April 11

April 11

In the News
Autism & Emotion: Michael's Journey To Find His Voice (PDF): http://bridges4kidsnewsdigest.c.topica.com/maadRLlabjunNcfskSIbafpLKt/
"Dear Michaels mom...I love you so much...you are the best mother ever. Love Michael" - Those words are from the only letter that my son has ever written to me. Through the use of an old typewriter at the Community Respite Center, my son found his voice. Before that time, he had never expressed emotion in such a candid way.

Bills' aim: discounted PCs for kids: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14313081.htm
"Students could get a break on the cost of a computer and Internet service under bills being proposed by two state lawmakers."

Educators take serious look at video gaming: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstoryts.cfm?Articleid=5965

PDA systems make chemistry vivid in middle schools: http://www.localsource.com/articles/2006/03/30/west_orange_chronicle/news/local/doc442ae7cb540c4407030883.txt

National Center for Education Statistics: http://nces.ed.gov/
NCES is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data that are related to education in the United States. You can easily search for public and private schools in your area and learn all about them, find college information online, and locate public libraries.

The Northwest Alliance for Access to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (AccessSTEM): Activities and Resources: http://easi.cc/archive/axstem/index.htm
This web conference is only accessible using Internet Explorer.

Repeat After Us - Your online library and language lab: http://www.repeatafterus.com/index.php
"Created by a high school student, RepeatAfterUs is an award-winning online library with the best collection of copyright-free English texts and scripted recordings. Our free audio clips provide an excellent resource for students and literature lovers of all ages."

Technology helps teach reading skills: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6260&page=1
"Software can aid in addressing what ACT calls a 'serious problem'
Substantial experience reading complex texts in high school is a key indicator of college success, according to a new report from the not-for-profit ACT. The report calls on schools to incorporate the reading of more complex texts to boost students' reading skills--a challenge that some schools already are meeting with the help of technology."

Technology Matters: A Conversation with Bart Pisha and Skip Stahl of CAST: http://www.ld.org/newsltr/1004newsltr/1004feature1.cfm
In this interview, Dr. Pisha and Mr. Stahl discuss their work at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), including Thinking Reader, a new program they are developing to help teach reading to both struggling and mainstream students.

Teen Reads.com: http://www.teenreads.com/index.asp
Includes book reviews, author features and interviews, book clubs and reading guides, and of course plenty of opportunities for teens to recommend their favorite books. Searchable.

Wireless technology adds efficiency to math class: http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051108/ITK/511080332/1016

Lesson Plan sites
Foundation for Water and Energy Education (FWEE): http://fwee.org/
The Foundation for Water and Energy Education (FWEE) is committed to providing balanced information regarding the use of water as a renewable energy resource in the Northwest United States. This site provides a variety of informational resources. There is an online "tour" of a hydroelectric project, Time Line of Electricity and Hydroelectricity, and downloadable Curriculum Units.

The NTeQ Lesson Plan: http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~z06gkd/NTeQproj.html

Teaching with Documents (NARA): http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/teaching_with_documents.html
Teaching with Documents is part of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Digital Classroom. The Lesson Plans include reproducible copies of primary documents, teaching activities correlated to the National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government, and cross-curricular connections.

Understanding Disabilities
Are dyslexia and wealth linked? Study finds individuals with dyslexia more likely to be millionaires: http://www.ldonline.org/article.php?max=20&id=159&loc=48
The Tulip Financial Group conducted a study that found that many self-made millionaires have learning disabilities. This study included a self-report section, which showed that the majority of the 5,000 self-made millionaires in Britain struggled in school. The study also included a more comprehensive look at 300 millionaires, 40% of whom had been previously diagnosed as dyslexic.

First Person Essays: http://www.ldonline.org/article.php?id=0&loc=11&special_grouping=0&max=20
"First Person offers personal essays on first-hand experiences with the challenges of learning disabilities. Essays authored by teachers, parents and students offer advice and insight to living with learning disabilities."

Guide to Wheelchairs and Assistive Technology: USA TechGuide: http://www.usatechguide.org/
"A Web Guide to wheelchair and assistive technology choices, wheelchair views and reviews, and related information and articles. Promoting user involvement in the selection of appropriate assistive technology."

Reexamining Rowley: A New Focus in Special Education Law: http://www.harborhouselaw.com/articles/rowley.reexamine.johnson.htm
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires public schools to provide a Free, Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to students with disabilities. Exactly what FAPE means or requires is an elusive topic.

Assistive Technology
Kurdzweil: http://www.kurzweiledu.com
There is a flash demonstration of this reader, which is meant for struggling readers also.

