Assistive Technology to Support Writing
A Resource Guide Assembled by Ella Beth Hansing
index
Introduction
Low Tech Supports
Medium Tech Supports
High Tech Supports
Resources & References
How Assistive technology can support writing: AN Introduction
Students with physical disabilities are not the only group that
Writing is an everyday part of life for most people, regardless of your age or
An Introduction
struggle with writing in many different forms. Often, students with cognitive deficits, as well as those with Autism, Dyselxia, or other learning disabilities; will have significant issues with various aspects of the writing process. For those with learning disabilties, or even students with ADHD, the prewriting stage can provide significant challenges with the planning and structure of the assignment, especially regarding time management and organization. To combat this, many computer applications like word processing apps, auto correct, and graphic organzing apps can help to make the connection between ideas and execution (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2016).
occupation. For students, this can also refer to assignments such as essays and book reports, which include even more extensive tasks such as the pre-writing, drafting, editing, revising, and sharing stages of the writing process. Individuals from a wide array of disability catergories often have struggles with writing, whether this be because of physical, cognitive, or even social-emotional deficits (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2016). Thankfully, many everyday devices, such as laptop keyboards, can provide accessibility to some of these individuals and make writing less difficult. However, others require more specialized forms of assistive technology in order to excel in writing.
For students with physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy or muscular
dystrophy, aspects of handwriting such as pencil grip or holding the paper still can provide significant challenges. Things like this can often be easily remedied with low-tech AT devices such as pencil grips, slant boards, or, in more severe cases, handwriting stamps (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2016). Often, these students are also more adept at keyboarding than handwriting, so this is an effective accommodation for them as well. Students with these physical disabilities who have extremely low muscle tone sometimes require more extensive forms of assistive technology, and often these individuals are those who prove good candidates for applications like voice recognition (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2016). Regardless of their ability level, AT can help to combat these challenges and also work to improve writing skills.
Low Tech Devices
To Support Writing
Low tech supports
Pencil Grips & Foam Molds
Paper With Raised/Bold Lines
Slant Boards
Handwriting Stamps
- Another low tech device that can be helpful for students with physical disabilities is a slant board.
- Slant boards can be useful for student in wheelchairs who may have difficulties with properly wirting at a desk.
- Slant boards can also allow better stability for students who struggle with positioning materials when writing.
- Similarly to pencil grips, handwriting stamps can be particularly helpful for students with physical disabilities.
- These stamps can allow students who can not hold a pencil or write at all to be able to complete assignments.
- Pre-made stamps can be purchased with numbers or symbols on them for unassisted math work.
- Custom stamps can also be made to allow students to put their name on their paper or sign documents.
- Adapted paper can provide assistance for students with both visual impairmens and cognitive challenges.
- For students with visual impairments, paper with raised lines can provide a tactile guide that helps them to write with better confidence.
- Bold lined paper can provide the same advtantages to visually impaired students, but can also help those who may have other deficits which make neat handwriting difficult.
- For students with physical disabilities, such as muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy, holding a pencil to write can present challenges.
- Commerically available pencil grips can help some students to get a better grip.
- For others, making a customized foam mold that is fit specifically to their needs may be necessary, and extremely helpful.
- These easily accessible, low-tech adaptations can allow students to more quickly & efficiently complete writing assignments.
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APPLICATION IDEAS FOR LOW TECH SUPPORTS
Handwriting Stamps
Pencil Grips & Foam Molds
Home: 1. At home, a young child with cerebral palsy uses shape and simple symbol stamps to "color" and "draw" with their siblings, despite not yet being able to proeprly grasp markers or crayons. 2. A deaf child who typically uses a Cochlear Implant, likes to take "hearing breaks" at home, but her family does not use sign language. To combat this, her family has made specialized stamps with simple requests for food or activities so that she can still communicate during these "hearing breaks." School: 1. A young student in my Kindergarten class has severe cognitve deficits and has not begun handwritng yet; to begin fostering this skill, I will provide this student with a stamp of his name that he can put on all of his papers. 2. I have a middle school student with Cerebral Palsy who has limited use of their hands, and uses speech-to-text to complete most assignments. However, this student must sign a field trip form, so I will provide them with a name stamp for this purpose. Community: 1. In a Sunday school class at church, a pre-school student with Down syndrome is given shape stamps to allow them to complete the drawing activity with their peers, even though they cannot yet draw shapes independently.2. At the park, a nonverbal child could carry a personal name stamp and small notepad, or have their parent carry this; so that they can introduce themselves to other children at the park.
