Hey Tek-Ninjas! So I'm on a roll reviewing the Smarty-Ears Apps. Let me say that I get no moolah for sharing these apps with you, I've simply been very impressed by them.
Today I am blogging about Custom Boards, an iPhone and/or iPad app which serves as a board and activity creator. Custom Boards retails for $49.99. This may seem like a lot for "an app", but take a look at the competition and you will see their prices are at least double if not more.
Some of our students require symbol support in order to experience success with transitions, jobs, ADL's, etc. Software can be very expensive, and tied to a computer. Custom Boards provides a great option to get around those issues.
Rather than retell the features, I've simply pulled this from the creator's website. It is impressive:
• includes over 125 templates from within 6 categories
• includes over 10,000 built-in Smarty Symbols
• Choose from a total of 100 floating shapes and 7 different styles of shapes
• Ability to add images from Google search engine
• Ability to add Floating Images—place an image anywhere on the template!
• Ability to add Floating Shapes—place any of the 100 built in shapes anywhere!
• Ability to add Floating Texts— place text anywhere on the template!
• Layers — select individual floating images, text, and shapes and move them forward/back
• Add multiple pages to a template
• Lock the screen to use a static image on the iPad itself in an activity without accidentally editing it.
• Ability to lock the screen so that the iPad surface itself can be used for an activity.
• Share editable files with other Custom Boards users
• Email PDFs of your custom boards creations to anyone
• Quickly print your creations with an air ready printer
• Cloud Compatible — backup your files via the cloud
• Organize your archive of creations with folders
Also, here is a video introduction with REALLY REALLY peppy music.
The built in introduction tutorial is really well done, and helps a first-time user get up to speed.
If you are in the market for "board-making" software, Custom Boards is definitely worth a look!
Hey Tek-Ninjas! Our district has been wrestling with a dilemma. We are planning on replacing all all laptops at the Elementary level. That is roughly 10 schools. We replaced the Middle school laptops last year. It is expensive.
On top of the significant cost, this change has unplanned ripple effects. Modern laptops seem to all be dropping CD drives. Remember 12+ years ago when Apple got rid of the floppy drive? Then PC's followed suit? We all kicked and screamed 'cause our software wouldn't work. Well, here we go again. Apple started phasing out CD drives a few years ago, and now PC's seem to following along.
Our district has approximately 100 copies of "THE DOMINANT SYMBOL SOFTWARE" (TDSS) out there, which was purchased with Stimulus funding back in 2000. It still works fine, but won't on the new laptops (or not without a major process/headache per each device), especially as we are changing OS platforms at some schools.
Our staff who use TDSS really rely on it. But, upgrading TDSS for the new computers would cost over $12,000 PER YEAR!
Home Screen
So, it was out of necessity that I started shopping around again for symbol software, but this time more earnestly.
Enter Pogo Boards. Pogo Boards is an online, subscription model which is easy to use, and provides access to millions of images through an integrated Google search, thousands of unique, custom symbols with SymbolStix and the PiCS symbol set.
Pogo Boards arguably has the most robust symbol library available in one place.
There is a free 14 day trial to get a feel for PogoBoards, and I encourage users to sign up and use it with a student or classroom in mind, not just to tinker around. This process will facilitate you actually learning how to use it.
iPhone
The PogoBoards website offers several "how-to-videos" to help you in your learning curve.
As a user, if you are at all familiar with Microsoft Word, the interface will be intuitive. It looks similar.
The bottom line though, is the price is down-right affordable. My subscription for the same group of folks on the TDSS will be roughly $2,500 annually. Thates a significant savings.
Users can make their boards on a Mac at work, then when they get home, feasibly log into a home PC or Linux computer and access the same work. Cross platform is huge.
In addition, boards made online can be downloaded to the free app on your iPad or iPhone.
And finally, sharing of materials within a school or district is simple.
Change from a preferred tool is often challenging. My hope for our district is that this won't be too painful. I will keep you all posted!
Hey Tek-Ninjas! Many of you are already familiar with the built in features of the iDevices (iPhones, iPads, and iTouches). But just in case you haven't seen the latest bells and whistles, I want to direct you to Apple's very helpful page. This "stuff" is amazing, and all part of your iDevice! These devices offer great supports for folks with issues around vision, hearing, motor skills, and learning and literacy. Make sure you are maximizing your technology's potential. Hajime!
