New Special Education Teacher Webinar Series: Assistive Technology Tools

1. CLU Credit • In order to receive a certificate of participation for today’s webinar (1 CLU credit contingent upon the approval of your employing school system) you will need to type the following information into the chat pod at this time: • First and last name (if you did not specify this when you logged into the webinar) • Parish you are representing • Your complete email address • Your certificate will be emailed to you within 1 week; if you do not receive it, please email Wendy Allen wallen@lsu.edu

2. New Special Education Teacher Webinar Series • Series of 3 webinars • November 19, 2014: Overview of Assistive Technology-view at http://www.laspdg.org/content.cfm?id=313 • December 9, 2014: Assistive Technology Tools for ELA • January 14, 2015: Assistive Technology Tools for Math • 1 hour of CLU credit for each webinar attended live

3. Considerations • This webinar is being recorded and will be available for viewing at www.laspdg.org under Inclusive Practices Webinars 2014-2015 • If you need to ask a question, please use the Chat Pod on your screen (NOTE: everyone can see your question) • You can download all of today’s materials in the FILES 2 Pod on your screen at any time during the presentation • Click on the selected file • Choose “SAVE TO MY COMPUTER” • Select the destination where you would like to save the file

4. Assistive Technology Tools for ELA Hosted by Created by South River AT Center Facilitators Sharon Edwards & Kristie Stapler

5. People First Language “People First Language puts the person before the disability and describes what a person has, not who a person is.” Kathie Snow. (n.d.) A few words about People First Language. Disability is Natural. Retrieved August 1, 2012 from http://www.disabilityisnatural.com/images/PDF/pfl-sh09.pdf

6. Assistive Technology Device • An assistive technology device is any item, piece of equipment, or product system, acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. • Assistive Technology encompasses a broad range of devices from very simple (low tech) to very sophisticated (high tech). (IDEA, 20 U.S.C. Chapter 33, Sect. 1401)

7. Consideration The IEP team shall……. • Consider whether the child requires assistive technology devices and services….. IDEA ’97 300.346 (a)(2)(v) • Consideration should be given for every student with a disability who is eligible for an IEP….. Bulletin 1508

8. SETT Framework • A complex task of gathering information can be simplified using the SETT framework (Zabala, 1994) • SETT stands for: Student Environment Task Tools (Recommendations)

9. Identifying Difficulties • To provide appropriate supports, we must determine the types of difficulties the student is experiencing. • Many students require special education support, accommodations, modifications, and/or assistive technology to be able to make progress in a common core curriculum.

10. Types of Reading Difficulties • Struggling readers often have difficulty in one or more of the following areas: • Phonemic awareness - ability to focus on and manipulate phonemes in spoken words. • Phonics - ability to associate sounds with letters and use these sounds to form words. • Vocabulary - identifying the meanings of words and using those words appropriately within context. • Comprehension - complex cognitive process involving the intentional interaction between reader and text to convey meaning. • Fluency - Fluency is the effortless, automatic ability to read words in connected text.

11. Types of Reading Difficulties • Dyslexia - is characterized by difficulty with learning the components of words and sentences , writing and spelling, spatial directional orientation, differentiating letters that look similar, representation of letters and numbers (reversals), accurate visual and/or auditory feedback, word-by-word oral reading, reading known words, and recognizing words in isolation but not in context.

12. Types of Writing Difficulties • Writing involves the physical ability to produce written language (motor) and the cognitive ability to put the words together to create written expression (composing). • Struggling writers often have difficulty in one or more of the following areas: • Handwriting - Dysgraphia • Writing Process – a process that requires planning, organization, drafting, editing and revising skills. • Conventions Of Writing – Spelling, punctuation, grammar

13. Types of Writing Difficulties • Dysgraphia - a difficulty in acquiring adequate handwriting skills characterized by: • Inability to execute effectively the motor movements required to write or to copy written letters or forms • Inability to transfer the input of visual information to the output of fine motor movement • Limitations in other visual-motor functions and activities requiring motor or spatial judgments • Difficulty writing numbers, aligning them properly, and understanding concepts related to space, distance, and time

14. Assistive Technology Tools • Assistive technology devices for reading & writing includes a range of tools ranging from easy to complex and inexpensive to expensive that are used to support all aspects of reading and writing strategies. • Assistive technology can be used to: • Remediate deficits • Compensate for deficits

15. Remediation of Deficit Areas • Strategies and skill based instruction are needed to improve deficits areas. Assistive technology can play a role in remediating skills. • For example, for a deficit in handwriting, use of an adapted writing utensil may be beneficial for students who have difficulty securing and maintaining a steady grasp on a standard pen or pencil, can assist the student with improving his handwriting. • AT use can help remediate deficits while skills are improving.