Home: 1. An 11 year old child with muscular dystrophy uses pencil grips to help her mother make the weekly grocery list. 2. A young girl with Autism has poor handwriting due to improper grip, so her parents made custom foam molds for her dry erase board at home, so she can have an easier time writing and playing games with her sister when using the dry erase board. School: 1. A 1st grade student with Down syndrome is currently trying to foster early writing skills, and is provided with a pencil grip during handwriting lessons. 2. I have a student in my 4th grade class who is missing two fingers her dominant hand, which makes writing difficult. To combat this, I made a custom foam mold that provides her more stability when writing. Community: 1. A middle school student with cerebral palsy particpates in a weekly art class, in which they have custom foam molds to allow them to properly grip the different drawing and painting utensils.2. A young woman with Autism works part-time at a senior center, and occassionally has to help write letters for the residents. Her handwriting can be rather poor, so she typically uses a pencil grip to help make these letters more legible.
Slant Boards
Paper with Raised/Bold Lines
Home: 1. A young girl with a visual imapirment loves to be the scorekeeper when playing card games with her family, so they provided her with customized score cards with raised rows and columns so that she can more easily and efficiently tally the family's points. 2. A young student with a learning disability has a hard time writing messages on the family message board on the fridge, so his parents outfitted a section of the board with raised line paper to help him more accurately write any news or requests he has for the board. School: 1. I have a 1st grade student with a severe visual impairment, so during handwrting lessons they are provided with raised line paper to allow for simpler completion of these assignments. 2. I have a student with a learning disability in my 4th grade English class who struggles with handwriting. For longer writing assignments he is provided with bold lined paper to foster neater handwriting. Community: 1. A young works with Autism participates in a work-focused transition program where she workes as a server, because of her messy handwriting; all of her order books are formatted with bold lines to help her write smaller and more precise.
Home: 1. At home, my 4th grade student with muscular dystrophy has a homework area equipped with a slant board that allows her to work more efficiently as she does in the classroom. 2. A child in 7th grade with dyslexia uses a slant baord when cooking and writing down recipes with her mother to more accurately read the cookbooks and write recipe notes. School: 1. A student with muscular dystrophy uses a slant board with top & bottom clips to provide better control of his paper when writing. 2. In my 8th grade class, I have a student with cerebral palsy whose wheelchair does not allow for her to write comfortably at a desk; so, she is provided with a slant board that attaches to her chair to position her assignments for writing. Community: 1. A high school sophomore with cerebral palsy uses a slant board to help take notes at an ACT workshop he has been attending due to his issues with handwriting and holding the paper. 2. A young adult with muscular dystrophy works part time at a restaurant where she is in charge of taking to-go orders; she uses a slant board that attaches to her wheelchair to avoid discomfort while taking orders over the phone.
2. A young adult with a visual impairment who volunteers with a children's soccer league uses raised line paper with names in Braille to more accurately read names ad mark absences at practices.
Medium Tech Devices
To Support Writing
Medium tech supports
Braille Notetakers
Word Processing Apps
- Word processing apps can be helpful for students with a wide array of challenges, including those with physical disabilities who may struggle with writng; but also students with cognitve deficits or reading struggles as well.
- For students with physical disabilities or poor handwriting, typing assignments in a word processing app such as Word or Docs is much easier, faster, and more legible than writing with a pencil and paper.
