The Gift of Tech-y Children

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! 

Happy Therapy!

SnapType for Occupational Therapists (and anyone else)

Greetings Tek-Ninjas. Recently a co-worker of mine asked me if I'd any experience using SnapType for Occupational Therapy. I had to say no, and quickly went in search of the program. I'm sure glad I did, as I think we will be using this a lot in our school district. SnapType is compatible with iPhones and iPads. I have not tried it on a iTouch, but seems like it ought to work there too.

SnapType is what we as Occupational Therapists have been looking for some time. In fact, the idea for the app came from Amberlynn Gilfford, a Occupational Therapy Graduate student. SnapType allows the user to take a picture of a form/worksheet, or pull one from your photos, and then add text anywhere you want via the keyboard or voice dictation.

SnapType allows student who have slow writing or decreased legibility to type or voice dictate into forms quickly. With some iPad skill, many students can learn to take the pictures of the worksheet themselves, and complete the work independently.

It is super easy to use and email finished products as images or pdfs. The free version allows you to store only three finished products, but I found that it's no problem to finish a document, mail it to myself, and then delete it. The pro version for normally retails for $4.99, but for a limited time it is available for $2.99.  The Pro Upgrade offers unlimited storage of documents, as well as a "whiteboard" function which turns images into simplified black and white documents in order to save ink when printing. For my purposes the free version was terrific.

Happy Therapy!

Guided Access on your iDevice got even better.

Time Limit, bottom right

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!

Keeping your data usage low...

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!

"Elephant Sighting" is Published!

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. 

Happy writing!

Printing from your iDevice!

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!

Word Prediction with Google

Lingapps apps creates apps for iDevices, Android platforms, and Google Docs. AppWriter provides word prediction and text-to-speech.  For your pc or macbook, the app is sold as a subscription for $12 annually, which is a pittance compared to most of the competitors. This review is based on AppWriter on my iMac.

AppWriter offers high quality synthetic voices for twelve different languages.  All menus and buttons are read aloud. The user can determine which reading strategies benefit them, such as read from cursor position or read words as you type them.  AppWriter offers context based word suggestions AppWriter comes with one free language. Additional language are offered through in-app purchases. Additional languages retail for $7.99.

AppWriter Cloud is offered free for a month trial.

I was especially excited about this app as my school district talks about moving to a Google platform.   I don't know if this will happen, and if it does, will that include our special needs population, but, apps like this and ChromeVox make it seem as though we could make it work.

AppWriter worked seamlessly. Word prediction was solid, and the voice quality was terrific. This is an app that I definitly recommend you take a look at.



Happy therapy!

Word Prediction in your Pocket...

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!

The Return of StorySmart

Back in June of this summer I had the pleasure of stumbling across locally made StorySmart apps.  You may recall my review of the available series of Social Stories.  Jennifer Minnelli, the Speech Therapist, and her husband Pete Minnelli, the designer promised more stories were in the making, and recently they delivered on the newest.  

Storysmart3: Ruby Gets in the Game is available for only $3.99 in the iTunes store.  With lovely illustrations, gentle music, and an interesting story line, the Minnellis latest story helps children learn social language skills while engaged in a sporting event.  

Using the same interface as the prior apps, there is plenty of ways the adult can adapt the app for the end-user, including turning on or off music, changing font size. This is a terrific addition to the Storysmart library, and I look forward to the next chapter!

Android users, don't give up hope yet. I've spoken with Pete Minnelli who indicates that they anticipate making the apps available on the android platform in approximately a year and a half. 

Be sure to take a look at all the SmartStory apps especially if you work with students who struggle with social skills.

Happy therapy!

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Awareness Month in NC

Hey Tek-Ninjas, today's article is a distilled version of a really fantastic flyer put together by our very own North Carolina Augmentative Communication Association (NCACA) to generate greater awareness of October being Communication Awareness Month here in NC.  What a wealth of information they have culled together for us.

If your a NC resident and you work with children or adults with communication issues, you need to become a member.  NCACA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information and support to nonspeaking individuals, their families, and the professionals that serve them.  An annual membership is only $25! You will be hard pressed to find a better deal anywhere!

Check out these AAC professional development opportunities during this month of October to learn something new, to brush up on your skills, or just increase your awareness of AAC.  Follow this link for 50 PrAACtical things to do in celebration of AAC Awareness Month. 

AAC-RERC has a variety of recorded webcasts that address AAC needs of children and adults

         CLICK HERE FOR AAC-RERC

AbleNet has a variety of recorded communication webinars conducted by leaders in the field.  Here are some of the titles: SoundingBoard App - Bigger and Better. AAC Developing Participation, AAC for Aphasia.

ATC offers a variety of webinars. Recorded AAC webinars address the needs of all ages.  Titles include: Core Vocabulary Across Everyday Settings, iPads and Communication Apps: Making a Good Choice. The iPad and Communication Transitions.

