June / July 2000

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If you work as an assistive technology coordinator for your school or agency, you are well aware of how much time is consumed by tasks that require you to search for information about assistive technology products, services, or policies. Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone created a resource to help manage all the information that an Assistive Technology (AT) Coordinator needs to know?

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This month Bill digs into using the Macintosh's Launcher application. Richard shares his experience with an outlining program for both Macintosh and Palm handheld devices. Bill: Managing items in your LauncherI know many of you have the Launcher displayed when you start up your Mac and you may even use it to launch those applications that are displayed in it.

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One of the clearest findings from educational research focuses on the relationship between time-on-task and learning: academic achievement is positively correlated with the amount of time students spend engaged in meaningful learning activities. As a result, one promising application of technology in special education involves the use of interactive study tools to assist, support, and engage students in relevant and challenging learning activities.The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the many strategies and products that could be used by students, teachers, and parents to interactively engage learners in studying academic content. Readers will notice that the instructional challenges are common among both students with and without disabilities.

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Untitled Document Dynamic display systems are a powerful form of augmentative communication. Their capacity for numerous on-screen boards provides access to a wide range of single word vocabulary and pre-stored messages without requiring memorization or abstract word associations. Their flexibility in symbol size, layout and visual presentation offers the ability to accommodate specific user needs.

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Boardmaker is a computerized library of pictures. These line drawing pictures (in black and white and color) can be easily retrieved and organized for the creation of communication boards, picture schedules, information sheets, games and more.Many interesting and seldom used features of Boardmaker (BM) can be found nestled neatly, yet noticeably in the documentation that accompanies the program. For those who refuse or fear to read manuals, for those who lack time to read manuals and for those who cannot find their manuals, a summary of those features is provided below.

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If "having a voice" opens the door to participation, inclusion, independence, and fun, then the messages recorded into the communication aids must be selected with these outcomes in mind.Access to high-interest activities and opportunities for communication will be important for students who may not understand natural consequences (cause-effect). The best way for students to learn that behavior has impact is through activities that are motivating.Many beginning communicators will start with a single message or a choice between two messages within a high-interest activity. Typically, the number of messages you provide will be obvious based on the nature of the activity and was discussed in the last article.

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Untitled Document It's 9:30 at Cactus Elementary School. Paige and her instructional assistant are working on a social studies assignment. Paige is a fully included student in a 5th grade classroom.

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After having worked in the field of physical therapy for over 20 years, and teaching new students for most of that time, I was constantly frustrated by the limitations that the medical community placed on a patient's ability to recover from stroke, brain injury, incomplete spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, and other neuromuscular problems. The assumptions about the extent to which a patient could recover function had not substantially changed in years and I was especially bothered by the belief that a patient would only improve in therapy within six months following stroke.Something told me that the brain and the body had the ability to go farther than our expectations led us to believe. This optimism was borne of a large dose of skepticism regarding our knowledge of the brain's ability to compensate for injury.

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Computer board/word gamesGames can be a great way to teach and reinforce all kinds of learning including: language, turn-taking, general information, attention span, reasoning and thinking strategies, and more. Here are some computer board and word games, many of which can be highly addictive (All are for Windows only unless otherwise noted.)Hoyle Word Games (Sierra: 800-757-7707) This great collection of word games, for Mac and Windows, includes word searches (450 available or create your own), hangman (four variations for one to three players), 500 crosswords (with hints when you need them), anagrams (create words from scrambled letters), and others. In one game, you type letters and words as fast as you can as they fall from the top and in another, you unscramble famous quotes or phrases.

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Technology for all: A guide to solving the puzzleBy Judie Lee and Peggy ShireleyIn today's world, technology is considered a necessary tool for all. In school, it has become a basic requirement, just like reading, writing and math. As a result, general education has been given the responsibility of updating curriculum and instruction to include technology as a learning and productivity tool.

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Opus Technologies announced that it has signed a Braille music publishing agreement with Hal Leonard Corp., the world's largest print music publishing company. The agreement grants Opus Technologies the rights to publish and sell Braille editions of music titles from Hal Leonard's extensive catalog of print music.For its first offering, Opus Technologies is publishing Braille editions of 25 individual sheet music pieces. These consist of the piano vocal guitar (pvg), easy piano (ep), or piano solo (ps) versions of the following 10 best-selling popular songs:1.

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Assistive technology software developer Henter-Joyce, Inc. announced the release of its latest screen magnification product, MAGic 6.2. With this release, MAGic delivers many new and enhanced features, including extensive interoperability with Henter-Joyce's JAWS for Windows (JFW) screen reader software.