ArcLink.org: www.arclink.org

Awesome Talkster: http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Awesome_Talking_Library.html#loadversion2
This a free download and "reads" in many languages.

BookCourier: http://www.bookcourier.com/
" Designed for the visually-impaired or those with disabilities that make reading difficult, BookCourier is a portable, convenient, and economical tool for listening to electronic text, digital files, and music."

Book Port: http://www.aph.org/products/bp_bro.html
"Book PortTM is a flexible book reading device that consists of a small, portable unit with a keypad and earbuds, plus accompanying software. It features both text-to-speech capabilities and digital audio support. This means you may read electronic files (with synthetic speech) or digital recorded books (with human speech)."

Braille Note: http://www.sforh.com/blindness/braille.html
A PDA device that also allows user to read electonic books with their fingers.

Campus IT Accessibility and Web accessibility Evaluation: http://easi.cc/evaluate.htm
EASI: Equal Access to Software & Information Quick Adaptive Technology Diagnostic Test. You can enter a URL and/or scroll down the page to answer questions about a site.

CAST: http://www.cast.org/
"is a not-for-profit organization that uses technology to expand opportunities for all people, especially those with disabilities."

"The Center on Human Policy (CHP): http://soeweb.syr.edu/thechp/ is a Syracuse University based policy, research, and advocacy organization involved in the national movement to insure the rights of people with disabilities. Since its founding, the Center has been involved in the study and promotion of open settings (inclusive community opportunities) for people with disabilities.

Cornerstones: http://pbskids.org/lions/cornerstones/
Site PBS Kids site offers literacy units for young children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information): http://www.rit.edu/~easi/index.htm
This site offers "Online Training on Accessible Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities."

Family Village: http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/index.htmlx

Free Trials: http://www.premier-programming.com/download/free_trials.htm

The Future of Technology That Enhances Opportunities for the Blind: http://www.afb.org/JVIB/jvib971012.asp
In a column written for the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, furturist Ray Kurzweil predicts: "We will have reading machines within a few years that are not just sitting on a desk, but are tiny devices you put in your pocket. We encounter text everywhere, and these pocket-sized reading machines will enable a blind person to read this material." By 2010, he suggests, the gadgets will be tiny enough to pin on shirt lapels.

How Do People With Disabilities Surf The Web? http://easi.cc/workshops/smplbfwd.htm#part2
This site includes videos of onscreen keyboards, mice, and screen magnification. It includes a link to Bobby, the best-known web ccessibility evaluation tool.

International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet: http://www.icdri.org/

Jordy: http://www.enhancedvision.com/jordy.php
This is a sophisticated piece of technology that views the world through a comcorder lens, then enhances and displays the images on two tiny screen in front ot the wearer's eyes.

Links to Other Disability Resources: http://thechp.syr.edu/disres.htm#family

Math Pad: http://www.infouse.com/mathpad_public/
Math Pad enables students to do math scratch work on the computer. It also helps students who cannot
otherwise line up the math problems (because of perceptual issues) do it on the computer. Students with mild physical issues use Math Pad as a way to help conceptualize borrowing and carrying. The fact that it can be seen on the computer(with the highlighting functions for where to regroup) helps.
Math Pad can also be used as a teacher tool. Type in the math problems and then print them out as an accessible worksheet. For some students that has been helpful, especially for visually impaired students. The workshee can be type out and then enlarged on the photcopier.
Math Pad Plus is the fractions and decimals program.
With this version, Word problems can be typed and they will be read aloud. It also enables higher level math to be done on the computer. It enables fraction manipulatives to be used on the comptuer. This is helpful for kids who cannot do that with real manipulatives.

The Media Access Group at WGBH: http://main.wgbh.org/wgbh/access/access.html
This newsletter contains information about television programs, videos and films that are accessible to people who are blind or have low vision via a service (from Boston/US-based public broadcaster WGBH) called Descriptive Video Service, or DVS. Efforts to make visual media more enjoyable to those with limited or no vision have been underway for more than a decade at WGBH. Through the service, carefully written description of key visual elements, including settings, facial expressions, body language and costumes, are inserted into natural pauses in the
program's audio track.

National Federation of the Blind Newsline: http://www.nfb.org/newsline1.htm
This is a free telephone service that lets a user search through and hear articles from the Wall Street Journal and 89 other publications.