Hey Tek-Ninjas! So today, my 14 year old son posted the following message on his Facebook account:
PSA to all friends with iPhones who updated to the latest OS - go into your settings, select "Cellular", scroll to the very bottom of the menu and switch off the "Wifi Assist" feature. Apple has sneakily added this to iOS 9. It automatically uses cellular data when wifi connection is poor, even when connected to your network.
Here is a picture map of what you are looking for
I love that my Apple Fanboy continues to teach me about the products which I so enjoy using!
Hey Tek-Ninjas! Here is a quick tip that my 13 year old shared with me.
If you have Yosemite operating system on your Mac, AND the iOS8 or newer on your iPad, iTouch, or iPhone, you can share what ever is on your iPad screen to your computer, even recording your work if you choose.
Tek-Ninjas, if you are like me, you were excited by the Guided Access feature on your iDevice, when it came out a few years ago. Well, with the new operating system, OS8, there are some improvements, which make the feature even better! To start with, the adult can now set a timer for how long the app will run. The interface is incredibly simple. Within the timer function, the user can designate what the time bell sounds like, and also have a warning voice let the student know when the time is almost up. This can help tremendously with transitions. The timer function can be used to help students know how long they "must" participate in a given app, or how long they "get" to play a game. Pretty cool, huh?! Happy therapy!
I have always been impressed by both Microsoft and Apple's attention to how folks with Visual Impairments might access their operating systems. Both companies have historically offered tools embedded in their software, at no additional cost. Granted the quality has varied from year to year. Often, because they are in the business of selling operating systems, and not accessibility equipment, finding information about these features is not as easy as one might like.
Recently, my brillant colleague and VI teacher, here in the schools sent me a link to AppleVis, showing "what's new and changed for blind and low vision users in i0S7.1. AppleVis is a community-based web site that is managed by a small number of volunteers. They are NOT Apple. I was impressed by the work Apple continues to do, and frankly how big can the market share be for them? This is good work, with minimal financial gain. (okay, I will quit hero-worshipping Apple for a few minutes). According to AppleVis, there are 6 new Accessibility features in i0S7.1, including 3 contrast settings rather than one, allowing users to choose an option that best supports their vision. One other feature is the ability to enable Bold Text for icons, text on i0S labels, keyboard, and the calculator. For the other four, visit their page, 'cause I don't want to steal all their thunder. The page also lists the 25 improvements that have been made to pre-existing features including significant changes to VoiceOver functions. In addition, the site offers up 13 bugs still found in the system. Love that they are willing to share the successes, as well as what still needs to be worked on. It's comforting to find that an issue your having is not just yours alone. Finally, I found the comments from other readers to be very edifying, and as useful as the official info. There are some smart users out there! Intrigued by the wealth of info, I wanted to look a bit closer at who AppleVis is. This is pulled from their site:
A community-powered website for blind and low-vision users of Apple's range of Mac computers, the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. AppleVis is a rich resource that strives to empower the community by
offering multiple pathways to access and share relevant and useful
information. As a community, we seek to encourage and support people in
exploring the many ways in which these mainstream products and related
applications can offer opportunities to the vision-impaired for personal
enrichment, independence and empowerment. AppleVis also offers resources and mechanisms for raising awareness
of the accessibility of Apple products and related applications, and for
promoting further advancement in accessibility.
Membership is free. They do however welcome donations, as they are volunteer run, with no sponsorship. The site has several pages to explore apps, a forum for users to share ideas, a well maintained blog, Podcasts (tech oriented), Guides, and App Deals are listed, and finally Accessory Reviews. WOW! I am blown away by the thoroughness of their work. If you or someone you know has visual impairments, this site seems like a necessity! Happy Therapy!
So, if your like me, you use Facebook. A lot. Maybe with students, maybe for personal use. For me, it's a "love-hate" relationship. Facebook is constantly changing and often for the better, but sometimes, not.
Touch Facebook
One "improvement" is making videos automatically load while your scrolling on your mobile device. This is fine if your on wifi, or have unlimited data. But if not, you may notice your mobile bill going through the roof as your data consumption drastically increases.
Auto-Play
So, this is fixable, at least on an iDevice. Go into your Settings. Then touch your Facebook. Within Facebook choose Settings right under the Facebook icon. Once in Settings, turn on "Auto-play on WiFi only". This process will help you keep you or your kid's phone bills a bit more manageable.
This tip came to me from my buddy and head wrestling coach, DeWitt Driscoll. He's officially a junior Tek-Ninja now! Speaking of wrestling, my posts have been sporadic at best lately, as my wrestling team is competing a lot, and dominating in the process! Great fun, but cutting into my writing time. Just a few more weeks, and the season will end, and I will resume blogging more regularly. I assume the other platforms (Droid, Mobile Windows) offer a similar feature. If any readers can comment on this, other readers would likely appreciate that. Happy therapy!
