane.

Other forms of adaptive equipment for visually impaired swimmers include aquatic wheelchairs and platform lifts.

Check out the following video where swimmer Ashley Nashleanas shares her story about how this development has helped her.

Seekers and Inventors of Low-Tech AT:Assignment 3

Seeking and Inventing was fun! Please watch the following Powerpoint to experience all kinds of off the shelf low-tech AT that we discovered while shopping at our local Dollarama store. We were also able to come up with many ideas to use dollar store items to invent a new AT. it was hard to choose!

View more presentations from rbent.

Boardmaker Plus

Boardmaker Plus software is another way to create individualized and adapted curriculum for students with specific learning challenges. It can be used to create a communication board for a student who is non verbal, or to create a book for a student who requires text-to-speech capabilities. These are just examples of what it can do! It also features a wide selection of picture communication symbols that can be used on the communication boards or a book. they are organized by topic. Boardmaker also includes various access modes including the capability to be set up for a switch user. The scan rate can be specifically set for the needs of the user!

I also learned that our own computers can be set up to have a scanning keyboard on the screen. Who knew?? It is easy to do and would be functional for a student who uses a switch. Although I found this to be incredibly difficult at first, I can see how someone could get used to using it, and be quite efficient!

Switch Access - The Possibilities Really are Endless!!

Switches, from the school perspective, are one more way of including all children into the classroom environment, and ensuring that all children play a role in the school day. It is representative of the true nature of inclusive education. Depending on the type of switch and the user, they offer multiple opportunities and access to many different tasks.

A switch is a mechanical device that closes an electrical circuit and has the ability to turn things on and off. The purpose of a switch is entirely dependant on the end goal of the user. The goals may be academic, they may be personal, or they may be communicative. Either way, they are user specific, and they need to be chosen according to their needs, accessibility and goal. A switch is meant to replace any action that a user intends to do, such as operate a wheelchair, surf the web, or dial a telephone. In the classroom, switches have huge potential to help with many different tasks and are an important part of socialization for the user.

There are many benefits of switches for a user of any age - pre-school to adult. It gives the user control over their environment and ensures their inclusion in all activities. Whether these activities are social, leisure, a part of the curriculum, or a form of communication, the point is that the user is included. Why not have a student operate a buzzer in gym class for the switching of stations? Or have a student make popcorn or smoothies for the school? Turn on the lights? Operate the pencil sharpener? Run musical chairs? The possibilities truly are endless.

It is important to recognize that success of the switch depends on many factors. First and foremost, we learned today that the switch is a means to an end, and that the terminology used is key. It should be task oriented; for example, we should not say "hit the switch," but instead, "turn on the lights," or the appropriate instruction for the task. These verbal cues are very important.

Motivation is also essential. Todd, from the video "Integration - Meeting the Challenge" is a grade 4 student who helped run the buzzer for his classmates in gym. It is hard work for him, so it needed to be highly motivational. What made it motivational was the socialization aspect. His gym teacher recognized this in saying " there has to be something that's worth doing it for, the other kids are worth doing it for." Success of the switch also depends on whether or not the activity is suitable to the user, the amount of practice time the user has, the amount of encouragement, the position of the switch, and the type of switch.

When selecting a switch for a user, it is important to consider the goal of the user...what are they going to be doing? A switch should be chosen that is reliable and that offers minimal fatigue to the user. It is also important to think about how the switch will be mounted...how will it be attached? Where will it be placed. There are several criteria that are essential in selecting a switch. We must consider:

1. What is the position of the user? Are they in a bed? A wheelchair? At a desk? If the user is not positioned properly, they will be unable to access the switch.

2. What is the movement pattern of the user? A consistent voluntary pattern of movement works with the control site to work the switch. If there is no movement pattern, the user will need a specialty switch.

3. What is the control site of the user? This is the area that activates the switch. Although the hand is the most common some users cannot access the switch with their hand (someone with Cerebral Palsy, or Muscular Dystrophy for example), in this case the control site might be the head, chin, finger, toe depending on their fine and gross motor skills.

4. What type of switch should be selected? There are two types of switches. A simple switch provides access through touch, and a specialty switch (see left) offers access through breath, infra red waves, eye blinking, or motion. There are also single switches, dual switches and multiple switches. (see below, in order).







