New Blog Address!

Hey Tek-ninjas!   When I originally began playing with the idea of writing a blog I had no idea I would become so engaged with the process. Consequently, when I came up with the address I did not really give it any thought.

Some of my readers have asked me what the heck does "Shinobijimbo" mean?  If you've read my bio, you know that I practice martial arts. Ninjutus to be specific, which is the artform of the Ninja.  A shinobi or a ninja was a covert agent in feudal Japan who specialized in unorthodox warfare.  Assistive Technology (AT) is sometimes thought of as an unorthodox way of approaching education, and the best AT blends in so well, as to almost be covert.  Jimbo is a name some of my childhood friends gave me. Hence, shinobijimbo.

It seems though, with increased readers (yay!) that the name is an obstacle. I can never just say the address to an individual without spelling it out several times.  It's not catchy to say the least!  And having "blogspot" in the middle is not ideal. So, I bit the bullet and bought a domain name. You may have noticed it up top! You are now reading Tek-ninja, at www.tek-ninja.org!

Don't worry, if you've saved the site as www.shinobijimbo.blogspot.com, it will still come to the site, and then it will change the address.

Thanks for reading!

Scene Speak: Talking pictures deliver communication!

Stock picture

The folks at Good Karma Applications (GKA) have made a host of really terrific applications including "First Then Visual Scheduler, and "Visual Schedule Planner".  Their latest app, at least the latest to come into my radar is "Scene Speak". My fellow Assistive Team member, Ashley Robinson brought it to my attention.  Ashley is often a guest blogger on Tech Ninja, and a Speech Therapist, so it may come as no surprise that this app addresses communication.

According to the folks at GKA,

"Scene Speak is versatile customizable app that provides a framework on the iPad to create interactive visual scene displays and social stories. Scene Speak allows an image to be edited with active “hotspots”. A hotspot is an area of the screen that can “sound areas” that can be selected and used as a means of communication. An image can have multiple “hotspots” that can be edited to add sound, text labels or link to another visual scene. In addition, images with text can be then can be added into “books” by theme or area of interest."

Hotspot on Slide

Adding Auditory and text

This app reminds me in some ways of Pictello, (an app that has quickly swept educational settings for students with Autism, TBI, and Learning Disabilities) but with a few nuances that differentiate the two.   Pictello is designed to create mutiple pages within a story or collection. Scene Speak creates a page at a time. The user can group them together though to make a story or collection. Also, Scene Speak allows the user to create mutiple hotspots that provide visual or auditory messages.  Both apps allow the user to take a photo, use a photo from the ipad library, or from the internet.  One significant difference is that Scene Speak sells for $9.99, roughly half Pictello's $18.99.

To the right is an example of one of the picture scenes provided, but it is just as easy to take an "in-app-photo" of your park or other setting and utilize that photo.

In Play Mode

I imagine using this app for a number of purposes including, preparing a student to transition to a new or unfamiliar place. I can see a care giver taking a picture of a new classroom, and creating hotspot in the picture, for example identifying where the student sits, where their backpack might go, and where/who the teacher and TA are.  I also think this would be a terrific vehicle to tell social stories, such as going to the cafeteria, or media center.  As an Occupational Therapist I can envision using it with manipulative to teach spatial concepts such as over, under, behind, left, and right.

I'd be curious to hear from others how you have utilized Scene Speak in your work.

Happy Therapy!

Tell Me Something Good!

One of my most significant "take aways" from the WATI (Wisconsin Assistive Technology Institute) conference I recently attended was an introduction to the iPad and Android app Avaz for Autism.  

According to the company, Avaz is "a research-based AAC app, specially developed for children with autism. Avaz was designed in collaboration with hundreds of experts: parents, speech therapists and children."  

I would add that Avaz could work well for any user struggling with communication and needing an alternative voice.
This review will look at the iPad version, as I have little to no experience with the Android OS.

Let me begin by saying how pleased I was with the intuitive layout, and ease of use. Avaz is ready to work and play immediately.  

When you first open up the app you are presented with very simple tutorials that are more than sufficient to get you started using the app.  Or you can by-pass the tutorials and plunge right in. 

