Assistive Technology to Support

Students with Special Needs

Doreen Engel, MA
Director of Special Education
Archdiocese of Washington
Distributed by the
National Catholic Partnership on Disability
www.ncpd.org

Universal Design

Universal Design is a principle that is

borrowed from architecture.

The idea is to build-in accessibility, so

that as many people as possible can
have access.

Example of Universal Design

Curb cuts allow people

in wheelchairs, people
pushing a wheeling
walker, consumers
pulling a shopping cart,
parents pushing a
stroller, and children
riding tricycles, all to
seamlessly leave the
sidewalk, cross the
street, and return to the
sidewalk. Walkers are
not bothered by the curb
cuts.

In education:

Universal Design means planning ahead

in regard to instruction, curriculum,
materials, classroom layout, etc. so that
children can have seamless or near
seamless access.

Technology is a big part of making

Universal Design a reality.

Purpose of this PowerPoint:

1. Let you know about some possibilities.

There are many good products and
services these are just a few.
However, they give you a basic idea of
price range and function.

Purpose of this PowerPoint

Keep some basic principles in mind:

Portability is key.
Low tech is good.
Always try to arrange for the child/family to
try out items before any purchases are
made.
Try to consider how all students might
benefit, even though for some students the
technology might be essential, and for
others, optional.

Finally,

Parents may be over eager to make

purchases for their child. Slow them down
be sure they have read carefully, and let the
child try out the item for a length of time before
purchasing anything at home.
Ideally, purchases used for school should be
part of the school budget, not something you
ask the parents to pay for.

Quick overview of several types of

supports:
Assistive Listening Devices
Books on CD (RFB&D)
Free on-line software
Build-a-book
Sparktop
TypeIt4ME
Google Docs
Free Natural Reader
Other commercially available products:
Boardmaker Plus (communication)
WordQ (Word prediction software)
Soliloquy Reading (Reading assistant)
Solo (All-in-one product with text-to-speech,
dictation, graphic organizer, and word
prediction)

Books on CD

Available for free from the Library of Congress

www.loc.gov/nls
Available for a fee from Recording for the Blind and
Dyslexic (www.rfbd.org)
You can visit their local office, to try out various
players before recommending them.
Schools or students with financial need can receive
free equipment and free books.
If they dont have a book you need, they will record it.
Books on CD are mailed directly to the school or
home.

Books on CD

Excellent no cost or low cost strategy for many

learners: ELL, learning disabilities, AD/HD
Special CD player is required, but many look like
typical CD players.
Parents may worry the child will never learn to read
using this technique, but the research shows just the
opposite.
Also useful for children who are strong auditory
learners, or children who have a very long commute to
school.
Ideally, let the child try it out at school before asking a
parent to order this.

Assistive Listening Devices

For children with hearing

loss, or occasionally for
children with significant
attention problems.
(When working with a child
with a hearing loss, be
certain the audiologist is
involved in the selection
of the device.)
http://www.asha.org/publ
ic/hearing/treatment/assi
st_tech.htm

Assistive Listening Devices

Cost from $600 upwards.
I am trying to get donations of used
equipment for children who may benefit
from this.

Free On-line Software

Build-a-Book available from CAST.
http://bookbuilder.cast.org/
Universal Design approach allows
children with different
reading/comprehension levels to access
the same book.
Also check out
http://lessonbuilder.cast.org

Sparktop.org
Available from ldonline.org
Game format explains to students that
every brain is different, and that we all
have strengths and weakness. Good
explanations of multiple intelligences,
learning differences, and attention for
children.

TypeIt4ME
Word prediction software for Macs only.
Single user is only $27.00
See
More info at
http://ettoresoftware.com/About%20Type
It4Me.html

Google Docs

FREE
http://www.google.com/
Two people can look at the same document online in real time. They can both edit the
document, and the other person can see the
changes immediately.
This has caught on as a way for parents who
are out of town to be involved in homework.

Free Natural Reader

Natural Reader is a free text to speech
reader. The free option comes with only
one voice. However, it may be a good
way to let a student try out text-tospeech software before making any
purchases.
More info
http://www.naturalreaders.com/

Boardmaker Plus
Creates communication boards for
students with limited communication
ability. http://www.mayerjohnson.com/products/default.aspx
Very useful for students with expressive
language issues, or limited vocabulary.
I found it a bit complicated to use, but
might be worthwhile for a motivated
paraprofessional who is working one-onone with a student.

WordQ
Word prediction software.
Has various levels (k-2) (2-8) and adult.
More info at http://www.wordq.com/
One computer: $211.00.

Unlimited Site License: $1800. Maybe we

have schools who would like to share
this?

Reading Assistant

Students read aloud, and this software

corrects their errors. It provides immediate
feedback on pronunciation, and fluency.
$210 for stand alone (home) elementary
version.
$510 for stand alone (home) secondary
version.
There is a network version call for
pricing.
More info at
http://www.scilearn.com/products/readingassistant/

Excellent newsletter
Family Center on Technology and
Disability.
FTCD offers information for parents and
teachers, free newsletters, funding
sources, etc.
More info at www.fctd.info

MathPad and MathPad Plus

Allows students to use the computer to
work math problems, including fractions
and decimals. Will accommodate
problems up to 6th grade level.
Demo available at
http://www.infouse.com/mathpad_public/
Cost: $80 (five pack = $320)