All the features and capabilities of the switches need to be considered in order to provide the best fit for the student. Some features that need to be considered are the force of the switch (the amount of strength it takes to activate), and the type of feedback it offers. Feedback is how a user knows that the switch has been activated. This could be auditory, such as a clicking sound, or it could be visual or tactile. Also to be considered are the amount of travel (how far the switch moves), and the amount of play ( how much give is in a switch). Size and weight, as well as height and diameter are other factors that we need to take into account when selecting a switch because this plays a direct role in how the switch is mounted. If it needs to be mounted on a wheelchair, we need to ensure that the switch is able to be mounted this way.

Regardless of the type of switch that is selected for a particular student, today's introduction to switches brought to light an important fact....they have the potential to provide more meaning for an activity, give the user more control over their environment, and most importantly, include the student.

iPod Nano: Small Device, Huge Potential!

After working so much with the iPod Touch, I was not that excited to try out the iPod Nano - however, I recognize that this device too has huge classroom potential. Today we used the built in video camera to record our social story on "Appropriate Bus Behaviour" for a grade 12 student who was having difficulty with this partcular social setting. After our practice session yesterday with Windows Movie Maker, we were poised and ready for the editing process. Despite a few snags with the audio, the program was generally easy to maneuver.

I can't wait to see the end products tomorrow in class!

Social Stories

Social Stories are simple descriptions of an everyday social situation that is written from a child's point of view. They are used as a teaching tool to help prepare the student for what will happen in a specific everyday social situation, or to help a student improve their skills in a particular social situation. Social stories are intended to ease anxiety in unfamiliar situations. They can be used to:

• Teach a routine
• Teach how to do an activity
• Teach how to ask for help
• Teach how to respond appropriately to situations

Repetition is essential in the implementation of the expectations outlined in a social story. the student should read or watch the social story several times before practicing, and the student should practice the appropriate behaviours outlined in the social story repeatedly. One way to introduce a social story to a student is by video modelling.


Today we had the opportunity to write and create a video taped social story using the video recorder in an mP3 player, and Windows Movie Maker. This was a very fun experience...but not one that was flawless! It was nice to have the opportunity to practice today before we begin creating our own video social story tomorrow.

Carol Grey developed social stories. She has a lot of valuable information on her website "The Grey Center: For Social Learning and Understanding," and has also written a book called "My Social Stories Book."

http://www.thegraycenter.org/social-stories

Below, Carol Grey speaks about the importance of Social Stories.

Low-Tech means High Possibility!

Today in class I realized that sometimes the best assistive technology solution may be low-tech or even no-tech!! These are items that need no batteries, switches - or even an on/off button to be effective. They are typically not electronic and are easy to use. We had the opportunity to view many examples of low-tech AT that had high possibilities to help a specific user. For example, putting a piece of velcro on the left mouse to distinguish between buttons, an oversize racket to help witch phys ed curriculum for someone who has poor hand-eye co-ordination, or simply a pencil grip...possibly made of hair rollers! These are simple solutions that have a big effect. We also learned that with a little creativity we can achieve great results at lower cost. Our mission: to head to the local dollar store to explore our own creative juices in finding and creating low-tech AT. Stay tuned for our discoveries!

Apps for the iPod Touch : Detective Work...

Apps on iTunes: Detective Work!

For this assignment we were asked to chose a student or a group of students who we thought might benefit from the use of an iPod touch, and choose appropriate Apps for that particular student or group of students using the iTunes App store. After having played around with Apps on my own recently purchased iPod Touch, I initially thought...what student wouldn't benefit from using the iPod Touch! I have a funny feeling the day that iPod touches come in a class set like calculators is coming sooner than we may think. Needless to say, I had some difficulty choosing one student, and I was searching the iTunes store for apps, I heard my self continuously saying..."Oh! This App would be so good for so-and-so!" In the end...I decided on the following student...