- For students who may struggle with spelling or grammatical errors when writing; these apps provide automatic spellchecking and convention suggestions, and Microsoft Word even offers suggestions for better voacubalry or strutcture when using their platform.
- For students who are blind, there are portable notetaking devices that allow notes to be written in either Braille or a traditional keyboard format.
- These devices also consist of a reshreshable Braille display beneath the keyboard, as well as audio output, so students can review their notes.
- These notetakers can be paired with higher tech devices, such as computers or smartphones; but on their own they are a reliable medium tech device that allows for simple and reliable notetaking that would otherwise be time-consuming & difficult.
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Graphic Organizing Apps
- Graphic Organziers have always shown to be effective in helping all students navigate the writing process, but particualrly those with learning disabilites or ADHD who struggle with planning and pre-writing.
- With the rise of technology, grahpic organzing apps such as those by Inspiration Software allows for these students to seamlessly work through these pre-writing stages. Inspiration provides subject specific templates that students can select; picking from options such as lab reports, concept maps, and mind maps. They can then fill out their chosen template with the appropriate information.
- Once the student has completed this step, the Inspiration Software will then easily convert this graphic organizer into a text outline, helping the student move into the next stage of their writing process.
- Though Inspiration is currently the leading tool of this type, there are free alternatives which still offer similar functions.
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APPLICATION IDEAS FOR Medium tech supports
Word Processing Apps
Braille Notetakers
Home:1. A middle student with Dyslexia runs all of her homework assignments through Microsoft Word before submitting them to check for errors. 2. A teacher with Dyslexia uses word processing apps to grammar check all of her lesson plans before putting them to use. School: 1. A young woman in college who has Dyslexia writes all of her essays and notes in Microsoft Word, taking advantage of features like spell-check and the Editor Score to improve her spelling and grammar. 2. A high school student with cerebral palsy has difficulty with the hand control needed for writing, so he uses Google Docs to complete most of his assignments. Community:1. A young woman in a local book club has dyslexia and struggles with writing, so each month she fills out the book review template in Microsoft Word to spelling and grammar check it before posting in to the club's discission board. 2. A young man with ASD uses Microsoft Word to take important notes during his volunteer firefighting classes.
- Home: 1. A Braille notetaker allows for a visually impaired young woman to play card games witb her family, using the keyboard input and and Braille output function to deciper regular playing cards with one family member wothout having to reveal her cards to anyone else.
2. A young girl with a VI is homeschooled and uses her Braille notetaker when joining virutal classes at home.
- School: 1. A college student with a Visual Impairment uses a Braille notetaker to take all of their notes for classes.
2. A high school student with a VI does the morning announcements using the keyboard input function on her Braille notetaker; the school secretary inputs the announcements for her to read back in the Braille output.
- Community: 1. A young woman with a visual impairment has been taking cooking classes, using a Braille notetaker to keep track of measurements and other important information.
A young man with a VI who volunteers with his city council uses a Braille notetaker to take any important notes during meetings.
Graphic Organizing Apps
Home:1. A middle school student with ASD uses graphic organizing apps at home when pre-writing and planning assignments at home. 2. A 4th grade student with dyslexia sturggles with organizing her thoughts, so her and her mother use graphic organzing to make this task more manageable at home. School:1. A high school student with ADHD uses Inspiration software to plan and organize longer writing assignments. 2. A college student with a learning disability is permitted to turn in templates or mind maps for some assignments using graphic organizing apps. Community:1. A young adult with Autism works on the stage crew with their local theater group; they use graphic organzing software to plan and organize required tasks. 2. A high school student with Down syndrome is currently participating in a work-focused transition program working in a cafe. Her supervisor creates task systems with her each day using graphic organzing software, helping her to better understand and keep track of what is expected of her.
