14 July 2016

Stations around the room:

All sorts of great technologies for increasing access for students with disabilities

So, we've gotten pretty comfortable with technologies like P2Go and, of course, the low-tech options we found at the dollar store. Today, we're looking at a variety of different technologies for increased access, including Eye Gaze, Livescribe Pen, and switch access. 

We started by watching a video about the integration of students with special needs into our schools. The different roles of various "team members" (teachers, assistants, therapists, parents,etc) were examined and described -- who does what, who is responsible for which outcomes and how the team works together for student success. The film described how both the students with special needs and the other students benefit from full inclusion: the students without needs become more sensitive and compassionate; the students with special needs learn the skills that, as the film says "their peers take for granted" such as sitting independently and communicating with others. The film focused on the experiences of a variety of students: Michael, an elementary-school boy with Down's syndrome; Todd, a middle-level boy in a wheelchair with a variety of physical challenges; Justin, a high-school student who uses assistive communication technologies to participate in the activities of his classmates; Joy, an early-high-school student who is working on her social skills in preparation for her transition into the local community. The video described the ways in which challenges in the school (such as working a switch to sound a buzzer in gym class) motivate students with special needs to try new things and develop their skills. 

I was struck by the changes in technology, especially communication technologies. I would love to somehow send a P2Go back in time for these students! Joy is very able to communicate,and if she had access to AAC technology she would probably be even more able to communicate with her peers. 

One of the parents described the challenge of "seeing [her son's] friends decide they were too cool" to hang out with a boy in a wheelchair. She said that in elementary school her son had "great friendships", but that his friends drifted away as they got older. I think the first and most important counter to this attitude would be teaching the "regular" students about compassion, sensitivity, and the values of inclusion. This is essential regardless of the potential level of communication-skills of the student with special needs. Second, I think that the better we get at creating and implementing these technologies for AAC, the easier it will be for students with communication disabilities to form strong friendships (though again, students who are not able to communicate even with AAC should not be marginalized or excluded by their peers). 

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Station 7: Three high-impact videos about students with severe disabilities using AT

VIDEO #1. Mason, using technology to write in Braille:

So far, our focus on AAC has been heavily weighted towards the visual (use of images in P2Go, Eye Gaze, etc). I enjoyed seeing a form of assistive tech that did not rely on the student's use of his eyes, but rather allowed a blind student to participate in the regular classroom. This was a strikingly different technology than the ones we have examined so far, and Mason is a student whose needs are very different from those of the other students we have learned about. 

VIDEO #2: Nick Brown, an entrepreneur who owns his own lawn-care business.

Nick uses assistive technology in the form of switch access to signal when he drives his van; his van is operated with a joystick rather than pedals;and his lawnmower is a ride-on type that Nick operates with his hands and arms. We chose this video because it shows someone with special needs being fully independent, and a very successful adult fully participating in his community. Often, I think we see our students with special needs as successful only because they are supported by us in the school community; it's great to see the ways in which someone was able to be successful outside of school. 

Video #3; Elle O'Gorman

Elle is a teenager with cerebral palsy who uses a speech-technology called a Dynavox to help her communicate. We thought it seemed like a cross between P2Go and Eye Gaze. 

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Station 6: Android settings: Accessibility options. In Google Play store, what other apps are there to enhance performance for a user of an Android?

Already on the device:
Add switch access
Add captions
Magnification/zoom
Captions
Large text
High-contrast text
Auto-rotate screen
Speak passwords instead of typing
Touch-and-hold delay
Colour inversion
Colour correction


Accessibility apps and options on Google Play:
1. Mercury Screen Reader (reads icons, news, and other things on screen)
2. Mercury Image viewer (helps you take a picture and zoom in on it )
3. Mercury Page reader
4. Mercury Power Off (turns your device off automatically)
5. Autism AAC Speech 3D Symbols

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Station 5: Alternate keyboard (Chromebook, Extensions, and Apps) -- enhances accessibility

Portability: This key board was fairly portable -- less so than simply carrying a laptop or Chromebook, but not so cumbersome as to make it unworkable.

Accessibility Options: 

Large-mouse cursor

High-contrast mode

Sticky keys (like shortcuts in the phone)

Spoken feedback (ChromeVox)

Screen magnifier

Tap-dragging

Automatically click when mouse pointer stops

Change time of delay before click, for automatic click

On-screen keyboard.

R&W for Google - what can a user do with this extension? Who would benefit?