Hey Tek-Ninjas! A few blogs ago I wrote about the new software iBook Author from Apple that allows one to write and publish books on iBook to be downloaded and read on Macs, or iDevices. Well, shortly after that, I submitted a manuscript written by my nephew Niky, and illustrated by yours truly.
Today Elephant Sighting, was approved and released to 51 countries!
Elephant Sighting can be downloaded here. My next step in this project, is to make a few editorial changes, and see how long the changes take to go into effect. I'll post when that is complete.
In the meantime, please, rush out and download the free copy of Elephant Sighting. Who knows, in a few months Niky and I may decide to sell it rather than give it away.
Years ago, I asked a Don Jonston sales rep when the company would put forth a word prediction for the iPad. He said "never", indicating that iPads did not have enough muscle to do true word prediction. Well, since then iPads have become far more powerful, and Don Johnston made a Co-Writer app.
For those few of you who don't know about Co-Writer, it is the industry standard for word prediction, a go-to tool for Occupational Therapists working with students who are confounded by the writing process. It has been available for Macs and PCs since before I started working as an therapist 14+ years ago.
Flexspell at work
The Co-Writer app retails for just under $18.00. While this is a bit more than some of the other tools out there, the power of the app is worth it.
Word Prediction
The very powerful Flexspell, and Topic Dictionary features really separate this app from its competition. Flexspell is Don Johnston's phonetic or inventive spelling feature that deciphers the most creative spelling. The Topic Dictionary really shines as well, especially the ability to create a quick topic by adding the word, and it essentially "scrapes" the internet to create a word bank.
Word Bank sizes
Another terrific feature is the ability to set the level of the dictionary for each user, based on the size vocabulary they might be using.this function alone is missing from most of Co-Writer's competition.
The word prediction works just like I'd expect from Don Johnston: very well. Word choices are offered above the keyboard. Swiping an offered word to the right, I can hear it read aloud before I choose it.
The Co-Writer app is very simple, intuitive, and powerful. Once again, Don Johnston has set the industry standard for word prediction. Now it's available on your iPad!
Did you know: within Settings if you go to iTunes and Apps Store you can now turn on Automatic Updates and app updates download and install automatically.
Tek-Ninjas, I have long been an advocate of making books with students. Whether to reinforce Social Skills for students with Autism, to create a step-by-step set of directions for a task or job, or to support the writing process. Over the years I have used PowerPoint, Comic Life, and Pictello just to name a few software and app titles. I still am a fan of many of these titles, and find them appropriate for different tasks.
Recently, a new tool has entered the mix that may replace many of these other tools. iBook Author is an intuitive piece of software which allows users to simply create a e-book, using text, photos, video, sound, and widgets. These features alone duplicate many of the tools already available. The end product can be read on your computer, iTouch, iPhone, or iPad.
What separates iBook Author from the rest, is that you can share your book on Apple's iBooks, for free, or actually sell it.
iBook Author is free, and available here. To create your book, there are several templates to choose from. Much of your creation can happen by literally dragging and dropping pics or video where you want, and typing text boxes where you wish. Apple's Widgets add multi-touch possibilities to your book as well, including swipe-friendly photo galleries, animations, pop-over widgets, and 3d objects. Also of significance is the built in accessibility features including voice over technology.
When your ready to publish your book, iBooks Author will hold your hand in walking you through the process. If you don't actually want to publish on iBooks, but you do want to share a book with one or a few specific people, you can export the book and then Air Drop it, Drop Box it, or email it.
A few months ago my nephew Niky wrote a short story. Over the course of a month or two I created illustrations for his story with his direction. Using iBook Author we are publishing it on iBooks. Currently it is available here. As soon as it is available on iBooks Store, I will link it here.
Hey Tek-Ninjas, a number of apps have offered IOS printing... But until now, I haven't found one that works easily for me. iDevices will even print to specific printers. But I have not purchased any of these printers, as the ones I have are in good shape. Recently, I stumbled upon Print by Eurosmartz. Print does just what it says it will, quickly and easily printing photos, contacts, and web-pages from my iDevice. The app retails for $1.99, and the downloadable "WePrint" add-on for your computer is free. Print works on Apple and Android devices. The computer software works on Macs or PCs. Downloading and installing the computer software is simple, then open and follow the directions. In moments, you can pick from any printer that is already installed on your computer. According to the app writers, WePrint allows the user to print from a mobile phone even when away from the printer location, so the print-job will be waiting for you upon return.Simple, affordable, and you don't have to be a technological wizard to set it up! Well done Eurosmartz! Happy therapy!