16. Compensation of Deficit Areas • Generally, assistive technology serves to compensate for deficit areas by enhancing access to and success in completing instructional tasks which require students to read, write and comprehend instructional materials. • Compensation provides supports always because the student would not be able to perform the task without the support. • For example, using a text to speech program to compensate for deficits in decoding, word recognition, and vocabulary. It will not directly remediate difficulties.

17. The AT Continuum Low-tech Pencil grips Adapted paper Adapted utensils Slant boards Tracking aids Contrast aids Mid-tech Word processor Talking electronic dictionary Digital recorder Magnification aids High-tech Adapted Computer Text-to-speech Voice Recognition Word Prediction

18. LOW TECH TOOLS Clipboards Page Ups PortaBook Slant Board Positioning Aids Allows for optimal positioning of text • Clipboards and binder clips • Page-Up (Onion Mountain Technology) • Teacher-made slant boards with 3-ring binders • Port-a-Book Stand (Onion Mountain Technology) • Slant Boards (Pocketful of Therapy)

19. LOW TECH TOOLS Reading Filters Bar Magnifier ReportCovers HighlighterTape Tracking Aids Enables students with visual tracking difficulties to maintain their place in the text • Bar magnifier (Independent Living Aids) • Colored reading filters (Onion Mountain Technology) Contrast Aids • Alters the foreground-background contrast to promote visual access to text • Highlighters • Highlighting Tape (Onion Mountain Technology) • Acetate Report Covers • Colored Reading Filters (Onion Mountain Technology)

20. LOW TECH TOOLS Clipboards Page Ups PortaBook Slant Board Adapted Utensils Adapted writing utensils are used to promote an appropriate grip for writing. These may be beneficial for students who have difficulty securing and maintaining a steady grasp on a standard pen or pencil. • Adapted Pens/Pencils (Onion Mountain, Sammons Preston) • Pencil Grips (Onion Mountain, Sammons Preston)

21. LOW TECH TOOLS Clipboards Page Ups PortaBook Slant Board Adapted Paper Adapted writing paper help students improve their legibility, writing size and keep their writing on the baseline. • Raised Lined Paper • Bold Lined Paper • Bright Lined Paper • Smart Start Story Paper (Onion Mountain, Sammons Preston)

22. Create Your Own Adapted Paper • Handwriting Worksheets http://www.handwritingworksheets.com • Do2Learn http://www.do2learn.com/disabilities/FASDtoolbox/education_resources/resource_center/classroom_tools.htm • Printable Paperhttp://www.printablepaper.net/category/specialty

23. LOW - HIGH TECH TOOLS Pocket Magnifiers Handheld Magnifiers Handheld Magnifier Closed Circuit TV Magnification Aids Allows for controlled enlargement of text to magnification level needed • Bar, page, pocket and stand magnifiers (Maxi-Aids, Independent Living Aids) • Handheld Magnifiers (Enhanced Vision) • Closed Circuit Television Systems (Enhanced Vision)

24. MID – HIGH TECH TOOLS Pocket Magnifiers Handheld Magnifiers Handheld Magnifier Closed Circuit TV Recorders Recorders may be used to record lectures and notes, to dictate written compositions or test answers. Students may use this type of technology solution in several ways to support writing and note-taking skills. • Digital Recorders (Office supply stores) • Handi-Cassette II (American Printing House for the Blind) • Pulse SmartPen (LiveScribe) • iPod/iPhone/iPad(Apple/iTunes)

25. MID – HIGH TECH TOOLS Pocket Magnifiers Handheld Magnifiers Handheld Magnifier Closed Circuit TV Portable Word Processors Stand alone word processors that are small in size, easy to use, portable and durable. Can have text-to-speech and word prediction. • Forte (Writer Learning) • Fusion (Writer Learning) • iPad(Evernote, Notability, etc.)

