Wii in Special Education

We started our Wii project this month at one of my highschools. It has been amazing to watch! The students, who have moderate or severe cognitive disabilities (some physical disabilities also) have taken the Wii challenge and are cleaning up. Each student made their individual "mii" character - a cartoon likeness of him or herself complete with appropriate glasses, hair, etc. This was a great way to learn how to use the Wii remote to access items. We are playing this game as a part of our students' adapted physical education class. Some of the kids have played the game before, but most have not. The first day we introduced playing tennis, one of our students with severe autism who is minimally verbal got the highest score! Another student(who has cerebral palsy, is nonverbal, and has limited arm movement) was able to return several serves and got 15 points. By hooking the Wii to a projector and showing it on the wall of the gym we make the image lifesize. It is also incredible to see the patience that the students have when they are waiting for a turn - these are students who have great difficulty transitioning between tasks. We are watching for the reactions of the students who have severe physical and cognitive deficts. Even though they made need hand over hand assistance, the kids are smiling and visually attending to the action. We are investigating adapting the Wii remote for switch use to give these students more options. More updates later!

There's an App for that...

The iPod Touch and iPhone are amazing assistive technology tools. There are many free applications as well as ones that cost as little as $10.00 all the way to $150.00 that can be use for communication and visual schedules. Proloquo2Go is a full-feature AAC software available for approximatley $150.00. It has a large library of symbols, natural sounding speech, functions of language for sentence construction, and typing view for typing paragraphs. On the other end, there is iConverse, a $10.00 program that lets you load your own photos (or screen shots of Boardmaker symbols) and assign text to the symbol that can be spoken aloud. The speech is more robotic sounding and there is less flexibility for programming, but it is $10.00 and it is a nice beginning step. Or, this is a great option for someone who needs visual prompts or schedules or a portable communication system so they dont' have to carry a larger device around in the community. I'm using this as an evaluation tool for my students before investing in additional applications. One of the snags I've run into with the iTunes store is their complete unwillingness to deal with tax exempt purchases. Public schools are tax exempt; however after lenghty discussion with many people at iTunes (from phone calls to online chats and emails)it is apparent that they don't understand or want to provide their products to tax exempt organizations. My last interaction with them ended with the statement "our products are designed for personal end use only". - I guess that means they don't want to sell to businesses, agencies, schools? Be creative and find a way around it, it's worth it.

How Many Crayons Are In Your Box?

I like the smell of crayons. No matter how old I am I always have an urge to buy a box of new crayons at the beginning of the school year. And not just the 24 colors - but the great big box with the built-in sharpener. I remember if you had that box as a kid, you were livin' large. These were essential tools in early elementary. While I didn't run out and buy crayons this year, I have been very fortunate to be able to add to my essential tools by purchasing new assistive technology equipment with the Education Stimulus Funds made available to public schools. This has included many useful items that will benefit students of all ages and abilities. There are so many items out there it can be overwhelming to choose. Parents and professionals alike often ask advice on what to purchase. For schools interested in AAC, I suggest looking at www.aactechconnect.com. Debby McBride, CCC/SLP, and her group offer a variety of tools for matching devices with features students need. They list all the major devices and comparison charts. Now, I think I may have to run out and look for crayons...I wonder if they make crayon-scented candles?

Back To School with Stimulus Funds

It's back to school for many of us. With the Educational Stimulus money made available for public schools, going back to school has a new meaning this year. We are able to provide additional assistive technology equipment and other opportunities for our students. With the equipment comes the need for additional training and staff development; but what a great chance to get lots of new equipment. I'll be writing purchase orders and unpacking boxes for quite a while - more on what our new items will be later.

Rain, Rain, Rain?

As I sit here looking out my window it is raining AGAIN! Here in Indiana it has rained just about every day the entire month of June. With outdoor activities limited I've been thinking about some of the projects I have brewing. One of them is to present "Switch It Up: Move to Communicate" at the Assistive Technology Industry Association conference in Chicago October 29-31. I love this presentation because it lets me highlight some of the great kids I've worked with who have moved from basic cause and effect with switches to more sophisticated computer and communication device use. Positioning is critical for this to happen. Tiffany, my excellent physical therapist colleague, and I presented this session at the ATIA in Orlando in January and the PATINS conference in Indianapolis in November 2008. If you are a midwesterner - do not miss the Chicago ATIA conference - this is the first year that they are coming to us. Or, if you want a winter break, go to the Orlando version in January. Last January while I was there here at home the kids got 3 snow days and 12 inches of snow (not sorry to miss that). Go to www.atia.org for more information. Wow, I think it has stopped raining? No, false alarm - it just slowed down some. Hopefully next time I post it will be sunny.

Do You Use Audacity?

Have you found Audacity yet? It's the free audio editing software that lets you do so many things. Teachers use it to record podcasts for their students, students can use it at home to record their homework and email it to the teacher for an alternative to writing, and speech-language pathologists can use it for articulation, voice, and language feedback. I use it to add audio to my video clips because it is easy to change your voice pitch and speed - so I can be an entire cast of characters from my voice! Do you work with students who are nonverbal and use digitized speech devices? Instead of a teacher's voice coming out of the Step-By-Step, it is easy to use Audacity to change the pitch of the recorded voice to sound like a child. Then, just play the sound clip on the computer and hold down the "record" button of the device to record the message from the computer. Be careful - too much pitch change it you sound like Mickey Mouse! You can also clip portions of music to use for videos, websites, PowerPoint slide shows, and so much more.