High Tech Devices
To Support Writing
HIGH TECH SUPPORTS
Speech Recognition Apps
Symbol Supported Writing
Integrated Writing Apps
iPad with Smart Pen
- Symbol supported writing is a tool that can help students with Autism, Down Syndrome, or other cognitve deficits to achieve early literacy.
- Symbol supported writing technologies like Clicker Connect and other Crick Software allow for students to choose from symbols and pictures in a library that are associated with the appropriate words.
- This software also provides text-to-speech capabilities for both input and output, as well as customizable grids to group symbols and words.
- Speech recognition, or dication apps, allow for students to speak into a microphone, and then the software types what they have spoken for them.
- These capabilities can be very helpful for students who struggle with writing or keyboarding, typically due to physical disabilities.
- Though these apps are extremely useful, proper operation of them requires extensive training, which does make them rather difficult to successfully obtain.
- When implemented correctly, however, these apps can allow for much simpler completion of essay and assignments, especially when used by older students with disabilities.
- Since the rise of iPads and smartpens, these tools have proven extremely useful for students with a wide array of disbailites.
- With these smartpens, students with physical disabilities or other problems that may cause poor handwriting can easily have their writing transformed in real time to a product that is neat & legible. Some smartpens also have recording capabilities, so students can have access to stored audio of their notes as well.
- Specifically in the area of note-taking, iPads with smartpens can also significantly improve organization and quality of note content for students with Dyslexia, ASD, and ADHD.
- Reffered to as integrated writing apps, several tools have been developed that combine the typical capabilities of word processing apps with other features such as text-to-speech and word prediction. Popular integrated writing apps include WriteOnline, ClaroSpeak, & Voice Dream Writer.
- These apps allow for students with learning disabilities to more easily read back what they have written, while also providing spelling and grammar support.
- Platforms like these could be very advtangeous for higher level students who are proficient at using word processing apps, but could benefit from additional support in areas of reading or spelling.
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Application Ideas for high tech supports
Speech Recognition Apps
Integrated Writing Apps
Symbol Supported Writing
iPad with Smart Pen
School: 1. A middle school student with cerebral palsy uses speech recognition software for longer assignments. 2. A young adult with a VI is in college, and uses speech regonition software to complete longer writing assignments such as essay or research studies, as this is the easiest method they have found for this purpose. Home: 1. A high school student with muscular dystrophy uses speech recogniton to complete all of their homework assignments. 2. A young adult with Autism who struggles with handwriting uses speech recogniton apps at home to keep a digital calendar and task tracker. Community: 1. A young adult with muscular dystrophy works as a receptionist and uses speech recognition software for all aspects of this job including patient intake and charting. 2. A young man with cerebral palsy often uses speech recogniton software to make notes and reminders for himself while at work.
School: 1. A middle school student with a learning diasbility has began using integrated writing apps to make her longer writing assignments easier to complete. 2. A college student with dyslexia uses integrated writng apps to more easily take and read back over her notes. Home: 1. A high school student with a learning disability uses integrated writing apps to complete longer homework assignments. 2. A parent of a young child with Autism uses integrated writing apps to make visual schedules for her child to use at home. Community: 1. A young woman with dyslexia who performs in her local theater group, imports her scripts into an integrated writing app to then use the text-to-speech feature to help for easier memorization. 2. A young man with a learning disability volunteers and uses integrated writing apps to help make newsletters and announcements with less stress and fewer errors.
School: 1. In 5th grade, a student with Down Syndrome uses the symbol supported writing software Clicker Connect, pre-programmed by her teacher and paraprofessional, to complete shorter assignments. 2. A 1st grade student with Autism who is currently in the stages of eearly literacy uses symbol supported writing software to practice structuring sentences. Home: 1. At home, a young girl with Autism uses to symbol supprted writing software to help her parents write her own bedtime stories each night. 2. A young student with a learning disability practices sentence structuring at home with their parents using symbol supported writing software. Community: 1. In a Sunday school class, a middle school aged child uses symbol supported writing to help independently complete short worksheets related to the lesson each week. 2. A local library hosts a weekly reading and writing class for adults with intellectual disabilities. During these classes, the particpants often use symbol supported writing software to complete activities.