Hey Tek-Ninjas, I think I have a new favorite app! Again.
Typ-O HD is delivering what software writers said was impossible just a few years ago. Word prediction, including phonetic spelling for iDevices.
The interface is elegant and very simple to use. Begin typing and word choices appear in a box. Touch the mega-phone icon and the word is read aloud. Touch the word and it inserts at the cursor.
Touch the "Settings" icon on the top right of the bar, and tailor your app based on your spelling profile, choose a male or female voice, sync to your Dropbox account, or alter the decor.
If you need more adaptations, go to Settings for your iPad and make additional changes there. You can alter the pitch of the voice as well as the reading speed. You can also filter profanity, font size, and choose vocabulary size.
The folks at SecondGuess apps boast for this app they have collected and analyzed roughly 100,000,00 words of text. That is astonishing, and probably one reasons the app works so well.
When your done writing you can choose from multiple ways to share your document. Options include Apple's new Airdrop, or sending via a Message or email. In addition, you can post straight to Twitter or Facebook. This last function really demonstrates the app writer's understanding of how to resonate with young writers! I also found that I could simply copy and paste text into other apps if I wanted, such as Comic Life. Another feature that takes advantage of the iPad is the ability to change font size by pinching or "un-pinching" the text. Really neat quick way to adjust sizing. In addition to offering really powerful word prediction, the app integrates voice dictation that works as well as anything else out there. The app sells for $14.99, which for an app may seem step at first glance. But, consider that most other word prediction software with phonetic spelling rarely sells for less than several hundred dollars, and does not run on iDevices, Typ-O HD is a bargain! One last thought... The folks at SecondGuess offer a $4.99 version of Typ-O also, and the difference is that the less expensive version has a lower quality voice. This may not seem that significant, but the quality voice is really remarkably good, and as you likely know digital voices can be difficult to listen to, especially for our youngsters on the spectrum. Happy therapy!
Tek-Ninjas, it should come as no surprise to you that my youngest son is an avid Apple user. Fanatical even. He and I have been engaging in debate about the pros and cons of the new IOS7. Ben has some good insights, and so I asked him if he wanted to guest-blog. He was excited, and I have learned some useful tips. I hope this is as useful for you as it was for me. Ben is twelve years old, and currently in the seventh grade.
IOS7 Highlights, by Ben Tignor
Siri and Tools, swipe up to access
IOS7 is obviously a complete visual overhaul of the operating system, from the new lock screen, to the nice parallax effect in the background, but unfortunately, some users believe that the new look is all the update has to offer. While the animations and the sounds are nice, and the update for Siri is interesting (yet somewhat unnecessary), there are a few things that people have overlooked, so I have compiled a small list of changes that I believe are significant improvements.
New Tab System
Safari- In IOS6, when browsing, I was strictly a Chrome user, as opposed to in IOS7, where I enjoy Safari very much. Chrome for IOS6 was cleaner, and I liked to have my Google tools immediately available when I signed in. I had tried other browsers including Puffin, but none were as good as Chrome. In IOS7, first of all, Safari looks great! It has a new sleek, light design, and honestly, I would prefer a wood grain design to that weird faux-metal gradient thing they had going on before. It has a new tab system, which is similar to the multitasking of the rest of the OS. When you're on a page you want to read, as you scroll into the content, the menu shrinks, revealing more of the webpage for easier access. Like the rest of IOS7, Safari has been overhauled, and I deleted Chrome minutes after the update. Camera/Photos- Following the success of photo editing/sharing apps like Instagram/PhotoStudio, Apple has changed up the camera to fit the new style. While I am not crazy about how it looks, as Apple went for a darker design that most of the OS does not share, the new features are very useful, and I have found myself using other photo editors less and less. The classics are still there with a few tweaks. Video is more or less the same, but the classic photo system has two big improvements: Burst, and an increased shutter-speed. Burst is for the moments when you want to snap your picture at just the right time, because you know it's coming up, but you miss it by just moment. Now, if you hold down the button, your camera will take multiple pictures at once, and continue until you release the button. The camera can do this now, because of the other improvement. The shutter speed is very much increased. The camera also comes with photo-effects built in, so you can take your black-and-white grainy artsy pictures without using hipstogram or any other app. The Photos app also now organizes your pictures for you, organizing albums for where you were, and when you took it.