Avaz for Autism very easily alternates from a keyboard to picture symbols. There is a word prediction bar that works well with the keyboard, and the keyboard can be QWERTY or ABC.

If the user has a common phrase, tapping the "Save" key on the bottom left makes it readily available anytime with the tapping of the "Load" key.

Also of interest is the "Alert" key on the bottom right which makes a doorbell sound to alert folks that the user has something to say.  That is a simple feature, yet so fantastic!

Picture symbols come in folders. The user can very quickly and easily create new picture cards and new folders. Simply tapping on the "Edit"  pencil icon on the top bar. It will turn red when in edit mode. Symbols and folders can easily be copied, moved, and deleted.

It is easy to begin a message with a picture symbol, and then navigate to the keyboard to type a word or two, and then navigate back to the symbols. When your sentence is constructed, just tap the word bar up top, and the sentence will be read in a crisp and clear voice.

I spent the better part of yesterday not using my vocal-voice, but rather Avaz to communicate with folks, learning as I went.  I was able to walk around my building and create 5 icons of co-workers and place them in a folder named "Staff" effortlessly. I then proceeded to taunt, and banter with those lucky staff members with Avaz, thus proving how quick it was to learn!

Another really nice and seemingly simple feature is the ability to send one's message straight to your Facebook, Twitter, or email account.  On the left, note the message in the top left corner. That was easily sent straight from Avaz! 

Other customizable options include the ability to change the number of pictures per screen, change font size, change contrast, color coding, and auto-home.  

In addition there is a built in "Backup & Restore" function which links to a DropBox account.  Just one more reason to get a free DropBox account if you don't have one already! 

I also really love that there are both adult and child US accented voices, adult male and female British voices, and an Indian female accent, for a total of seven different voices. 

So, if you are looking for AAC apps, Avaz for Autism may be just what you need. Currently it is on sale for $79.99 on iTunes, and it is $99.99 on Google Play.  These prices may feel a bit steep compared to other apps, but that's apples to oranges, compare it to some other AAC apps, and it is almost half the price of other popular products.  Or, compare it to dedicated AAC devices with integrated software (some of which sell for $9,000+) and it is a relative steal. 

Avaz for Autism is one of the most aesthetically pleasing, intuitive to learn, customizable and effective apps I've seen for our special needs population ever. 

Happy Therapy!

How Many Steps?

Recently, Ruth Morgan of Chapel Hill Snippets sent me the following image with the statement:

"I used to think it would be hard to be an Occupational Therapy... And then I saw this step-by-step".

This made me laugh. Ed Emberly would be appalled! It's a very funny image, especially when I think about it in the context of Occupational Therapy. Obviously, so many steps are necessary in between #1 and #2, and for many folks, that is where the mystery lies.  My sister, Emily Keenum who is a contributor to the blog Acorn Dreams, noted that she often feels this way in life when faced with how to be a good parent, wife, employee, etc. It seems obvious that she is of course, excellent at all of those things!

Yesterday, I attended a Conference called "Strategy Sleuths: Detecting Communication/AT Needs for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders", with Shelly Weingarten and Jill Gierach from WATI (Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative).  Our AT Team has utilized a lot of their tools as they make them available online and encourage teams using them. 

One topic they touched on, which resonated with my colleague and I, was the issue of follow through/delivery. We want to make certain that when we deliver technology, staff/students/parents don't view the AT intervention as analogous to the cartoon above. Our team, like many, work from a consultative approach. We rely on the teachers, and related service people to provide the direct service.  The take home message for me is that what may be obvious to me or my colleague, may not be so to the users. It is better to err on the side of too many steps in my step-by-step directions! 

I used to have a couple of co-workers who were proudly Teflon-like to learning technology.  They agreed to be my "subjects" when I made step-by-step directions. We knew that if they could understand the directions, anyone would. My problem now, is that they are no longer so Teflon-like!

When sending technology out to a user, it is crucial that sufficient training is put in place.  in addition, be certain the team identifies who will do what in the process, and how success/progress will be measured. This insures buy-in from all participants.