School: 1. A 10th grade student with dyselxia uses the audio recording feature of her iPad and smart pen to take more timely & efficient notes. 2. In 7th grade, a student with ASD who struggles with handwriting uses his iPad and smart pen to complete assignment while still being able to practice neat penmanship. Home: 1. A high school student with Autism uses her iPad and smart pen at home to create legible planners and task organziers. 2. At home, a middle school student with cerebral palsy uses her iPad and smart pen to complete her homework assignemnts and combat her struggles with handwriting. Community: 1. A young woman with a learning disability uses her iPad and smart pen to record important information during her CPR certififcation classes. 2. A young man with ASD who struggles with handwriting uses his iPad and smart pen to take orders while working at his job at a cafe.
Resources
Included Links
https://www.sensorydirect.com/blog/pencil-grips-what-are-they-and-why-so-many/#:~:text=Pencil%20Grips%20are%20small%2C%20temporary,user%20control%20over%20their%20handwriting. https://www.thestampmaker.com/showcase/teacher-stamps-for-special-education.aspx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hwukg7_vLU https://www.nspt4kids.com/parenting/benefits-of-a-slant-board#:~:text=Promotes%20fine%20and%20visual%20motor,such%20as%20writing%20and%20drawing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5nviwgNUas https://irvingtonparentsforum.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/word_processing__student_writing-r004215628gh546b.pdf https://ldaamerica.org/info/graphic-organizers/#:~:text=Graphic%20organizers%20can%20help%20to,cause%20and%20effect%2C%20and%20more. https://www.ldonline.org/ld-topics/assistive-technology/speech-recognition-learning https://owd.tcnj.edu/~technj/2008/TECH%20NJ%202009/writeonline.htm https://www.cricksoft.com/us/symbol-sets https://cornerpsych.com/advantages-of-an-ipad-over-a-computer-for-students-with-learning-reading-disabilities-and-adhd/
References
Dell, Newton, & Petroff. (2016). Assistive Technology in the
Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities, 3, (insert pg #s)
Assistive Technology for Writing
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Transcript
Assistive Technology to Support Writing
A Resource Guide Assembled by Ella Beth Hansing
index
Introduction
Low Tech Supports
Medium Tech Supports
High Tech Supports
Resources & References
How Assistive technology can support writing: AN Introduction
Students with physical disabilities are not the only group that
Writing is an everyday part of life for most people, regardless of your age or
An Introduction
struggle with writing in many different forms. Often, students with cognitive deficits, as well as those with Autism, Dyselxia, or other learning disabilities; will have significant issues with various aspects of the writing process. For those with learning disabilties, or even students with ADHD, the prewriting stage can provide significant challenges with the planning and structure of the assignment, especially regarding time management and organization. To combat this, many computer applications like word processing apps, auto correct, and graphic organzing apps can help to make the connection between ideas and execution (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2016).
occupation. For students, this can also refer to assignments such as essays and book reports, which include even more extensive tasks such as the pre-writing, drafting, editing, revising, and sharing stages of the writing process. Individuals from a wide array of disability catergories often have struggles with writing, whether this be because of physical, cognitive, or even social-emotional deficits (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2016). Thankfully, many everyday devices, such as laptop keyboards, can provide accessibility to some of these individuals and make writing less difficult. However, others require more specialized forms of assistive technology in order to excel in writing.
For students with physical disabilities, such as cerebral palsy or muscular
dystrophy, aspects of handwriting such as pencil grip or holding the paper still can provide significant challenges. Things like this can often be easily remedied with low-tech AT devices such as pencil grips, slant boards, or, in more severe cases, handwriting stamps (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2016). Often, these students are also more adept at keyboarding than handwriting, so this is an effective accommodation for them as well. Students with these physical disabilities who have extremely low muscle tone sometimes require more extensive forms of assistive technology, and often these individuals are those who prove good candidates for applications like voice recognition (Dell, Newton, & Petroff, 2016). Regardless of their ability level, AT can help to combat these challenges and also work to improve writing skills.
