Assistive Technology & Math

Assistive technology and math believe it or not can go hand in hand. A computer can be a useful tool and tutor in providing instruction or repetitive practice for students. Students who cannot use paper and pencil can use various forms of assistive technology to complete math work and lessons. Manipulatives are very common in math classrooms to explore topics, and that can lend itself very nicely to students with disabilities who like to work with tactile objects.

Assistive Technology for Reading

Resource 1: www.bookshare.org

 Bookshare.org is an accessible online library for electronic texts. The membership fees are waived for students in educational facilitates. The students must also qualify for the membership based on the requirements of being orthopedically or visually impaired, or having a reading disability. Students with an IEP or 504 plan with those impairments can also qualify. Some resources are only available to students with an IEP, not a 504, but there is still an abundance of resources for both groups of students. Memberships may be obtained through an organization or an individual. There is minimal paperwork involved that must be faxed in in order to be granted a membership. Once you have a membership you can view great directions on using, reading, and downloading books and other tools. This website is a great resource for students to help with reading. There are many available links to help with tutorials and downloading materials. 

Resource 2: 

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) transforms a picture of text to readable text. If using a scanner, it is a picture of what you scanned and the process by which software goes into a document and changes it. The scanner or software turns the "picture of the letter d" into a letter d in the text document. Most scanners have this feature as part of the scanning process, and some softwares that will also turn non text documents into text documents. This is helpful for students who needs documents read to them. They are able to convert them to text documents and then use text to speech software to have them read aloud. 

Resource 3:

This is an approach to help students with reading difficulty. Having consistent format for internet and other reading materials is helpful for students. By having a consistent format, students can focus more on the material in the reading rather than how the material is presented. Some software provide toolbars that do not change to that students are able to navigate more easily. Consistency is key with working with students with various disabilities. 

Resources: Speech Recognition Software

http://www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm

Dragon Speech Recognition Software

“Dragon speech recognition software is better than ever. Talk and your words appear on the screen. Say commands and your computer obeys. Dragon is 3x faster than typing and it's 99% accurate. Master Dragon right out of the box and start experiencing big productivity gains immediately.”

This product offers a variety of options to purchase. Software available to individuals, businesses, and medical personal. Also, Dragon Speech Recognition Software is also available for PC and Mac. This software is one of the more popular speech recognition softwares and is very user friendly. 

Resources: Text to Speech

http://nextup.com

Home of TextAloud Text to Speech Software

TextAloud 3 is Text to Speech software for the Windows PC that converts your text from documents, webpages, PDF Files and more into natural-sounding speech. You can listen on your PC or create audio files for use on portable audio devices.

Watch this video for an introduction to TextAloud:

http://youtu.be/nzVMECAYRn4

This site/product is great for students who have difficulty expressing verbal skills. They are able to type what they want to say, and it will be read aloud. This site has various products you can buy based on individual needs.

Past Event Cards

Many students with ASD have difficulty relating past events to each other. To help students communicate about their day, past event cards can be used. This way, students will be able to share events from their day with their families. They can also be used in school, as well as other places where communication is desired.

For example, a student may have a past event card that says:

Today I read                                                            ,

and learned about                                                               in school.

Students can also communicate their day by circling things that they did that day on a card before leaving school for the day. This can be something that is attached to their homework book or a journal they may have. It could look like this: 

Today I:

Read a book

Drew a picture

Used the computer or iPad

Worked with a friend

Did a science experiment

Learned about our country

Went to a special: Art, Gym, Library, Music

Made a craft