Dynamic Boards

It was interesting making Dynamic Boards using the Boardmaker program. While it facilitates better communciation, I think using the dynamic boards also develops higher thinking skills as the levels lead them to use categories of information. The skill of making choices is also developed. With better communication, you could see how it would have a snowball effect in developing a feeling of more competency and better self-concept.
I think the ITouch as a dynamic communication board has such exciting possibilities. It is definitely an example of UDL! Thanks for the updates on Ben's use of this technology!

Communication

It is always fascinating to me to analyze a task that we do automatically, without conscious thought, and to realize it's complexity. Breaking it down and then enabling someone who is challenged in that area, to be able to accomplish it is the exciting science of teaching.
Last week's class on communcation was an example of this. It was exciting to see the possibilities that Assistive Technology can provide in enabling individuals with communication challenges to convey their needs, their ideas, feelings and any other information to others., for example, the story of Ben's blossomming through interactions with his peers using the I Phone.

I have been wondering how we can use this very cool tool for the many students who have a challenge in written communication. If we can find a way to clear away some of the hurdles these students face to create written products and share their uniques ideas with others, it would be awesome. I recall one of my students who had received and I Touch phonefor Christmas, and although his written output was almost nil, in a very short time he could text message volumes! Being phonologically challenged, not needing to use vowels, this new written language was ideal! Could he do his written communication on his I Phone to be translated into text which can then be edited? I would like to hear from others how severely ADHD students who cannot do written work or work on the computer without being totally distracted, could use this engaging medium.

The video, "In My Language" by the young women with very involved Autism, changed my paradigm on stimming behaviour from seeing it as a mindless sensory activity to their way of interacting and communicating with their environment. It is a different way of interacting with the environment than I have, but as valid. I think this is a very important video for people to experience . I believe when we see things differently, from another's perspective, our behaviour changes. To truly be an inclusive society, where we embrace differences, care for one another and appreciate the contribution of each individual, we need to share these kinds of communications.

Playing with Choose It!

I was really fun to create the Choose It program, especially knowing the delight Bailey, our recipient, would have playing it and learning from it. It reminded me of preparing Christmas parcels for my neices and nephews, carefully choosing what would be tantalizing, yet educational for the particular child, keeping in mind his or her interests, development and needs and wrapping it up as appealing as possible! It's as delightful for me as it is for the child.
It was neat to see what the other group came up with; you could see the possiblities for many subject areas. I like the idea of using the visual mode to develop phonological awareness. Very creative!

Thanks for the Inspiration!

At last week's class, I appreciated seeing an example of a case study. It gave me encouragement and a springboard for activties to create and try with my student. I know that the recommended technology for the students with learning disabilities that I work with is usually under-utilized. My goal is to be able to share my case study with their teachers and to be able to offer them the support to provide the technology for the students on a more consistent basis.

I really enjoyed the process of creating the learning activities with Choose-It Maker for a student that both Denise and I know. Having her savvy with the technology, awareness of the scope and sequence of learning goals for a child with autism and her personal concern for the child, made it a very enriching experience! Thanks, Denise!

Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009

In class this week, we viewed a tutorial on providing switch access for people with disabilities to accomplish a task that they could not otherwise do. The four criteria for choosing and mounting a switch included consideration of the positon the user is in, his or her movement pattern, the best control site or part of the body to be used to activate it and the type of switch. The focus for the decision was very simple; to enable the user to do whatever he or she needs it for in a way that is easiest to locate and activate.

While this was a technical tutorial, I had strong sense of the nobleness of this work. Its aim was to to empower individuals with disabilities to have control over their environment, to overcome barriers that may be there and to enable them to develop themselves and make a contribution. I believe there is dignity in being able to do things for yourself and being able to use your gifts to make life better for yourself and others.

I am often inspired by people who strive against all odds to accomplish goals and make a difference. The possibilities that switches open up seem endless. The video shows clips of people using various switches for computers, appliances, lights, wheel chairs and other equipment. I think of a student who operated a popcorn popper, or the students who operate a paper shredder. Enabling them to have a meaningful role truly makes them part of a community.

I think it is especially exiciting for very young students with very involved motor or cognitive disabilities. It is not only fun for them to activate a toy or some stimulating equipments such as a fan, it provides them an opportunity to grow as an individual with unique needs, thoughts, desires, and gifts.. They are motivated to put forth the extra-ordinary effort needed to use the switches, developing their abilities, learning cause and effect and the prerequitistes for more advanced applications.

Seeing the video on integration of students with various disabilities demonstrated how important the assistive technology is in facilitating the students involvement and development in the school setting. Students work on therapy goals while participating in regular class activities. Michael joined circle time, while Todd participated in gym with a specialized chair. Justin used a switch to play tapes while the class read and Joy used a communication device. Each of the students benefited from the participation that the assistive technology made possible, but equally important is that the other children learned acceptance, compassion and that each is a valued member of the learning community.

During our last class, we had an opportunity to experiment with different ways of accesssing a key board. First of all, it was an amazing revelation that all those possibilities existed right on my laptop. Who knew what an array of choices existed under "settings"!
We experimented with using a keyboard with a one hand or one finger approach by making an adjustment to the caplock feature which is done just before Upper case is needed.
Then we tried using a method that required manipulation of a single key with a hovering setting if the use of fingers was limited. This was extremely time consuming and challenging. Lastly, we experimented with a method of using a dot placed on our nose to direct the hovering to choose keys.
I had observed several individuals in the past using a key board through a head switch. The experience of accessing the key board in the different ways gave me a great appreciation for the patience, determination and focus that individuals using this technology require.
I am very impressed with the accomplishment of any individual who masters these alternative ways of accessing the technology. I think it is a testament to the ingenuity and determination of the human spirit to find ways to communicate with one another.
I think it would be interesting for students, as a hands on experience of disabiltiy awareness to try some of these approaches to keyboarding!
As our population ages, and there are more people who are affected by strokes or conditions that affect mobilty, I think these ways of keyboarding will increase options and bring hope and new life to users.

The Boardmaker Ordeal

When I attempted to download Boardmaker Plus, the program would not accept my information for the registration. After numerous attempts, I resigned myself to seeing my husband's help. He asked me what the problem was, since I had apparently stopped the download in progress. This was the first indication that this exercise was not going to go well!
After going over the tutorial and then seeing the step by step instruction for creating an interactive book, I sat down enthusiastically. After several hours of clicking and dragging and starting over about twenty times, my husband arrived and once more filled me in on basic information that I was missing. (I needed to use the Select button.) After several more hours struggling to follow the instructions, I understood what my dyslexic students go through spending hours reading a text that a proficient reader can do in twenty minutes. My enthusiasm had waned considerably!
After viewing the product that I had been able to create with my very limited skills, I saw all the flaws and could do nothing more about them. How do I get all my pages in the same place? Where are those linking arrows ? Is this interactive? How do I do the popups? I felt like my dysgraphic students who survey their handwitten work after intensive effort with dismay. I had some problem solving to do.
What my life experience has taught me is that I will eventually be able to do this with satisfaction because I know there are people to support me and I have the inner resources to make it happen. This keeps me from despairing about my lack of technological know how. I realize that it is this that I need to help my students develop more than anything. I need to support their attempts to create meaningful products and learn new skills, encouraging self-assessment, progress monitoring and goal setting, so they too will have the courage to take risks and hang in there when the going is rough. I also realize most of them could teach me a lot about technology!