Low Tech Devices
To Support Writing
Low tech supports
Pencil Grips & Foam Molds
Paper With Raised/Bold Lines
Slant Boards
Handwriting Stamps
+ Resource
+ Resource
+ Resource
+ Resource
APPLICATION IDEAS FOR LOW TECH SUPPORTS
Handwriting Stamps
Pencil Grips & Foam Molds
Home: 1. At home, a young child with cerebral palsy uses shape and simple symbol stamps to "color" and "draw" with their siblings, despite not yet being able to proeprly grasp markers or crayons. 2. A deaf child who typically uses a Cochlear Implant, likes to take "hearing breaks" at home, but her family does not use sign language. To combat this, her family has made specialized stamps with simple requests for food or activities so that she can still communicate during these "hearing breaks." School: 1. A young student in my Kindergarten class has severe cognitve deficits and has not begun handwritng yet; to begin fostering this skill, I will provide this student with a stamp of his name that he can put on all of his papers. 2. I have a middle school student with Cerebral Palsy who has limited use of their hands, and uses speech-to-text to complete most assignments. However, this student must sign a field trip form, so I will provide them with a name stamp for this purpose. Community: 1. In a Sunday school class at church, a pre-school student with Down syndrome is given shape stamps to allow them to complete the drawing activity with their peers, even though they cannot yet draw shapes independently.2. At the park, a nonverbal child could carry a personal name stamp and small notepad, or have their parent carry this; so that they can introduce themselves to other children at the park.
Home: 1. An 11 year old child with muscular dystrophy uses pencil grips to help her mother make the weekly grocery list. 2. A young girl with Autism has poor handwriting due to improper grip, so her parents made custom foam molds for her dry erase board at home, so she can have an easier time writing and playing games with her sister when using the dry erase board. School: 1. A 1st grade student with Down syndrome is currently trying to foster early writing skills, and is provided with a pencil grip during handwriting lessons. 2. I have a student in my 4th grade class who is missing two fingers her dominant hand, which makes writing difficult. To combat this, I made a custom foam mold that provides her more stability when writing. Community: 1. A middle school student with cerebral palsy particpates in a weekly art class, in which they have custom foam molds to allow them to properly grip the different drawing and painting utensils.2. A young woman with Autism works part-time at a senior center, and occassionally has to help write letters for the residents. Her handwriting can be rather poor, so she typically uses a pencil grip to help make these letters more legible.
Slant Boards
Paper with Raised/Bold Lines
Home: 1. A young girl with a visual imapirment loves to be the scorekeeper when playing card games with her family, so they provided her with customized score cards with raised rows and columns so that she can more easily and efficiently tally the family's points. 2. A young student with a learning disability has a hard time writing messages on the family message board on the fridge, so his parents outfitted a section of the board with raised line paper to help him more accurately write any news or requests he has for the board. School: 1. I have a 1st grade student with a severe visual impairment, so during handwrting lessons they are provided with raised line paper to allow for simpler completion of these assignments. 2. I have a student with a learning disability in my 4th grade English class who struggles with handwriting. For longer writing assignments he is provided with bold lined paper to foster neater handwriting. Community: 1. A young works with Autism participates in a work-focused transition program where she workes as a server, because of her messy handwriting; all of her order books are formatted with bold lines to help her write smaller and more precise.
