February / March 2001

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National standards.

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For children with developmental disabilities who have AAC needs, storybook reading is often a passive experience. Although adults often inwardly groan when asked to read a favorite story for the hundredth time, it is the frequency of hearing the same language over and over that allows a child to process the meaning, and expand on it. Knowing the story so well helps develop the sense of sequence and the word-for-word correlation that evolves into reading.

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The bulk of this column is Bill's excellent piece on word prediction. Richard shares his thinking about migrating from SCSI to FireWire.Richard: Thoughts on upgrading a computer and a scannerThose of you who read last month's column know that I'm a PowerBook user. I have, and use as my primary computer, a 400 megahertz 1999 G3 PowerBook that has ports for USB and SCSI but no FireWire.

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Not too long ago, most technology training programs consisted of a variety of one-shot workshops. Teachers, therapists, and administrators were led through a carefully planned sequence of hands-on computer activities during a half-day or full-day session. Typically, step-by-step directions were oral rather than written.

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The Washington State School for the Blind (WSSB) has been providing computer assistance to public schools throughout the state of Washington for the past six years. During this time, we have grown from a 20-user JAWS for Windows statewide license to a 75-user JAWS for Windows statewide license. We are also supporting over 20 IntelliTools sites statewide.

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Hannah can't handle 15 spelling words a week in the second grade. Hector says the words look different each time he sees them in the book. Mark knows the words for his spelling tests but consistently misspells them in his papers two weeks later.

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In the summer of 1980 Todd Schmiedl had just graduated from high school and was looking forward to attending college. He and some friends were going to the "Blues Brothers" movie on the evening of July 9, 1980. On the way to the movie he and three friends were involved in a catastrophic automobile accident.

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Smart toys This feature describes some new electronic learning toys available and new ways to expand toy's content by connecting to the Internet. There are also voice-activated toys, remote control cars, electronic storybook systems, a microphone that records, and a new computer playset for very young children. Outstanding!Fisher Price Computer Learning System Baby Smartronics Keyboard (Fisher Price: 800-432-5437) This delightful, colorful keyboard gets placed on top of the standard Macintosh or PC keyboard and allows young children, ages a year and up, to access the special cause and effect software that comes with it.

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Total Augmentative Communication in the Early Childhood Classroom, by Linda J. Burkhart. This book provides a wealth of strategies and simple adaptations for using multiple forms of communication in the classroom.

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Storytime, Holiday Fun! includes six reproducible stories, a variety of communication displays and suggested related activities. These stories were designed for children with disabilities who are included in typical classrooms, special education classrooms, or for children who have read all of the STORYTIME stories. Stories are designed to increase interactive communication and language skills during story readings.

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Emergent Literary Success: Merging Whole Language and Technology, by Caroline Musselwhite and Pati King-DeBaun, is a compilation of current theory and practical applications of strategies to support and empower students in their quest for literacy.Each section includes reviews of literature for students who are typically developing as well as students with various types of disabilities and risk factors. Emergent Literary Success: Merging Whole Language and Technology contains hundreds of illustrations and mini case examples make information easily accessible to readers.For more information, contact Creative Communicating, P.O. Box 3358, Park City, UT 84060; Phone 435-645-7737; Fax 435-658-0925; Web site www.creative-comm.com.

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Gemini is our new Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device and full-featured Macintosh computer that helps people with learning, communication, or computer access difficulties lead more independent and productive lives.Gemini is a universally accessible device - suited to a range of input methods; touchscreen, switch input, on-screen keyboard, external keyboard and mouse, joystick, headmouse, or other alternative pointer.Gemini's power and flexibility allow users to be more productive, have fun, and use it on the go. The Gemini is powered by a PowerPC G3 processor that runs at 300megahertz. With160 megabytes of built-in memory and a 3-gigabyte hard disk drive,You can load and run your favorite Macintosh software.

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The wireless, talking Laser PC6 from Perfect Solutions is the laptop computer that is changing the way students and schools compute. This laptop has many features of a regular IBM compatible or Macintosh laptop. It includes an optional and very affordable ($99) Text-to-Speech (TTS) cartridge that enables students to hear word processing files and the spell checker, even as they type.To use the TTS option, students simply slide the TTS cartridge into the expansion slot of the PC6, plug in the headphones, adjust the volume and select Text-to-Speech from the main menu.

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Grammar Fitness is a self-paced grammar improvement and management program that helps students sharpen their grammar skills and lets teachers monitor their independent learning. The program helps students cope with many troublesome points of grammar, including usage, diction, idioms, grammatical relationships, and punctuation.Students advance through the program at their own pace. Students may work on specific concepts, or learn in a mixed practice format in which they will receive help and contextual feedback.Grammar Fitness employs a management utility that automatically tracks multiple students' results and creates reports that help teachers monitor user progress.

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Niemeijer Consult announces the release of KeyStrokes 2, a major new version of our on-screen keyboard software for the Apple Macintosh. Through its mouse-clicks-saving intelligent word prediction, the new version allows you to type up to twice as fast.KeyStrokes provides a fully functional on-screen keyboard that you can use to type with the mouse anywhere you would use a normal (hardware) keyboard (applications, dialog boxes, etc.). It also allows you to shift/option/command/control click.Main new features include: accelerated for PowerPC (both 68K and PPC versions are available); intelligent, self learning, language independent word prediction; and a Button bar for commonly used actions.

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Imagine not being able to read print. Imagine not being able to see photographs of loved ones. Imagine not being able to enjoy the simple things in life.