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GDP Research has developed a tiny electronic mobility aid called the Miniguide. The Miniguide is not much bigger than a box of matches (2.3 x 1.3 x 0.6 inches) and weighs only three-quarters of an ounce.The aid indicates the distance to the nearest object, via an audio tone. The higher the pitch of the tone, the closer the object.

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HeadMouse for Portables replaces the standard desktop computer mouse for people who cannot use their hands.o Optimized for portable computerso Indoor and outdoor operationo Directly powered from wheelchair batterieso Integrated power supply for laptop computerso Wireless 0perationo No cumbersome head mounted apparatusHeadMouse translates the movements of a user's head into directly proportional movements of the computer mouse pointer. The HeadMouse is a wireless optical sensor which tracks a tiny and disposable target that is placed on the user's forehead or glasses. When this capability is combined with on-screen keyboard software, such as SofType, the HeadMouse can completely replace the functions of a conventional keyboard.

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MessageMates are extremely rugged hand-held communication devices that allow the user to speak a variety of recorded messages simply by pressing a key. Now you can select words or phrases from several prerecorded buttons and combine them together to create a single message.Simply turn on the Message Builder and build your message. Then press the SAY key to speak your message, the REPEAT key to repeat the last sentence spoken.

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Enkidu Research, Inc. has announced the release of Version 1.1 of its Portable IMPACT line of small, lightweight, and inexpensive communication devices. This version includes support for symbol-based interfaces using the Mayer-Johnson PCS symbol set – nearly 4,000 full-color pictures.

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Until now notetakers for the blind have served several useful functions. Word processing, mathematical calculations and information management needs have all been adequately met by devises designed especially for blind individuals. However it has been difficult to link these devises or their output with a mainstream environment.The BrailleNote overcomes this traditional and critical problem.

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The Magic Wand Keyboard allows people with limited or no hand movement to access any IBM or Apple Macintosh computer using only slight hand or head motion. It is the only computer keyboard and mouse that requires no strength and no dexterity.Having a disability does not mean having to give up using a computer or the Internet. The Magic Wand Keyboard provides full keyboard and mouse capability so that anyone with a disability can use a computer and the Internet with ease.The keyboard works with the slightest touch of a wand (hand-held or mouthstick).

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Educational software publisher Bytes of Learning Inc. looks to revolutionize typing instruction with the release of UltraKey version 4. This new multimedia edition of the keyboarding tutor offers benefits to every user and teaching style.

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RJ Cooper announced the release of a new CD, with every software title that RJ Cooper makes on it for both Mac and Windows. Here's how it is designed.The CD is set up like a Web browser, with all the installers accessible right from the CD's 'Web' pages. Just pop in the CD and it should run automaticallyDemo (Evaluation) Installation: Each CD has all RJ Cooper software on it.

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Ultratec, Inc. a manufacturer of text telephones, announces a powerful new loud telephone ringer called the CrystalTone Ringer. The latest in the company's CrystalTone line of amplified products, the new ringer amplifies the sound of a telephone ring up to 95dB, substantially louder than the volume of a traditional ring.The new ringer is ideal for people who have difficulty hearing the phone ring, whether in a different room, in a noisy environment, or for those who need extra amplification.

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Today, over 54 million Americans have some type of motor disability that, among other things, make it difficult to use a computer. Edmark recently announced a new set of products that will unlock the power of the computer for individuals with disabilities. What are they? TouchFree Switch, TouchWindow and Visual Voice Tools.

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Pearson Education, an educational publisher and the American Printing House for the Blind, Inc., the not-for-profit company that creates products for blind or visually impaired people, have agreed to work together to speed the process of translating print textbooks into Braille to make them accessible to blind students.At present, many months are required to complete the translation of a textbook into Braille. This agreement will significantly shorten that time and make it possible for more Braille readers to have access to textbooks at the same time as their sighted peers.The current process for changing a book from regular print copy to Braille is both lengthy and labor intensive. It requires highly skilled personnel who must prepare a computer file of the book for translation by re-keying the entire book, or using a scanner (Scanning the book is sometimes even more labor-intensive than re-keying because of the highly pictorial nature of current textbooks.); and examine each page of the file that has been created to make sure the pedagogical content is conveyed through the text.

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Lucent provides bay area rapid transit with speech solutionsMeets American Disability Act requirements, making communications accessibleLucent Technologies will provide speech software to the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART), providing commuters with an easier way to both hear and see travel announcements. Now, commuters throughout greater San Francisco who are visually impaired will be able to hear train announcements and those who are hearing impaired will be able to read them.The system uses technology developed by Bell Labs, called Text-to-Speech (TTS) software, that converts text messages into natural-sounding voices. With this technology, BART will be able to automate its train information systems across its network of 39 stations.

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