Dynavox offers a variety of online trainings which include recorded classes.  Topics include: Boardmaker, Literacy, and Dynavox AAC Devices.

PRC offers online training.  Current online trainings include: AAC Evaluations: Painting a Successful Submission, and 10 Tips to Help Grow Language.  There is a cost.

NCACA does not endorse any particular vendor, and these are only samples of trainings available online.

Developed by the North Carolina Augmentative Communication Association Education Committee - http://www.ncaca.info.  October 2013

Happy therapy!

A Rousing Success!

In approximately 36 hours Ruth Morgan was successful in funding her Donors Choose project. 
This is astonishing to me, and a testimony to the power of asking for help! Any of us could replicate such a process.
Granted, Ruth has a strong network of folks who are interested in the work she does. She posted her Donors Choose project on her Facebook page as well as on her blog. She indicated to me that the majority of folks who donated were people she knows. Here is her "Thank you" letter she posted on her Donors Choose page this morning.

I can't fully express my joy, excitement, and gratitude for your donation to my project. It is great to see that you share my vision for using technology in teaching children with autism and other developmental disabilities.
The iPad that you have funded will enable students to develop functional communication skills as well as reinforce basic concepts and academics with innovative apps. The students are highly motivated by technology, and will put this to good use. Needless to say, I am thrilled by everyone's generosity.
I can't wait until this iPad arrives, and I can share with all the teacher some of the great ways to use it effectively! Thank you so much!
With gratitude, Ms. Morgan

Congratulations Ruth!

Innovative Funding Idea!

Often staff call or email me asking for technology for their classroom. If and when I can supply it we are both delighted. Sometimes though I am not able to provide the technology for various reasons. In such situations I often suggest that the teacher utilize their PTA funding (if they have any), write a grant or ask a parent to do so.

For many folks this feels like a daunting proposition. One of my colleagues, and fellow blogger, Ruth Morgan has experienced success in grant writing. Now she has stepped into another money making endeavor to provide an iPad for a classroom. Ruth is using donors choose in order to raise money to buy an iPad. One aspect about donors choose that I like is that unlike grants, there are very few if any rules that she has to follow.

Tek-Ninjas I encourage you to take a look at Ruth's page as a possible way for you to provide technology in your classroom, and while your at it, give some moolah to Ruth's project.

Ruth's project can be seen and supported here: donors choose site. Below is her write-up.

Ms. Morgan's technology project at Ephesus Road Elementary School in Chapel Hill, NC | High Poverty

I am sure all of you have heard about the struggles of people with autism and developmental disabilities. I see these struggles daily. I am a speech pathologist and work closely with a teacher for a group of elementary students in a special education classroom. We co-teach groups and work with the kids throughout the day.

This classroom has seven fourth and fifth grade aged children, all of whom have autism or other severe disability. All of them struggle with a severe communication handicap. The classroom has some access to resources such as a Smartboard and low-tech augmentative communication systems. The classroom also has one iPad. We have discovered, though, that with these children, one iPad isn't enough. One child needs this to learn to use an augmentative communication app, while other children use apps to learn basic concepts. Another child uses the iPad as a calming device, using simple cause-effect apps, and listening to music. Other children use social story apps to help learn expected behaviors both in and out of the classroom.

An iPad 2 is a game changer for autistic children. With communication apps such as Proloquo2Go, nonverbal children can have a voice. With educational apps, the children can develop early literacy and math skills. With social stories apps such as Pictello, the children can see themselves in social stories and learn how to act appropriately. A library of photographs can be stored on the iPad 2 for easy reference, and since the camera feature is there, it would be easy to continually add pictures. It would be a portable picture dictionary!

The camera feature on the iPad 2 is incredible. Items the children need to learn to request can be photographed and then imported seamlessly into the communication software. Videos of the children using appropriate behavior can easily be taken, and then shown back to them. Children can practice speaking, and get instant feedback using the camera feature. There are myriad other uses for a camera, and this feature on the iPad 2 is wonderful!

Please help give this classroom a voice. An iPad 2 would be a wonderful tool to help these children learn to communicate, to read, to learn social skills, and develop functional skills for the future.

Happy tech-ing!

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IOS7 Highlights: Guest Blogger Ben Tignor

Sign-In

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!

Did You Know Your iDevice is a Reader?!?!

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.

Happy iDevicing!

Student Made iPad Cover!

Well, here is something I had not seen before. One of my students decided that she wanted a personalized iPad cover. 

Evidently she has experience in creating Duct-tape crafts, and so she applied this skill to making a one-of-a-kind iPad cover. She went so far as to make all the necessary cutout slots for the charger, the camera, sleep button, and headphone jack. Pretty nice work!

The back flap folds to make a stand, or to cover the glass for transportation.  

I wonder if others have made their own covers?

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!