Student Profile

• Entering Junior High in the fall (Grade Seven)
• Autistic, high functioning
• Very supportive family
  
• Age level academic cognitive ability
• Very articulate
• Excellent sense of humour
• Can be sensitive
• Easily becomes stressed or anxious
  
• Enjoys comics and wrestling
• Loves reading to younger children, and making up stories
  
• Enjoys using technology, and playing games on the computer
  
• Struggles with some social situations and peer relationships
• Difficulty making new friends
• Becomes frustrated when established routine is disturbed
• Becomes frustrated with poor decisions of peers
  
• Frustration can turn to anger, and subsequent head banging

App Selections

I can see how addictive searching for Apps can be!! I could easily spend hours doing extensive "detective work" in the App store for a variety of students, but I decided to focus on free or inexpensive apps in my searches, so that I could afford to test them out! I know that there are many Apps that would target the needs of this particular student, but I decided to choose three apps that I felt this student would benefit from the most. The Apps I chose are the following:

Surviving High School is very much like a "choose your own adventure" story where the user is the main character. The user makes various choices relating to typical high school life and their decisions affect the outcome of the story. The user is faced with perplexing situations and gets to choose how they will react to the situation, thus deciding what kind of character they will be. It is fairly user friendly and is filled with real situations that potentially arise in high school. It is fun to play and seems to have an engaging storyline.

Angry Box is essentially a place to vent your anger, and would act as a good release of frustration. The user can post a message into their angry box, view angry messages from other people, and read famous quotes about anger. The App also moderates messages and screens inappropriate messages.

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." - Buddha


Fluid is a sensory App that turns the screen of your iPod touch into a liquid like surface and is "totally interactive with your fingers." This would definitely keep any user entertained for a while, especially for relaxation purposes. As the user touches the screen the simulated liquid surface reacts. The default picture is water over rocks, but the background can be changed to to any picture you have on your iPod. The App also plays soothing music in the background, but the user has the choice to leave it on or turn it off.


Why these Apps?

I believe all three of these Apps (along with a "few" others) would benefit this student in different ways in and out of the classroom environment. I now realize that there are various Apps that could achieve the same result, perhaps even some that would better suit his needs. I see how the search for Apps and the downloading of apps is as dynamic as as the student. I can easily see how the Apps on a users iPod would be constantly changing in order to best suit their needs.

I chose the Surviving High School App for this student because it offers choices about social situations that he will be faced in high school daily life....even junior high for that matter. At first I thought the high school setting may be too advanced for this student because he is only entering grade seven. However, after exploring a bit further, I can see that many of the situations would also arise in junior high. This is great because I could not find an App for the junior high level. This student struggles with many social situations, and has difficulty accepting the typical reactions of his peers as they all enter the awkward teenage years. I think this App would be a great way to explore social stories in a fun and interactive way. He could "play" the game, then possibly discuss his solutions to the problems that arise. It is a fantastic way to prepare him and get him thinking about situations that may arise, and to also open up a dialogue before he is faced with a specific situation.

I chose the Angry Box App for a very specific reason. This student frustrates easily in a way which may or may not escalate. Often his frustrations come when an outlet or a listening ear is unavailable. He does not have an EPA and if it is a time when the classroom teacher and learning center teacher are occupied, the situation is more likely to escalate. Entering a message in his own personal "Angry Box" may be the outlet he needs to begin the calming down process, until someone is available to talk through the issue. I can see this working for this particular student, especially if he knows the source of the frustration will later be addressed. However, I can honestly say that I do not see this working with all students who have anger management issues (a few come to my mind right away!) This just goes to show you that you need to match Apps specifically to students and explore them beforehand. I also see that the anger quotes in this App could act as starting points to discuss anger and frustration.

I chose the Fluid App purely for relaxation purposes. When I explored this App, right away I thought of this student. It has a very calming nature, and would be great as a technique to quell his stress and anxiety. This deep sensory App would offer the peace and control he needs to conquer situations that evoke aggression and stress and perhaps help him to handle them in a more meaningful and purposeful way.

Exploring Apps was a fun experience! I can now see even more how iPod touches in the classroom would benefit a myriad of students. Now I am off to play with Apps on my own iPod!!

Using Proloquo2Go

Today we had the opportunity to develop a selections sets for a specific user using Proloquo2Go on the i-Pod touch. I am ceratainly amazed at how intuitive this program is! Through this activity I was easily able to see that proloquo is easily customized to meet the needs of a specific user. You can change the way anything is presented on the i-Pod. The grid sets can even be configured depending on the users preference and ability, the number of boxes can be changed, and the colour can be changed.

