December 2001 / January 2002

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It is a common sensation, returning from a Closing The Gap Conference, to experience a sense of information overload from which it may take a week or two to recover. However, many people also return with a new sense of commitment to the improvement of assistive technology (AT) services in their organizations. Teachers, therapists, and parents of school-age children might return to their districts wondering how to get assistive technology services going and how to develop school district AT teams.Currently, there is no national-level organization that tracks school system assistive technology (AT) teams, and there are few publications that focus on school-based AT.

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Picture a child with orthopedic impairments in a classroom, struggling to turn pages in a book, working hard to complete pencil/paper tasks, dictating to an adult aide, wishing he/she could do the work independently. Picture a child with low vision, struggling to see and complete a worksheet...having difficulty reading his/her own handwriting. Now picture these students completing these tasks independently on the computer.

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Photo fun If you have a new digital camera or a scanner, here are some cool ideas of things to do with the pictures.Kensington Digital Photo Album Plus (Kensington: 800-235-6708) This digital picture frame is the best! It lets you create and display a slide show with 24 digital photos (24 bit color images at 640 x 480 dpi resolution) on a 7.4-inch diagonal screen. Just install the enclosed software on your computer and place your scanned or digital photos in a folder. Then connect the frame and download.

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This will be our last regular column for Closing The Gap. Bill and I are still serious Mac users and will continue to share what we know at the Closing The Gap Conference, but both of us are too busy these days to write a regular column. We want to thank the entire Closing The Gap staff for their support.

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Recently two occupational therapists ,Leann Shore and Sara Hagen, who work with students in the Shakopee (MN) Public Schools, presented the eighth-grade class of ABLE (Active Business Learning Experience) with an interesting challenge. They wanted the class to design a piece of adaptive furniture that could house an adapted keyboard. The adapted furniture would be for a fourth grade student who could neither speak nor hold his hands steady enough to operate his adaptive keyboard independently.

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Children are different. They have different cognitive styles and there is a wide range among their learning levels. Accordingly, how to teach and how to close the gap among children became a very critical issue when we started thinking of the design of instruction.According to Keller, J.

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"Teacher, I can't find the ‘a' is a common statement in both the regular and special needs classrooms because students trying to master the alphabet cannot find numerous lower case letters which differ from the upper case letters imprinted on all computer keyboards. Also, students with special needs, when attempting to learn the lower case alphabet in addition to the upper case, often think they have to learn 52 letters rather then 26 letters with upper/lower case versions. This can seem daunting, even discouraging.

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Chatback v2 is a new version of the simple speech therapy utility aimed at helping those students who may have difficulty in hearing the separate phonemes within words (eg: smith/smiff). For a list of words, the program will present a teacher recording of the word to which the student may listen, record their own attempt, and compare the two. Each word may be spoken in a phoneme by phoneme manner.

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The Tech/Scan 32 Plus is a lightweight, basic communication device. It will enable individuals who are unable to use direct selection and have visual problems to communicate. It also can be used to help persons develop scanning skills through the use of auditory prompts to enhance visual scanning.

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Enabling Devices, Inc. has entered the world of mobility by introducing two new devices: The Cooper Car and the Platform Cruiser.The Cooper Car allows children to explore their environment in an adaptable and fun way! This innovative vehicle is motorized with special electronics to permit the use of four switches or a joystick controller. It comes fully assembled and includes a booster seat, a magic arm mounting system, a lapboard, an override switch, a joystick and a battery with a charger.Before purchasing an expensive electronic wheelchair, use the Platform Cruiser to see if your client is ready for this step.

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New peel and stick labels are the perfect solution for vision impaired computer users. When applied, they enlarge the keyboard letters four times larger than standard keyboards. Fits all keyboards with standard size keys, including Web TV.Made from durable vinyl with a .5 mil clear covering for long lasting use.

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Hunter Digital releases the No Hands Mouse. It features user configurable mouse movement and speed, a six-foot cable linking pedals and computer, and the ability to be linked with voice activated systems for those without the use of their hands<p>The No Hands Mouse operates with two interchangeable pedals that rest on the floor. One pedal controls cursor direction and speed with a slight tilting of the pedal, while the other controls the mouse buttons with a gentle forward and back rocking motion.

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Innovation Management Group, announces a major rewrite of its My-T-Soft AT, now simply called Onscreen.Onscreen has been redesigned to offer high resolution and to be infinitely sizeable. It has 3-D keyboards, programmable macro panels, and support for over 45 US and international layouts.Onscreen's new Key Helper gives the user the option to zoom over (magnify), inverted highlight over (reverse highlight), or audio / speak over (sound or voice) any key or word, before selecting it! Function keys can be remapped for special or hotkey combinations and any key(s) can be "hidden" to create simple layouts for new users.Macro buttons and panels allow the user to associate panels with any application, placing long Web addresses, scripts, name and addresses, etc. on buttons, so that the panel opens with the associated application and the buttons speed up or simplify redundant tasks.Onscreen's enhanced Word Complete offers adaptive word prediction with a new word List Assistant.

