Addicted to my iPod

Hello, My name is Beth Waite and I have an iPod Touch Addiction. I spend hours on iTunes looking for apps that will meet needs of students with disabilities - and there are so many amazing ones out there! My new favorite is called "Look2Learn" and it is simple communication app for a nonspeaking person. Priced under $25.00, it allows you to load your own symbols and photos representing desired activities and record your own voice. What is so great about this app is that is simple and straightforward - perfect for beginning communicators. Don't forget, with an iPad or iPod Touch you need an external mic - I found a great mic cord on Amazon that plugs into the ear buds you get with your iPod so that you have a mic and earphones all in one - for about $8.00!

You can come to my next iPod University workshop August 3rd for more tips and tricks for using ipod touch, iphone, ipad as assistive technology for people with disabilities.

I wanna iPad!

They call geeks who stay up hours before a product comes out, waiting in the rain and crowds, just to be among the first to get their hands on a new tech gadget "early adopters". I'm a middle adopter - I usually wait until those early adopters figure out the bugs, write indepth reviews and posts, then a revised version comes out, and I grab that one. With Apple, its a given that even the first run item is golden. I want to see how the iPad looks with augmentative communication apps - see how our students with special needs can access the larger screen. Every day, I'm hearing amazing stories about students of all abilities using iPod apps for communication, learning, and more. The demand for this kind of training continues to be out there - as evidenced by the great response to my two upcoming iPod trainings later this month. Someone needs to make a big enclosed speaker case for the iPad to protect it and increase the volume. Just the other day I got two more of these cases for 15 bucks for the iPod Touch.

It's too late to be an early adopter....but maybe I'll speed up my usual techno pace and grab the next iPad I see.

All In A Day's Work

As an Assistive Technology Coordinator for 5 school corporations, I get around. Recently when I stopped to look back at the end of a school day I realized that I had:

*been in 5 different schools
*worked with 8 different students/teachers using speech generating devices
*watched as a student with severe physical disabilities seemed to really get how to use auditory and visual scanning on his communication system
*witnessed a student with severe behavior and communication challenges due to Autism use an iPod Touch for the first time to play games.

We all have busy days. When I looked back at the end of this day, I didn't stop and think about how busy I'd been or how tired I was: as corny as it sounds, I thought about how lucky I am to be able to see the progress that these students are making with their communcation. Though their challenges are great - at the end of the day -these kids are kids who want to play and learn and grow. Thankfully, we have the technology,interventions, dedicated teachers, therapists and parents to make it possible.

Teach Language With AAC

I have several young students who are learning to communicate using speech generating devices. Some of these students are using devices from Prentke-Romich. The icon symbols called Minspeak are used to represent multi-meaning words and phrases. I've used Minspeak symbols since the late 1980's when I had my first AAC student who was 4 and used a Touchtalker. Back then kids, before computers, we had to cut, copy, and paste icons on paper or notecards to make teaching materials. Today, PRC has a great link on their website called AAC Language Lab - it has tons and tons of ready to go materials to teach Unity, the language organization method used in PRC devices. I've found this a great time saver and amazing tool for teachers. Even if you aren't working with students using Minspeak icons, there are still great reasources for language development and teaching communication skills. Check out the stages of language development that can guide parents, teachers, and clinicians in how to introduce concepts.

Go to www.prentrom.com to see this and more!