Happy Therapy!

Tactilize: Sharing Your Brilliance!

Lately I've been really enjoying the app Tactilize.  According to its creators "Tactilize is the world's first iPad Self-Publishing App and Content Network. Tactilize aims to give the publishing house keys to anyone with a creative interest. We simply want to transform every iPad user into their own publisher."

And indeed, they have accomplished all of the aforementioned! And, it's FREE.  Using the app, one can quickly create a "card" with a background image, text boxes, multiple imbedded pictures, links to other web pages, and thumbnail pictures. Tactilize cards can be viewed on your iPad, or on any browser. And, much to my delight, I found after emailing the help desk (they responded the same day) that it is easy to edit a published card online, and then re-publish the card. 

From an educational point of view, it is a remarkable tool for students to create an online modern "book report", or any other report/paper for that matter. The end result looks great, and can be shared via email, or sent to a variety of social media sites.

I have been using it to share my various digital art pieces, many of which I don't share on my website of "Fine Art".  This is not a due to a discounting of digital art on my part, but rather, the difficulty inherent in updating my website is preventative, while publishing a Tactilize card is virtually effortless.  I think I'm actually generating more traffic on Tactilize than on my personal website! Makes one consider...

From within the app, browsing is a breeze. You can peruse the "featured cards", or look at categories. You can also choose to follow specific people, and see whenever they publish a new card. 

Another aspect that is interesting, is that a number of the cards are written in different languages, suggesting that Tactilize is utilized around the world.
Potentially this could be a good way to help students brush up on their Spanish, French, etc. 

Periodically the creators publish a card designed as a tutorial such as this one, to enhance your use of the app. These tutorials are often quite helpful.

Here are a couple,of my favorite cards... 


The Solar System:

Designed on Tactilize (view online)

The Bully Project:

Designed on Tactilize (view online)

Because my son is a dj and rapper, I love this one:

Designed on Tactilize (view online)

And of course, I'd be remiss not to include one of my cards...

Designed on Tactilize (view online)

Share Your Creations!

Injini makes another great app: Write My Name

Developed by experts and endorsed by parents and teachers, Write My Name by Injini is a fun way for children to practice writing letters, words, names and phrases.

Write My Name supports children ages 4 through 6 to learn how to write their name, trace uppercase and lowercase letters, and write over 100 familiar sight/Dolch words.

Write My Name meets some of the basic reading and writing Common Core State Standards for kindergarten such as the introduction and mastery of print and word recognition concepts.

In addition, while Injini doesn't make this claim, letter formation appears to follow the Handwriting Without Tears motor patterns.

At only $3.99 this is a terrific purchase, and should be on every Occupational Therapist's iDevice!

Write My Name allows children to choose from three activities.  Below is the opening splash page.

Splash Page

The page below is the "My Name Tags" page. From here, writers learn to write their name or others, perhaps teachers, parents, siblings, etc.

Customize many Names and Photos to write

 Clicking "Edit" in the top right of the page above brings up the page below. From here it is easy to add a photo, record a name, and enter the text.  Hit confirm, and you have a new name tag.

Creating Names is Easy

The student can then trace with their finger or a stylus, each letter of the name. When complete, the voice recording plays, reinforcing the name.

Animated arrow and stars facilitate writing!

The Alphabet offer upper and lower case letters

 Once the student chooses a letter from the page above, they are provided a template to trace as pictured below.  When completed, a word with the letter appears and is read aloud. For example: Swan.

Animated arrow and stars facilitate writing! 

Similar to tracing names and letters, Word Cards provide over 100 familiar sight/Dolch words.

Word cards offer whole words to trace

One of over 100 word cards for students to practice with.

Word Card

Happy Therapy!

April is Occupational Therapy Month

Written, Directed, & Produced
by
Rosie Higgins & Sylvie Rousseau

Shot & Edited
by
Chad Foster


The University of British Columbia
Department of Occupational Science
and
Occupational Therapy

Here in the US take a look at the American Occupational Therapy Association

Happy Therapy!