Air Drop, share data easily
Airdrop- I know this is not strictly IOS7, but I feel that Apple has really done their best work with their version of Airdrop. For those who don't know, Airdrop is a service Apple provides for all current devices, and it is similar to Dropbox or Bump in the sense of easy file sharing (but not in the sense of permanent storage). You turn on Airdrop in your device, while in Contacts or Photos, and you can see others in the area who also have Airdrop on, and you can then share contacts and files via Bluetooth in Airdrop, and they can share with you. It's easy to do, and very quick. These are just a few of the new features that immediately grabbed my attention. I'm looking forward to learning more about the new operating system, and sharing what I learn with my dad. Ben and I will continue to delve into the new tools that IOS7 offers, and I will think about how they contribute to the occupational
performance and relative independence of our students with special needs. If you have already discovered a stand out feature please don't hesitate to post here! Happy iDevice-ing!
Hey Tek-Ninjas! I made a discovery last night as I was running updates on my iPad. I may be the only one this was new to, but man it blew me away!
Settings Icon
Did you know that your iPad can read any text you highlight out loud? And with a quality voice? You can even choose various accents! I was stunned, and once again, I think that iDevices may be one of the BEST THINGS TO EVER happen to Assistive Technology!
It is remarkably simple to set up.
To begin with, go to your settings icon
Step 2, click on "General"
Step 2
Step 3, Scroll all the way down to "Accessibility"
Step 3
Step 4, Click on "Speak Selection"
Step 4
Step 5, Click on "On" Note that in this section you can also change dialects, and the speaking rate.
Step 5
Now, open any text, such as iBooks, or the internet and At this point, Step 6 is to highlight the selection and then press "Speak"
Step 6
If mid-speech you wish to stop the reading, where it said "Speak" it will offer "Pause".
Pause
...And that's all folks. You now have a great screen reader. It requires students to highlight every section to be read, which is nice... keeps them engaged a bit more.
What happens when a veteran Speech Language Pathologist marries a Designer, and they have a child with High Functioning Autism?
Well... if the moons align correctly, you get some really fabulous apps!
Jennifer Minnelli is the SLP, and her husband Pete Minnelli is the Designer. Integrating their unique skill sets they founded a company called Rubycube which creates mobile apps for children with high functioning autism, ADHD, and other social challenges. Currently they are producing a series of apps called Storysmart.
Their website describes Storysmart as a "suite of apps that provide both a recreational and therapeutic activity for elementary-school aged children and are designed to help them develop social communication, social cognition, critical thinking and narrative skills." That is a tall order, but I'd have to say the apps definitely have that ability.
Ultimately, the Minnelli's plan is to create six stories in the suite. Currently there are two ready from iTunes. The stories are very reasonably priced at $3.99 a piece. In addition, the Minnellis intend to make the apps for the Android platform soon.
Passage Choices
Each story presents a page at a time. The artwork is very sweet and endearing, some of it animated, some of it static. Each page is clean and uncluttered. The story can read itself, or just each word you touch, providing scaffolded reading support. On each page there are generally two passages that allow the user to choose what the most socially appropriate passage for the situation would be. Prior to using the app, the user is able to record their own responses for correct and incorrect answers, and when they choose the passage, one of the recorded messages is played, thereby reinforcing the correct answer.
Therapeutically speaking, this app packs a whole-lot-of-punch for SLPs, OTs, or educators who bring their clinical reasoning tools with them.
Tool Bar
There is some nice functionality built into the programming such as the ability to turn the music on or off, change the font, return to the beginning, email Rubycube. In addition, there is a brief educational section called "Parents" but useful for therapists or educators as well. All of these features are easily accessed through the tool bar at the bottom of the page.
One feature I'd like to see added would be the ability to either significantly enlarge the font, or change the contrast. The inherent difficulty would likley be that this might change the layout of the pages, but it could make the app more accessible for those with visual impairments.
As noted above, Rubycube has two stories ready to be purchased:
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.
Hey Tek-Ninjas! This is a quick share. Many of you classroom folks or therapists have needed timers to help students with focus, transitions, etc. I've shared this inexpensive and easy to use app a while back. 
Today I thought I'd share this free resource in the form of a website: http://www.online-stopwatch.com/classroom-timers/. As long as you can access the internet, it doesn't matter if you are using Mac, Windows, Linux, Chrome, or any smartphone. 
An online timer can easily be displayed on a Smartboard or other projected screen for a class. Or, for a smaller setting, the online timer can easily run on a smartphone. 
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