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Parrot Software has launched a Web site featuring 61 different software programs for the remediation of speech, cognitive, language, attention, and memory deficits seen in individuals who have suffered aphasia from stroke or head injury. The treatment path for individuals with head injury and stroke is usually a long one, requiring many hours of rehabilitation. Cost prohibits individuals from seeing specialists more than two to three times a week and medical insurers, including Medicare, have significantly limited reimbursements for long-term care.

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Merit Software introduces Word Problem Shape-Up. Word Problem Shape-Up is a self-paced tutorial that encourages conceptual understanding of basic mathematical concepts through a step-by-step approach supported by clear and concise help messages. Its exercises focus on learning strategies for solving word problems with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percents.Key features of the program include pre-tests, practice sessions, post-tests, and frequent places where students may print-out work.

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CalcuScribe is the missing link for students of all ages, allowing them to type homework, papers, or notes without lugging around a laptop computer.If you're a student, parent, teacher, or a writer, there's a useful tool that can help you achieve your educational or professional goals for much less money than conventional laptops.CalcuScribe is a laptop word processor with an intelligent, interactive calculator built right in. It is the first affordable, portable device that performs calculations in a word-processing-like environment, in real time.At only 3 pounds, it includes a sturdy, full-sized, quiet-key keyboard, a large display, and runs for 300 hours on just three AA batteries. The design is smart, simple, durable, and wireless, giving it an incredible amount of portability.With this smart tool, kids and professionals can write, revise, proof, and edit essays, then transfer them to a computer or printer by one simple connection.

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Merit Software announces a major upgrade of Reading Critically: Non-Fiction. The software helps students improve their skills in reading comprehension while providing teachers with measurable results. Students sharpen their ability to answer inference and factual questions.Reading Critically: Non-Fiction is a self-paced tutorial where students do a variety of exercises for each text including writing their own sentences, doing a crossword puzzle and a two-answer question.

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A new computer system that lets users control a computer with mind power alone is helping students with attention problems learn to focus and control restless behavior.Play Attention is a patented educational system that prompts users to perform tasks on the computer simply by concentrating. The system uses a sophisticated helmet with brain wave sensors that measure the student's level of focus and cognitive processing. Students use the helmet to interact with a variety of fun and engaging educational exercises.Schools using the system report that it helps students with attention problems increase concentration, time on task, visual tracking, short-term memory, and discriminatory processing.

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Enabling Devices has launched the innovative, new Take N' Talk series. These devices strive to achieve learning through actions.There are five different models available to suit your needs. Each is a self-contained device, which allows the user to record four different messages of up to five seconds each.

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Next Generation Technologies, Inc., a speech recognition technology consultancy, announced the upgrade release of its JawBone software interface, which allows the simultaneous use of Jaws for Windows - Freedom Scientific/Henter Joyce (voice output) and Dragon NaturallySpeaking - L&H/Dragon Systems (speech input). This full version release provides support for the latest JFW version 3.7.x and NaturallySpeaking Professional version 5.0.x."We've recently seen significant advances in the underlying technologies which have had a strong synergistic impact on the capabilities of the JawBone interface. The growing use of this technology has helped us develop what will be the most dynamic JawBone technology to date," says Ed Rosenthal, President and CEO of NGT, Inc.

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Computer technology to enable people with mental disabilities to live independentlyPocket Coach, the world's first portable computer system designed to help individuals with mental retardation perform their daily activities independently, has been unveiled."This new product will enable millions of individuals with cognitive disabilities to live more independent and productive lives. Pocket Coach uses a technological advance to simplify life for individuals who have otherwise been left behind by the technology revolution," Daniel K. Davies, president of AbleLink Technologies said.

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Dancing Dots, the pioneer in helping people that are blind make music with their computer, now offers a lite version of its world-renowned GOODFEEL Braille Music Translator for Windows. With the release of GOODFEEL 2.5, Dancing Dots will introduce this lite version.The full version of GOODFEEL allows creation of vocal or instrumental parts, keyboard pieces or even full scores. Customers who order GOODFEEL Lite will choose just one of these formats.

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Virtual Touch System (VTS) integrates the regular computer mouse and tactile display functions in one device – input and output functions under one palm. It thus provides the blind and visually impaired with remote tactile access through direct feedback from the computer screen and its expanded graphic environment – 32 rounded pins for each of three fingers, as well as eight control buttons on the compact and portable VirTouch Mouse. VTS gives the user the ability to recognize any graphic shape through touch and provides easy access to a huge graphic database (geometry, math, anatomy, geometry, and exact sciences).

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CPR Technology has introduced a full-featured numeric pager that enunciates any of the stored numeric messages received by the pager. The unit enunciates the message number followed by the numeric message and time and day stamp. It also has a Talking Clock feature and an Auto-Dialer as well.

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With much enthusiasm, 76-year-old retiree Aaron Beckwith recently visited Ai Squared, a computer software development company. Beckwith wanted to meet in person the creators of BigShot Magnifier, a full-screen magnification program. Designed for computer users with focusing problems caused by routine eyestrain and poor vision, the Windows-compatible system is suitable for personal and professional use.Beckwith had read a review of BigShot dated August 24, 2000 in the computers and technology section of AARP Bulletin.

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Niemeijer Consult announces the release of KeyStrokes 2, a major new version of our on-screen keyboard software for the Apple Macintosh. Through its mouse-clicks-saving intelligent word prediction, the new version allows you to type up to twice as fast.KeyStrokes provides a fully functional on-screen keyboard that you can use to type with the mouse anywhere you would use a normal (hardware) keyboard (applications, dialog boxes, etc.). It also allows you to shift/option/command/control click.Main new features include: accelerated for PowerPC (both 68K and PPC versions are available); intelligent, self learning, language independent word prediction; and a Button bar for commonly used actions.

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