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Assistive Technology - In Sharon Public Schools
Does your child use assistive technology (any technology device and/or software) at school or at home?
If yes , we need your help to compile a list of available assistive technology devices and software. We would like to be able to list all available assistive technology in the Sharon Public schools. And we would like to have a list of assistive technology that children use at home.
Why? This may help parents identify what is available to help their child and determine if it would be applicable for their child. So please let us know by selecting the fields below. If the technology device or software that your child uses is not listed then please select the "not listed" option from the list and then type it in the applicable text box. We would also like to know which school the assistive technology is available at and what disability the assistive technology applies to. This information is anonymous - we are not tracking who is using the software but rather what is available. Thank you so much for your help.
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This Don Johntson software is currently fully functional and operating in all the schools per Steve Kaplan at our meeting on 10/14/2010. This software described below may be helpful for students struggling with: physically writing, reading, organization, executive fnction. It is available to all students not just those in special education. CD's are available at each school to take home and load on personal computers.
Per the recommendation of Steve Kaplan and with some of the Stimulus funding, the District has purchased additional assistive technology computer programs. These software programs assist with writing on the computer from start to finish. They also include a read out loud and a write out loud component as well as some core content material and a "draft builder." Staff training will take place on October 7th. These software programs will be available throughout the Sharon public school system. Ask for this technology for your child!
Don Johnston Assistive Technology Software Presentation
Thank you to Steve Kaplan and several teachers for their presentation in the use of the new Don Johnston assistive technology software on Thursday evening, December 3rd.
This software is targeted to be available to all students after the Holiday vacation. There was a problem with the new software working on the school district's network which is being corrected. The software is currently loaded onto to laptops that are in use in the Academic Labs. The software will also be available on cd for students to install it for use on their computer at home.
There are 4 main components to this new version 6 software. These are:
Read:OutLoud
Write:OutLoud
Co:Writer and
Draft:Builder
These components are connected so that any work that your child may do in the Read OutLoud can be merged into the Write OutLoud and/or Draft Builder components.
This software can provide benefits to all students - not just those with special needs. It uses digitized text to help with reading, writing and creation of reports.
The Read OutLoud component allows the student to highlight a sentence, paragraph or section of digitized text such as an article on the web and it highlights each word as it reads each word out loud. Using the dictionary function a student may add definitions and notes to a sticky tab window. This article and the notes can then be merged into the Write OutLoud and/or Draft Builder component.
Using the Write OutLoud component, a student can proceed to write an assignment. With the Co Writer component used in the Write OutLoud component the student can use the software to help them with grammar and spelling. A younger beginning writer or a student who has difficulty physically typing can type numbers representing the words they wish to use in their sentence. This is a much more advanced (and grammatically correct) version of for example what a google search engine does when it completes and suggests words based upon what you have typed. The Co Writer component will only work when there is a word type program open such as WordPad or Word.
The Draft Builder component helps the student to organize an outline and use the notes made in the other components. By clicking and dropping in notes that were created when reading digitized text, this prior work can be directly used in the student's report. This section also contains a bibliographer with sample bibliographic notes so that it does not create the bibliography for the student but shows them the correct notations based upon different types of entries.
There are short video tutorials available for you to view the software in use at the Don Johnston software site www.DonJohnston.com.
To view the tutorials on the Read OutLoud component click here Read OutLoud.
To view the tutorials on the Co Writer component Co Writer.
A few questions were raised during the presentation on Thursday, December 3rd. Here they are:
Q. Does the Word Bank come pre-loaded with words?
A. Yes it does, but each teacher can add words to the existing Word Banks to customize them for their class content and they can also create new Word Banks for specific topics.
Q. Does this software work with foreign languages?
A. This answer is from Mary Ann Wilson, Inbound Inside Sales Don Johnston Incorporated
Our new Version 6 uses Acapella Voice, which is the newest, most natural sounding voice program we could find.
While it is my understanding that if you have another voice engine on your computer in another language you might conceivably have Read:OutLoud read text in that voice, but you would get very stilted syllables (similar to if you just type in letters) and the grammar, syntax and inflection would not be there, either.
Q. Have the teachers been trained on this software?
A. All the special education staff Kindergarten through Grade 12 have been trained. All regular teachers will receive training on the software after the Holiday Vacation (so in the new year 2010).
Q. When will this software be widely available?
A. The target date for the software to be available on the school district network is after the Holiday vacation. There is not a specific date as the software company is working to fix the software glitch which makes it unable to run on the school district network.
Assistive Technology - Other
Here are some resources for assistive technology.
getATstuff - the Assistive Technology Exchange in New England. Here you can look for or list Assistive Technology devices for sale or for free. getATstuff
The Massachusetts Department of Education guide to Assistive Technology MassDOE guideAssistTech and check out other resources for assistive technology listed on the Mass DOE site at MassDOE AssistTech .
Easter Seals. Services are provided at Easter Seals centers in Boston and Worcester, in homes, schools, nursing homes and workplaces. The Assistive Technology Regional Center helps people with disabilities make informed decisions about assistive technology they can use at home, on the job or in school. Increasing access to assistive technology. Easter Seals AT
MassMatch. Massachusetts's Initiative to Maximize Assistive Technology (AT) in Consumer's Hands. Information is provided regarding assistive technology throughout Massachusetts. MassMatch To search their inventory for assistive technology check MassMatch inventory .
