Adapted Speech Recognition

You never know what tidbits you'll pick up at a conference.  I've evaluated and trained many people on the use of speech recognition as an alternative to typing, including people with speech impairments.  But there's always something new to learn.

Doug Bowes of SET-BC (Vancouver, Canada), presented on training those with speech impairments in the use of Dragon Naturally Speaking.  He spoke about students whose speech is intelligible to other people, but for whom speech recognition software might be difficult to use.  We've always talked to our students about enunciating, taking breaks, making sure they get enough breath support.  But one little tip from Doug was to encourage students to enunciate the ends of words.  This bit of advice can be easier for students to understand and follow, and naturally leads them to avoid combining the end of one word with the beginning of the next.

SET-BC has a great website with lots of AT training resources:  www.SET-BC.org.
Here's a form they use when considering speech recognition for any student:
Speech Recognition Consideration Form

ATIA 2013 Takeaways

I’ve been home a little over a week now from ATIA, and am still on an AT high. I remember feeling this way coming home from summer camp when I was a teenager—happy, inspired, and ready to spread the news of everything I learned. It’s always great to learn about the actual tools, but my biggest takeaway was more about collaboration.
 
I think it is easy to feel very isolated as an AT Specialist. For most of us, we aren’t sitting eating lunch with the other AT Specialists or chatting as we walk to our cars at the end of the day. We have to actually work a little harder to collaborate with others in our field. We are fortunate though that there are tons of awesome people in the Assistive Technology world who like to share their knowledge. At ATIA, I was lucky enough to chat with some of the QIAT leadership team, who are leaders in our field. Although I recognized their names from the QIAT listserv, I had never met them in person. It felt like I was meeting the president! Talk about an inspirational group! From that conversation and others at ATIA, I have come to my biggest takeaway—Take advantage of the resources that are out there in the AT field. I will make time to read all those QIAT listserv emails, read blogs of others in the AT field, and learn from my co-workers, as well as try to be a resource for others. It is give and take. For anyone not already on the QIAT list, it has been a huge support for me and is an easy place to access really knowledgeable people. Although you will get lots of emails each day, it is an invaluable (and free) resource.

Okay, on to the tools. A couple of things from the exhibit hall and sessions that caught my eye:

1. I was very impressed with the Clicker apps--Clicker Docs and Clicker Sentences. They are very similar to Clicker 6—clean interface, simple to use. Clicker Docs is a talking word process with word prediction and word banks. Clicker Sentences helps emerging writers using Clicker grids. Bonus: These apps work with Clicker 6, so activities you created in Clicker 6 will run on the apps, and vice versa.
2.  I have been on a quest to beef up my evaluation skills in the area of reading. I was very happy to learn about PAR (Protocol for Accommodations in Reading) created by Denise DeCoste and Linda Bastiani Wilson in conjunction with Don Johnston. This is an assessment tool that helps an evaluator determine the most appropriate reading accommodations for students, based on data. Bonus: Free download from their website. I’ll definitely be reading through this over the next week or so. http://www.donjohnston.com/products/par/index.html 
3. I also learned a little more about Diigo.com, a website I had heard about but never really explored. Diigo.com is a social bookmarking tool that allows users to collect info on the Internet. You can bookmark web pages, highlight text on a webpage, and create sticky notes, etc. This could be a super useful tool for teachers to find web sites for their students on a specific topic to narrow down the vast information found on the internet. Bonus: It is all on the cloud, so you can access anywhere. 

What a great conference!

ATIA 2013 Conference

Several of our staff members recently returned from the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) conference in Orlando, FL (www.atia.org) . Over the next couple weeks, we will all be sharing our impressions on exciting tools / strategies we learned about. 

Today - Erica Kaufmann, Assistive Technology Specialist, shares her top two takeaways from the conference. 

Integrating AAC, Computer Access and Powered Chairs

Presenter: Karen Kangas

Session Description: Integrating the use of an AAC device, computer access and driving a powered chair for ease of use of each of these devices is critical for real independence by the user in managing themselves within their environments. Too often, an individual has all this equipment yet, requires another adult to give them access to each part. The current programmable electronics available on powered chairs allows integration to occur, which put simply, allows the individual to manage all their equipment independently. However, how the chair is programmed and what interfaces are needed are not always considered or obtained for the user. This session will focus on the equipment needed, the programmability needed and provide case study examples of how to create integration within the individual's own assistive technology. Using alternative access, as well as joystick access will be shared. Teaching and managing the integration will also be shared.

Erica reports: 

Karen Kangas talked about dual switch access.  She said that two switches are always better than one when using switches to control a powered wheelchair and communication device because having one switch causes a delay in access.  She also talked about how no one should stop at doing cause and effect.  There is always another step.

E-Readers in the Classroom

Presenter: Mike Marotta (Thanks Erica - flattery will get you everywhere!)

Session Description: With BYOD, we are seeing more e-reader devices show up in the classroom. Everything from a Kindle to a Nook to an iPad. But how can we use these devices to support instruction? This session will focus on e-readers and how we can use these tools to ignite a passion for learning. We will discuss how to find reading materials to support classroom learning and how to modify existing materials to work on these various devices. Resources will be shared via an interactive web presence.

Erica reports:

Something you talked about was readability.  I felt that this was so great for people who are blind or visually impaired because it gets rid of the "junk" on the page and allows someone who is using a screen reader, like JAWS, to navigate the page with the arrow keys or other reading commands more easily.

To learn more about Readability visit their website - www.readability.com 

Stay tuned for future posts related to our experiences at ATIA!

Wish you had attended the conference? Check out the ATIA Conference Recording Options

According to the ATIA website:

Selected Suite of Conference Sessions Available As Recorded Sessions - $300 Single with 5 and 10 Pack Options --- inclusive of CEUs

Recognizing the need to provide quality, affordable group training without travel and lodging costs, ATIA is offering archived, on demand access to 10 hours of conference proceedings post-event. This suite of the "TOP TEN" sessions* highlighting the breadth of educational content offered during the conference program provides affordable training for a group of educators from your school/agency or a district-wide team purchase, which might include teachers, SLPs, OTs and PTs.  

Professional Development Webinars

Would you like to learn about AT without going to a national conference?

ATIA has just announced their schedule of webinars for the first half of 2012.

Learn for nationally recognized speakers without having to leave home! The schedule includes:

• Assistive Technology & UDL in a Multi-Tiered System of Supports
• Core Vocabulary: Why Use It?
• Family Experiences with Autism and Speech Generating Devices
• and many more!

For more info, click HERE.