Text prediction
Hover speech
Dictionary
Picture dictionary
Screenshot reader
Speech maker
Speech input
Translator
Highlighters in various colours

Those are the various things you can do with this extension! These functions would benefit any student with speech, reading, or typing difficulties to better access and create texts.

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Station 4: Eyegaze Demo.

How easy is this technology? Once the device is calibrated,it is easy to use and requires little physical ability on the part of the user.

What are the necessary skills to use this technology? Users must have head-control in order to calibrate the device. 

What team-members are needed to support students in their use of this technology? Teacher, EA, occupational therapist, and Learning Centre staff.

What are the training needs of this team? As long as the staff was familiar with the software and the possible activities, very little training would be needed as the technology is fairly self-explanatory and easy to use. The staff would need to know which technologies were compatible with the tool.

Teachers and other staff would require some support in adapting current curriculum to the possibilities of the Eye Gaze. Collaboration with other teachers and team-members would be useful here.

Ten other activities that could be performed using this technology:

1. Multiple-choice selection for quizzes and tests

2. Text-to-speech technology (such as P2Go) could be manipulated on-screen using Eye Gaze

3. Typing using an on-screen keyboard to form more complicated words and phrases

4. Games/educational activities online or with software loaded on computer

5. "Look to Learn", a software with a variety of educational activities

6. Online research 

7. Painting/colouring books online or with software

8. Watching TV (on the computer/iPad) and changing the channel

9. Playing music games such as Garage Band

10. Giving directions during an activity with peers

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Station 3: iPad and switch access via YouTube

Optimal user: A person with physical disabilities who has difficulty with motor skills. This game teaches holding/letting-go skills, and helps to develop a student's facility with switch technology.

Advantages of offering this on the iPad: It's portable, and iPads are the "cool thing"to use in general and so a user with an iPad would not feel singled out by his or her device.

10 other switch-accessible iPad apps on iTunes App store:
1. Attainment Switch
2. "Dirty Duds" adapted play book
3. Catch the Cow
4. iSpeak button
5. "Hurry Hurry" adapted play book
6. "E-i-e-i-o" adapted play book
7. "Peanut Butter" adapted play book
8. iSpeak Sequences
9. Dexteria Fine Motor Skills
10. Learn Muscles Anatomy Reference
11. Naming Therapy: Word-Finding for Aphasia
12. SmallTalk Aphasia

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Station 2: Onscreen keyboard PC

1. Direct input:

- Who would access this technology?

Students with decent fine-motor skills, as they would be able to choose a key and click on the oversized mouse; however, they would not be able to use the actual computer keyboard to type. The size of the on-screen keyboard can be expanded to make it easier for students to click on individual keys. This would be helpful for students with visual impairments, as well as making it easier for students with motor difficulties.

2. Hover with trackball:

Who would access this technology?

Students with gross-motor skills, because they are able to hover over the appropriate letters, but low fine-motor skills  because they are unable to click with the mouse.

The speed makes a huge difference, depending on the user; you don't want it to be too fast or too slow.

3. Scanning:

- Who would access this technology?

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Station 1: Powerlink and switches

The Powerlink and switches are primarily useful for students with physical and mobility disabilities. The black button is very sensitive and could easily be manipulated by students who have difficulty moving or indicating what they want to touch. There is also a switch that you squeeze (also very sensitive),and a toggle switch that you can tap or wiggle to work. The yellow button is bigger, seems sturdier, and would probably take a higher-impact touch than the others. 

Each of these switches requires different physical and cognitive abilities:

1. Black button: 

2. Yellow button:

3. Squeeze tube:

4. Toggle:

10 other activities a student with disabilities could achieve with these technologies (besides turning on a fan!):

1. Use the button to signal while driving, as Nick did with his lawn-care van

2. Turn on and off computers 

3. Participate in a cooking activity in Family Studies by turning their switches to turn on and               off mixers, blenders, etc.

4. Turn on and off their own iPads; use the switches to control their own AT

5. Use the switches to indicate their wants and needs from a pre-set list

6. Use it to control water flow,in order to water plants or help with cleaning or cooking.

7. Control the speed of an audio book, in order to follow a story individually or when playing an audio story for a class.

8. Use it to control time in a game, for example sounding a buzzer in gym class

9. Participate in play with electronic toys (perhaps video games?)

10. The student with special needs could be in charge of the electric pencil sharpener in the classroom