26. HIGH TECH TOOLS SymWriter Write:Outloud WriteOnline The Talking Word Processor Talking Word Processors Speaks selected text by letter, word, sentence, or paragraph with optional simultaneous highlighting. Text may be created in the application, imported from another source, or scanned. • Write:OutLoud (Don Johnston) • Write Online (Crick Software) • Word Talk (CALL Scotland) • iPad (WritingBuddy, iReadWrite)

27. HIGH TECH TOOLS SymWriter Clicker PixWriter Boardmaker Talking Graphic Word Processors Supplements printed text with picture symbols for beginning readers • SymWriter(Widgit) • Clicker(Crick Software) • PixWriter(Slater Software) • Boardmaker(Mayer Johnson) • iPad (Symbol Support)

28. HIGH TECH TOOLS SymWriter Clicker PixWriter Boardmaker Word Prediction A word prediction program provides assistance to students who have difficulty writing by predicting the target word as the student types in the first letter or letters of the word. Word prediction programs provide rate enhancement for students who are slow typists due to physical disabilities or due to inexperience with typing as it reduces the number of keystrokes needed for each word. • Word Q (Quill) • Co:Writer(Don Johnston) • iPad(Co:Writer; Predictable; Abilipad)

29. HIGH TECH TOOLS Solo Kurzweil Wynn Read & Write Gold Advanced Reading Aids Provides auditory reading support as well as visual enhancement features. May offer OCR, study aids and writing supports. • SOLO (Don Johnston) • Read & Write Gold (Text Help) • Kurzweil 3000 (Cambium Learning) • WYNN (Freedom Scientific)

30. HIGH TECH TOOLS Solo Kurzweil Wynn Read & Write Gold Voice Recognition Voice recognition software converts spoken words into written text. • Built in speech recognition (Mac / PC) • SpeakQ (Quill) • Dragon Naturally Speaking (Nuance) • iPad (Dragon)

31. HIGH TECH TOOLS Natural Reader ReadPlease WordTalk Universal Reader E-Readers Digital files can be read with: • ReadPlease (ReadPlease - Free) • Natural Reader(NaturalSoft – Free) • Read and Write for Google (Text Help - Free) • iPad (Voice Dream, Read2Go, ClaroPDF/Speak)

32. Video

33. Determining The Optimal Tool(s) • Student abilities and needs • Required tasks / job • Available supports

34. Benefits of AT • Productivity • Independence • Achievement

35. Things to Remember • Technology is no substitute for good instruction • Technology should be used in conjunction with other available supports • Technology used should be monitored and changes made as needed

36. Louisiana Assistive Technology Initiative (LATI) Louisiana Assistive Technology Initiative Regional Centers provide the following FREE services. • Professional Development - LATI provides in-depth training on specific areas of AT are designed for newcomers as well as experienced professionals looking to expand their perspective of AT.  • AT Assessment Assistance - LATI assists the school systems’ staff in conducting AT assessments through job-embedded coaching and training. • Consultations - LATI provides consultative services to address AT issues on individual students or address general classroom AT needs. • Technical Assistance - LATI provides technical assistance to school systems to address difficulties with AT devices, hardware, and software.  • Short-Term Equipment Loans - LATI provides a FREE short-term loan program to assist school systems in conducting AT assessments and/or recommending assistive technology for students.

37. 611 North Burnside Avenue Gonzales, LA 70737 (225) 391-7278 or 7279 www.lati3.com Hours of Operation: 7:30 – 3:00 M-F South River AT Center Sharon Edwards sharon.edwards@apsb.org Kristie Stapler kristie.stapler@apsb.org

38. Building Capacity • When you leave today, what will you do with this information? • How will you share it with others in your district? • When will you share it? (Timeline)

39. To learn more about the Louisiana State Personnel Development Grant, visit www.laspdg.org Access to free resources, webinars, and other valuable information

40. REMINDER: CLU Credit • If you have not already done so….. • In order to receive a certificate of participation for today’s webinar (1 CLU credit contingent upon the approval of your employing school system) you will need to type the following information into the chat pod at this time: • First and last name (if you did not specify this when you logged into the webinar) • Parish you are representing • Your complete email address • Your certificate will be emailed to you within 1 week; if you do not receive it, please email Wendy Allen wallen@lsu.edu

41. Join us for the last webinar of the series! • January 14, 2015: Assistive Technology Tools for Math • 1 hour of CLU credit for each webinar attended live

42. Questions & Answers

43. We Want Your Feedback! • We are going to open the survey on your screen for you to offer feedback regarding this webinar • If you have pop up blockers enabled, it may not show on your screen, so you can go to the link directly at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NewSPED2ELA12-9-14 www.laspdg.org The contents of this PowerPoint presentation were developed under a grant from the US Department of Education, #H323A110003. However those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.