The thing that also came to my mind today is that proloquo makes AAC more accessible to people with less money. This is a refreshing step in the AT world!




Check out this new coverage on how the I-Pad and proloquo offers a voice back to a man who had a stroke and subsequently his ability to communicate. It is described as "a small electronic miracle that brings back precious peices of his life."

Proloquo2Go

As the Proloquo2Go website says...."it is an AAC device for your pocket." What this essentially means is that it is an Augmentative and Alternative Communication that is portable...which is convenient for any user! When looking at the Proloquo Assistiveware on the Ipod touches over the last few classes, I was reminded at how far we've come with technology...it is funny because I see the value in the GoTalk for some users...but even it now appears to be archaic next to the functionality, usability and portability of Proloquo2Go on the Ipod-touch.

As we had the opportunity to explore it's functions and settings, the importance of setting up grids with categories and layers that are appropriate for the user became very clear. We must be continuously aware of the user and take into account that consistency is key.

As an appropriate match Proloquo2Go offers a communication solution to people who are non verbal or who have difficulty speaking.

Proloquo2Go: AAC in Your Pocket!

The following is a student using Proloquo2Go on his Ipod touch to present his book report to his classmates. It left me wondering...what could this student do without AAC?

Communication

There are three integral components to effective communication...

1. Joint Attention
2. Common Language
3. Communication Partner

Communication is very involved! There are many things to think about when considering a communication device for someone who is non-verbal. There are many different devices, many different levels of communication, and many different levels of capability. There are also other factors to consider - many of which I failed to realize prior to our discussion in today's class! Before deciding upon an appropriate communication device we must consider the following:

• focus of the interaction
• content of the interaction
• duration of the interaction
• rate of communication
• scope of the interaction
• predictability
• number of communication partners
• familiarity of communication partner

There are also many modes of communication such as:

writing, pictures, gestures, behaviours, verbal, eye contact, facial expressions, using props, technology devices, selection sets, sign language

AT Assessment Models

Today in class we learned about various Assessment Models for assistive technology. A common theme running accross all models, no matter how they are set up, is that it is important to closely examine the student, their skill set, the technology, and the time and melieu. The following is an outline of the Assessment frameworks we discussed in class.


MPTT - Melieu, Personality, Technology, Task (and added an second "T" for Time!)

WATI - Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative (a detailed and very involved assessment model that incorporated all things that should be considered when submitting a referral for AT) http://www.wati.org/

SETT - Student, Environment, Task, Tools
a user friendly assessment, but is considered a starting point and is used to collect information prior to working with a student.

Stages - An assessment tool that is not deemed as popular, and is more focused on supporting language abilities and needs.

HAAT - Human Activity Assistive Technology Framework used to describe the performance of a human in a given task in a given situation or context. It is a Health clinical model as opposed to an Occupational Therapy model.

The following is a diagram which illustrates the improtance of context when all other factors are considered.

Access to Communication

Autism is a World
In today's introductory class we were reminded how integral assistive technology is in the lives of many. We again saw first hand that the possibilities are endless, and that Assistive Technology offers access to learning and leisure in a way that makes life easier and more enjoyable.

We were introduced to Susie Rubin who is an adult who lives with autism and is non-verbal. Through her video "Autism is a World" Susie expresses the challenges she faces living with Autism, and her struggle to understand it. But she also effectively delivers another very important message. With the introduction of an appropriate communication tool, Susie's voice was heard after 13 years of "being lost in autism." Before the introduction of AT, Susie faced assumptions and judgements about her cognitive capabilities. She felt like a "non-person." Susie also said that she could not make sense of any sounds. After being intorduced to the communication tool, Susie says...


"As I began to type...my mind began to wake up..."

Susie's situation reminds us that we need to be cautious with assumptions,specifically with students that are non verbal. The key message that we thought stood out today was that...
We must always presume competency.

Below is the video we discussed in class today. Amanda Baggs is another adult who has autism and is non-verbal. Her video is an eye opening example of how we must always be careful not assume non-competence.