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Dancing Dots, developer of GOODFEEL, a Braille music translator, has taken another step in the advancement of music opportunities and independence for blind and low vision students and professionals worldwide. Working with author Richard Taesch of the Southern California Conservatory of Music, Dancing Dots has published An Introduction to Music For the Blind Student and A Course in Braille Music Reading to meet the basic need of blind music students, to become literate in music Braille."Every blind and visually impaired person, young or old, deserves at least a chance to learn and experience music through the Braille system," says Dancing Dots founder and president, Bill McCann. "With this new curriculum, we hope to provide a resource that gives the same opportunities to learn music that have always been available to sighted people."Lessons and supplemental exercises are applications of the course, which has been the official curriculum at the Southern California Conservatory of Music - Braille Music Division for over five years.

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Millennium Compliance Corporation has launched a new product designed specifically to help seniors and individuals with vision impairements take their prescriptions correctly. The Talking Rx is a digital recorder packaged in a base unit, which is attached to a standard 13-or 16-dram Rx vial. It is a self-contained, easy-to-use device requiring no up-front investment in software or readers.

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Vcom3D, Inc. has announced the introduction of SigningAvatar Illustrated Dictionary for American Sign Language (ASL) on CD-ROM. This learning tool is the first in a series of dictionary products that use vivid graphics and 3-D animation to display signs, phrases and sentences in ASL and Signed English.Lifelike characters from the SigningAvatar software series take center stage, interacting with users of all ages to demonstrate the first five hundred signs most commonly introduced in beginning ASL courses.

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WYNN 3.0, literacy software for reading accommodation and writing enhancement, is now shipping. WYNN 3.0 is offered by Freedom Scientific's Learning Systems Group, and has significant new features including Web access, word prediction, e-mail, and outlines. In addition, WYNN has maintained its ease of use with its four rotating color-coded tool bars.Roberta Brosnahan, Vice President and General Manager for Freedom Scientific's Learning Systems Group, said, "Due to user requests, we have extended our features but have remained true to WYNN's easy-to-use interface.

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Dolphin Computer Access has joined Microsoft in promoting accessibility for computer users with disabilities. In support of Microsoft's launch of the Windows XP operating system, Dolphin Computer Access is releasing version 5 of the Supernova Reader Magnifier software product. Supernova works with Windows XP to enhance the Windows XP experience for people with a visual impairment by offering magnification, speech and Braille for applications running on the new operating system.Dolphin's Development Director, Mike Hill is based in the UK.

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Tash has announced its newest product - Trigger Switch, which is designed specifically to meet the rugged needs of wheelchair users. The colored activation surface provides a visual target, while the low profile surface prevents inadvertent activation. A waterproof and dust proof design makes the Trigger Switch ideal for rugged users in any environment to select, scan, dwell or as a kill switch.The design of the Trigger Switch accommodates mounting on a flat surface with all the mounting solutions included in the price.

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From Goals to Data and Back Again: Adding Backbone to Developmental Intervention for Children with Autism is written by Jill Fain Lehman, Ph. D. and Rebecca Klaw, M.S., M.Ed.In this book, Lehman and Klaw argue for the importance of bolstering developmental approaches to intervention with data collection and analysis.

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The Talking Word Processor is designed to help those who have reading and writing difficulties. We wanted to design a word processor that was easy to use as well as having speech capabilities. Ease of use is probably one of its biggest features.

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The trackIR AT cursor control system is a new communication tool that is changing the way people are using computers. As intuitive as a mouse, the trackIR AT gives you control of your cursor by tracking a removable, reflective dot that you place anywhere on your forehead, eyeglasses or finger. Simply turn your head or aim your finger, and the cursor follows in real time.The trackIR's Dwell Clicking feature gives you total hands-free control of your computer.

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The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) hosted the national anchor event for “Disability Mentoring Day: Career Development for the 21st Century.” Disability Mentoring Day provides mentoring opportunities and career exploration for students with disabilities nationwide. “Economic empowerment is at the heart of civil rights for people with disabilities,” said Andrew J.

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Parent centers in each state provide training and information to parents of infants, toddlers, school-aged children, and young adults with disabilities and the professionals who work with their families. This assistance helps parents participate more effectively with professionals in meeting the educational needs of children and youth with disabilities.This list of federally funded Parent Centers was generated by the Alliance Project Coordinating Office, and is being reprinted with their permission.For more information, contact the Alliance Project, 8161 Normandale Blvd, Minneapolis, MN 55437; Phone 952-838-0000 or 888-248-0822; TTY 952-838-0190; Fax 952-838-0199; E-mail alliance@taalliance.org; Web site www.taalliance.org.AlaskaPARENTS, Inc. 4743 E.

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