iPad Flash Video Player

Photon Browser

A common criticism of the iDevices is that they won't play Flash based web-sites.  You may have noticed this when you browsed over to a favorite educational site on your iPad, only to find the following message: "To view our website, you need the latest version of Flash. Upgrade now to Flash 9".  

When you go to update, you are then plagued with this message: "We're sorry, this content requires Adobe Flash Player, which is not supported by your device."  

The late Steve Jobs was not a fan of, and he criticized Flash security, performance, battery life and reliability.  Adobe and Apple just haven't gotten along well.

Still. There are terrific sites that we'd love to access on our iPads with students. For example: Tarhill Reader for some great read-alouds, Priory Woods for a wide array of "cause & effect" switch activities and more read-alouds, or Bitesize for English, Math, and Science for all grade levels. 

Lightening Bolt

There are a handful of work-around apps that allow you to run Flash based web-site on your iPad. My favorite to date is Appsverse Photon Browser. It sells for $4.99, and works on any iPad with iOS 4.2 or higher. 


With almost 5,000 ratings, Photon users give it 4 stars which is pretty respectable for a 2.0 version.  According to Appverse, Photon has been the number one paid browser in the app store for months. 

The interface will be very familiar to anyone who has used a web-browser in the last decade. Everything looks familiar and clean. What's different is the Lightening Bolt in the top right of the tool bar.  Enter the address you want to get to, or search in the search box. Once you have arrived at a site that utilizes Flash, touch the Lightening Bolt, and Flash will be enabled.   You will notice a slight decrease in display quality, and a subtle slow down in performance, but frankly less than any other Flash browser I've tried. 

Flash Enabling




Photon is a fully realized browser, not just a Flash enabled tool. You will get tools such as private browsing, URL toolbar that combines history and search keyword suggestions, email/Facebook sharing capability, rotation lock, brightness control, and the ability to personalize colors.

Happy Therapy!

Prayers...

Tragedy in CT. Heartfelt prayers to all involved.

Landfill Harmonic

So, this is a bit of a departure from technology, but truly a celebration of the human spirit, ingenuity, and resilience.  And at the end of the day, that is what I get excited about!

Landfill Harmonic is an upcoming feature-length documentary about a remarkable orchestra from a remote village in Paraguay, where its young musicians play with instruments made from trash.

I am amazed at the tonal quality the musicians get from instruments made of trash.  Creating such beauty in the face of societies refuse, surely there are some powerful metaphors happening here!

You can learn more about this project here, and also see them on Facebook here.




Happy living!

The Role of the Related Service Provider in the IEP

Tech Ninja is glad to have Guest Blogger: Ashley Robinson once again!

I have a question for all the school based related service providers and assistive technology professionals:  Have you ever struggled to explain your role in a student's education to a parent or teacher? As a speech-language pathologist at a middle and high school, I see many students who have received speech-language as a related service since preschool. In many cases I wonder if the role of the related service professional has been explained to the team. So, I came up with my own explanation. 

Figure 1

A student who qualifies for special education services cannot access the curriculum (in most cases the Common Core). (Fig. 1)

The IEP is the bridge to the curriculum. It should address the skills that the student needs so that he can follow the Common Core. For example, there is a sixth grade boy who struggles with written expression.  Instead of writing a goal that states “Boy will write on grade level,” think about what is keeping this student from writing on grade level. Perhaps this student is not using complex sentences or is using ambiguous pronoun references. 

Figure 2

The IEP team will work together to review data on a child and determine the needs of a particular student. In this case (Fig. 2), the student does NOT require any related service support, so the special education teacher is the one building the bridge. Another possibility is that the team may find that a speech-language impairment is the primary disability holding the child back, and the SLP will be in charge of building that bridge. In either case, additional related service support is not needed.

In my experience though, most students have a disability (think ADHD or specific learning disability) and language disorders (or sensory issues, or assistive tech issues....) are a part of that disability and require related service support to access the IEP.  (Fig. 3) The bridge cannot be built straight across - there needs to be a ramp.

Figure 3

This is how our lead SLP explained it to us, “If you take away the student's primary disability (e.g., ADHD), would they still have a language disorder?” This is a clinical judgement question for each student; however, I've found the answer to be “probably not.” Thus, speech-language is a related service. 

Because I'm an SLP, I am going to use speech-language services as my example; however, this analogy applies to OT, PT, and Assistive Technology (at least with the model we work under in my school system). 