Home: 1. At home, my 4th grade student with muscular dystrophy has a homework area equipped with a slant board that allows her to work more efficiently as she does in the classroom. 2. A child in 7th grade with dyslexia uses a slant baord when cooking and writing down recipes with her mother to more accurately read the cookbooks and write recipe notes. School: 1. A student with muscular dystrophy uses a slant board with top & bottom clips to provide better control of his paper when writing. 2. In my 8th grade class, I have a student with cerebral palsy whose wheelchair does not allow for her to write comfortably at a desk; so, she is provided with a slant board that attaches to her chair to position her assignments for writing. Community: 1. A high school sophomore with cerebral palsy uses a slant board to help take notes at an ACT workshop he has been attending due to his issues with handwriting and holding the paper. 2. A young adult with muscular dystrophy works part time at a restaurant where she is in charge of taking to-go orders; she uses a slant board that attaches to her wheelchair to avoid discomfort while taking orders over the phone.
2. A young adult with a visual impairment who volunteers with a children's soccer league uses raised line paper with names in Braille to more accurately read names ad mark absences at practices.
Medium Tech Devices
To Support Writing
Medium tech supports
Braille Notetakers
Word Processing Apps
+ INFO
+ INFO
Graphic Organizing Apps
+ INFO
APPLICATION IDEAS FOR Medium tech supports
Word Processing Apps
Braille Notetakers
Home:1. A middle student with Dyslexia runs all of her homework assignments through Microsoft Word before submitting them to check for errors. 2. A teacher with Dyslexia uses word processing apps to grammar check all of her lesson plans before putting them to use. School: 1. A young woman in college who has Dyslexia writes all of her essays and notes in Microsoft Word, taking advantage of features like spell-check and the Editor Score to improve her spelling and grammar. 2. A high school student with cerebral palsy has difficulty with the hand control needed for writing, so he uses Google Docs to complete most of his assignments. Community:1. A young woman in a local book club has dyslexia and struggles with writing, so each month she fills out the book review template in Microsoft Word to spelling and grammar check it before posting in to the club's discission board. 2. A young man with ASD uses Microsoft Word to take important notes during his volunteer firefighting classes.
- Home: 1. A Braille notetaker allows for a visually impaired young woman to play card games witb her family, using the keyboard input and and Braille output function to deciper regular playing cards with one family member wothout having to reveal her cards to anyone else.
2. A young girl with a VI is homeschooled and uses her Braille notetaker when joining virutal classes at home.- School: 1. A college student with a Visual Impairment uses a Braille notetaker to take all of their notes for classes.
2. A high school student with a VI does the morning announcements using the keyboard input function on her Braille notetaker; the school secretary inputs the announcements for her to read back in the Braille output.- Community: 1. A young woman with a visual impairment has been taking cooking classes, using a Braille notetaker to keep track of measurements and other important information.
A young man with a VI who volunteers with his city council uses a Braille notetaker to take any important notes during meetings.Graphic Organizing Apps
Home:1. A middle school student with ASD uses graphic organizing apps at home when pre-writing and planning assignments at home. 2. A 4th grade student with dyslexia sturggles with organizing her thoughts, so her and her mother use graphic organzing to make this task more manageable at home. School:1. A high school student with ADHD uses Inspiration software to plan and organize longer writing assignments. 2. A college student with a learning disability is permitted to turn in templates or mind maps for some assignments using graphic organizing apps. Community:1. A young adult with Autism works on the stage crew with their local theater group; they use graphic organzing software to plan and organize required tasks. 2. A high school student with Down syndrome is currently participating in a work-focused transition program working in a cafe. Her supervisor creates task systems with her each day using graphic organzing software, helping her to better understand and keep track of what is expected of her.
High Tech Devices
To Support Writing
HIGH TECH SUPPORTS
Speech Recognition Apps
Symbol Supported Writing
Integrated Writing Apps
iPad with Smart Pen
+ INFO
+ INFO
+ INFO
+ INFO
Application Ideas for high tech supports
Speech Recognition Apps
Integrated Writing Apps
Symbol Supported Writing
iPad with Smart Pen
School: 1. A middle school student with cerebral palsy uses speech recognition software for longer assignments. 2. A young adult with a VI is in college, and uses speech regonition software to complete longer writing assignments such as essay or research studies, as this is the easiest method they have found for this purpose. Home: 1. A high school student with muscular dystrophy uses speech recogniton to complete all of their homework assignments. 2. A young adult with Autism who struggles with handwriting uses speech recogniton apps at home to keep a digital calendar and task tracker. Community: 1. A young adult with muscular dystrophy works as a receptionist and uses speech recognition software for all aspects of this job including patient intake and charting. 2. A young man with cerebral palsy often uses speech recogniton software to make notes and reminders for himself while at work.