National Institute for People with Disabilities: http://www.yai.org/

Play Attention: http://www.playattention.com/main.php
This is a device, worn on the head, that looks like a bicycle helmet with sensors inside.
The website says: It's a patented technology that is similar to that used by NASA astronauts and U.S. Air Force pilots to stay attentive in the cockpit. A new product called the Play Attention Learning System is using similar space-age technology that can now be used on home/school computers to help minimize attention, concentration and focus challenges in children and adults.

Quality Mall: http://www.qualitymall.org/main/

Speegle: http://speegle.co.uk/
Speegle is a search engine that not only displays results as text but also reads the results aloud in male or female voices.

Television Captioning: Approved/Disapproved Programs
http://www.nad.org/openhouse/action/alerts/captioningcensorship/list.html
The US Department of Education recently restricted its support for closed captioning. These alphabetical lists tell you which programs the hearing-impaired will and will not have captioned access to. Among the deletions: NFL Films, Law and Order, The Simpsons, Bewitched.

UNI: Inclusion - Successful Stategies and Assistive Technologies - Special Needs/ESL Learners in the Regular Classroom: http://www.uni.edu/profdev/inclusion/web/links.htm

Universal Access: http://etc.usf.edu/uaccess/uaccess.html
a web site which provides a list of web sites devoted to assistive technology

VisTech Adaptive Technology: http://www.rvib.org.au/vistech/
This company specializes in adaptive technology for the blind and visually impaired.

WGBH, Boston's public broadcaster has developed two systems for making movie theaters accessible to people with sensory disabilities. Rear Window Captioning and DVS Theatrical, collectively referred to as the Motion Picture Access (or MoPix) system, make feature films accessible to patrons with hearing or vision loss the day and date of their general release in theaters that have been equipped. The beauty of the systems is that folks can go to movies at their leisure, as each showing of a captioned and described film is available as long as the movie plays in an equipped theater. The captions and descriptions are delivered only to those patrons using the equipment, and do not impact the general audience.
More info can be found on where these systems are located, and what films are currently playing and will be playing with captioning and description at the MoPix Web site: www.mopix.org. There is never an additional charge to use the systems, simply the price of the movie ticket (and however much you spend at the concession stand!)
To be added to a e-mail list to which weekly updates on movie access news, locations, showtimes and coming soon attractions are available, please send an e-mail to mary_watkins@wgbh.org. All e-mail addresses are kept confidential, and the MoPix Update from WGBH list is not used for any other use but to alert folks to the movie access info at hand.
Over 150 films have been released with access features since the first MoPix system was installed in a Los Angeles area theater at the end of 1997. MoPix systems are also installed at Disney theme parks, at selected IMAX theaters, at attractions at Busch Gardens and SeaWorld, and across 4 provinces in Canada at Famous Players theaters.

What are C.A.T.S.?: http://www.charitiesfortheblind.org/index.php?event=link,310

Examples of Assistive Technology Devices
Synthetic voice, digital audio, or Brailee for people who are blind.

Screen magnification and large text fonts for people with diminished vision or dyslexia.

Descriptive text, captioning, and visual cues for people who are deaf or people who have hearing disabilities.

Specialized adaptartions for people who have physical disabilities involving the use of a keyboard, voice recognition mechanism, mouse, or other input device that requires a part of their body other than their hands and fingers to control a Web browser.

Screen magnifier--Usually a software application that increases the size of text or images on a computer screen. Special monitors and other types of hardware adaptations can be used to project larger images as well.

Refreshable Braille display is a hardware device that reads, translates, and subsequently renders electronic information from a computer interface to Braille.

Screen readers and voice browsers--Software applications combined with a synthetic voice that reads computer data back to users who are blind, or users who are more successful at auditory learning than reading due to a learning disability. This includes all screen objects (for example, windows and icons).

Synthetic speech--Combined with a screen reader application or browser.

Screen recognition--A software application combined with a speech input device (usually a separate or built-in microphone) that enables a blind user or a user with a physical disability to speak or issue commands that the speech recognition recognizes and then acts upon. Speech recognition can also be used for creating and annotating existing material.

Differentiated Learning
Click Clack Moo: http://pbskids.org/lions/cornerstones/click/
This teaching unit for Click, Clack, Moo is specially designed for teachers of students who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Full Inclusion: One Reason for Opposition: http://my.execpc.com/~presswis/inclus.html
Full inclusion is a philosophical movement based upon the notion that all students, regardless of the level or type of disability, should be educated entirely in the same general education classrooms as their same-age peers.

Getting Started With Differentiation: http://www.middleweb.com/MWLISTCONT/MSLamyandrick.html

This site began in March 1998 and was created by Janet Luch. This page was last updated on January 19, 2007 .
Email to studyplans@yahoo.com.