Go to http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

AAC for your iPod

The new Prologu02Go software has been released with great reviews! Samuel Sennott,one of the creative minds behind this app for the iPod/iPhone, has several examples of adults and kids using this innovative, inexpensive tool on his website www.alltogetherwecan.com as well as the site www.proloquo2go.com. You can go to the iTunes store to get the app for a reasonable $149.00. The volume of an iPod Touch or iPhone isn't loud enough for communication, so you'll need a small speaker (you can get these for 5-10 dollars at various discount stores. But what a breakthough in technology!

Boardmaker Plus Player Provides Access

I blogged about Boardmaker Plus a few weeks ago....but did you know that the Boardmaker Plus Player gives students access to teacher-created activities at home or on other computer stations at school? At approximatley $125.00, the Player version allows you to open any activity made in Boardmaker Plus and experience the interaction without having to have the complete Boardmaker software (which is about $399.00). So, parents can have the Player at home and open activities e-mailed to them or sent home on a USB drive or go to adaptedlearning.com and find free downloads posted by others. Because you can customize the pictures and text, you can create personalized learning activities with your own photos, video clips, and information. This is a powerful tool that can engage students as well as provide access to the curriculum.

Go to www.mayerjohnson.com for details

WHEE! Wii! We!

Thanks to WHEE! grant from the Buddy Learning Center, highchool students in our self-contained special education program will be using the Wii gaming system to promote fitness, and increase physical as well as social skills. We are excited to be one of 15 schools out of 200 applicants selected to receive this grant! Students with limited physical access to their environmnent are able to play a piano, race a care, bowl or play baseball with a slight gesture when the Wii interactive remote is secured in their hand. Students with Autism often have limited social skills. Use of the Wii interactive games are visually stimulating and promote turn-taking, waiting for turns, sharing, and good sportmanship. We will be collecting data and providing results to the Buddy Project (www.btlc.org). Stay tuned for results of this project over the next school year.

iPods for Learning

You can do a multitude of things with iPods/MP3 players to help students with learning, behavior, and communication disorders. I know students with reading difficulties who download audio books and or their text books to listen to, use software to translate text on the computer into MP3 files to listen to, and record teacher lectures or cues to remind themselves how to complete assignments. You can record calming music and add voice to describe how to handle social situations or anxiety-reduction before tests. Students with more severe behavior disorders watch video clips of themselves completing work tasks or transitioning between activities to help them comply with requests. Others listen to music either for a calming effect or with specially written songs containing words reminding them of activities they need to complete.

One of the most exciting new applications for the iPod Touch or iPhone is an augmentative communication software program called Proloque. This will enable a nonspeaking or minimally verbal adult or child with good use of his/her fingers to recall words and phrases pre-programmed in pictures or words to talk. There has never been such a light weight and socially-acceptable option. For those interested, you can go to http://www.proloquo2go.com/

New Features in Boardmaker Plus!

The new Boardmaker Plus allows educators to make customized computer activities for their students. I have been offering hands-on training to staff in my schools and it is always fun to see faces of teachers when they realize all they can do with this version of Boardmaker. From basic matching and sorting games to reading, writing, and word processing you can really provide access to all kinds of activities for different levels of learning. And, with switch access, students who have limited fine motor skills can use switches to interact with the programs. There are templates for making accessible books, too!

Want to learn how to make your own materials? Go to www.mayer-johnson.com and check out their recorded webinars - watch a demonstration and then try it yourself. Don't have this version? You can download it for free from their site for 30 days. Another great new product is the Boardmaker Player - through the end of March you can get if for FREE if you upgrade to Boardmaker 6 or Plus ($129.00)
The player will enable you to open Boardmaker Plus created activities on a computer without having to have the full version of Boardmaker - so it is a more cost effective option for classrooms and familes.

Little is the new big!

Great things come in small packages. One of the newest computer crazes is the invention of the netbook - mini laptop computers weighing about 2 pounds. I recently got an Acer Aspireone and I love it. It is easy to carry and I can run powerpoint presentations and any application I need. Another model I've recently tested is the 2goPC - it is designed for children and has an even smaller keyboard. It is rugged and seems durable, but the cramped keyboard makes it difficult for larger hands to use. Thes computers do not have built-in CD drives so an external one is required in order to install software (unless you download programs from a website). Costs run from around $300.00 and up for the computers and external drives are about $75.00 and up. Compact flash cards can extend the memory of the computers (beware some models have very limited internal memory).

ATIA - Great Ideas

I just got back from the Assistive Technology Industry Association Annual conference in Orlando - it was great timing, since at home all left behind experienced 10 inches of snow!

One of the coolest things I learned was how to make in interactive "Smart" board for about $50.00! Using a WII remote, LED pen, free download software and your LCD projector connected to your computer, you can have an interactive white board for classroom use. For more information, go to alltogetherwecan.com.