School: 1. A middle school student with a learning diasbility has began using integrated writing apps to make her longer writing assignments easier to complete. 2. A college student with dyslexia uses integrated writng apps to more easily take and read back over her notes. Home: 1. A high school student with a learning disability uses integrated writing apps to complete longer homework assignments. 2. A parent of a young child with Autism uses integrated writing apps to make visual schedules for her child to use at home. Community: 1. A young woman with dyslexia who performs in her local theater group, imports her scripts into an integrated writing app to then use the text-to-speech feature to help for easier memorization. 2. A young man with a learning disability volunteers and uses integrated writing apps to help make newsletters and announcements with less stress and fewer errors.
School: 1. In 5th grade, a student with Down Syndrome uses the symbol supported writing software Clicker Connect, pre-programmed by her teacher and paraprofessional, to complete shorter assignments. 2. A 1st grade student with Autism who is currently in the stages of eearly literacy uses symbol supported writing software to practice structuring sentences. Home: 1. At home, a young girl with Autism uses to symbol supprted writing software to help her parents write her own bedtime stories each night. 2. A young student with a learning disability practices sentence structuring at home with their parents using symbol supported writing software. Community: 1. In a Sunday school class, a middle school aged child uses symbol supported writing to help independently complete short worksheets related to the lesson each week. 2. A local library hosts a weekly reading and writing class for adults with intellectual disabilities. During these classes, the particpants often use symbol supported writing software to complete activities.
School: 1. A 10th grade student with dyselxia uses the audio recording feature of her iPad and smart pen to take more timely & efficient notes. 2. In 7th grade, a student with ASD who struggles with handwriting uses his iPad and smart pen to complete assignment while still being able to practice neat penmanship. Home: 1. A high school student with Autism uses her iPad and smart pen at home to create legible planners and task organziers. 2. At home, a middle school student with cerebral palsy uses her iPad and smart pen to complete her homework assignemnts and combat her struggles with handwriting. Community: 1. A young woman with a learning disability uses her iPad and smart pen to record important information during her CPR certififcation classes. 2. A young man with ASD who struggles with handwriting uses his iPad and smart pen to take orders while working at his job at a cafe.
Resources
Included Links
https://www.sensorydirect.com/blog/pencil-grips-what-are-they-and-why-so-many/#:~:text=Pencil%20Grips%20are%20small%2C%20temporary,user%20control%20over%20their%20handwriting. https://www.thestampmaker.com/showcase/teacher-stamps-for-special-education.aspx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hwukg7_vLU https://www.nspt4kids.com/parenting/benefits-of-a-slant-board#:~:text=Promotes%20fine%20and%20visual%20motor,such%20as%20writing%20and%20drawing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5nviwgNUas https://irvingtonparentsforum.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/word_processing__student_writing-r004215628gh546b.pdf https://ldaamerica.org/info/graphic-organizers/#:~:text=Graphic%20organizers%20can%20help%20to,cause%20and%20effect%2C%20and%20more. https://www.ldonline.org/ld-topics/assistive-technology/speech-recognition-learning https://owd.tcnj.edu/~technj/2008/TECH%20NJ%202009/writeonline.htm https://www.cricksoft.com/us/symbol-sets https://cornerpsych.com/advantages-of-an-ipad-over-a-computer-for-students-with-learning-reading-disabilities-and-adhd/
References
Dell, Newton, & Petroff. (2016). Assistive Technology in the
Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities, 3, (insert pg #s)