Once the team determines that speech-language services are needed to address a goal (stay tuned for a future post on this), then the question is – what is the role of the SLP as a related service support provider? Here's what I think:

Figure 4

Related service is the RAMP to get on the bridge (i.e., the IEP). (Fig 4). What language skills does the student require to even get on the bridge? Again, goals or objectives should be developed to address a student's language needs that are impeding him from accessing the IEP (e.g., explicit instruction in pronoun use or sentence construction). Once the student has mastered these skills, and is on the bridge, then the special education teacher is the one to continue moving forward to build the bridge.  Speech-language services are no longer necessary. 

Goals should address the needs of the student, and with each year the student will (hopefully) close the gap until he is working on the curriculum (YAY!!!). Some students will never have a bridge that stretches all of the way across; however, it is important that goals are systematic and are bringing that student as far as possible each year. 

I'm curious to know what you think. How do you see the role of the related service professional in the school? Feel free to contact me with your thoughts and questions!

Ashley Robinson – MS CCC-SLP and AT professional 

arobinson@chccs.k12.nc.us

ChoiceBoard Creator: Free App!

Splash Screen

ChoiceBoard Creator by Techno Chipmunk is a really terrific iPad app for creating customizable choice boards for the unique needs of individuals with communication challenges.  It reinforces correct choice by expanding the selected image as well as playing the customized auditory rewards.  Think of it as a streamlined "ChooseIt Maker 2".  Granted, not near the bells and whistles, but much easier to setup, and FREE.    

It is an excellent tool to train and prepare users for more sophisticated communication devices via an easy, simple-to-use choice-making platform. The possibilities are limited by your creativity.

Picture Setup

•Many therapists and educators use this app to provide simple Q & A to books

Audio Setup

•Users can download their own pictures

•Users can create blank boxes as distractors to suit users of all levels

•Now users can preset multiple "correct answer" boxes, and download different sound files to each box – a feature that allows users to choose their favorite music with just a tap

•Other than image files, users can now type text into the choice box – use this feature to teach sight words, letter, number recognition

•Ease of use. Intuitive interface allows user to set up activities in minutes

•Allows users to create multiple pages for each "game" or activity

Examples of choice boards/activities:

•Odd one out (find the image that is different)

Text Setup

•Music player (touch the correct image to play the tune)

•Present vocabulary, sight words, shapes, numbers, or alphabets in array of boxes and ask your child to find the right one.

I'd love to hear how others are using this app with their students.

Happy Therapy!

The GReAT Conference!

Are you going? 

Every year since I've been an Occupational Therapist I have looked forward to, and attended NCATP's Assistive Technology EXPO. Last year, they did not hold it. I never was able to find out why, but I imagine it came down to funding. This year, they are back on.

The EXPO is always a terrific place to see and hear about the latest in Assistive Technology.  One of the interesting factors about this conference is you see AT providers and AT users/family members in attendance.

The GReAT Conference

“Global Rehabilitation Enhanced with 

Assistive Technology”

WHEN: December 5^th – 7^th, 2012

WHERE: Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, NC

This year, attend two motivational and inspirational keynote addresses:

Tom Hartman: Artist living with MS using assistive technology to paint and work and,
Allison Massari: International motivational speaker, Artist, and TBI/Burn Injury Survivor.

Choose from over 30 sessions focusing on rehabilitation and assistive technology:
Tracks: Vision, Education, Employment, Exhibitor, Independent Living

•   Celebrate award winners for their work in rehabilitation and assistive technology. th
  
•   Visit the FREE-Open to the Public-Exhibit Hall on December 6 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM with 50 plus vendors
  
•   Network with individuals, family members, educators, counselors, assistive technology professionals, engineers, vendors, and others
  Registration Includes:
   All sessions: opening, closing, breakout sessions.
   Awards ceremony on December 5th
   Evening networking event with Exhibitiors on December 5th  Continental breakfast on December 6th and 7th
   Box lunch on December 6th
   Exhibit hall (Thursday, December 6th ONLY)
  Hotel Options: Two options within walking distance:
  Sheraton Raleigh Hotel: 421 S. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27601 919.834.9900
  Raleigh Marriott City Center: 500 Fayetteville St., Raleigh, NC 27601 919.833.1120
  Other options from the Visit Raleigh website http://goo.gl/E6Y6m Convention Center Parking: Decks I and E: (see map insert)

Hope to see you all there!

Technologies merging...

Tildee Tutorial

A resource teacher that I work with just emailed me this really cool link. It is a tildee tutorial for Dragon Dictate on an iTouch that she made. I've blogged about both tools before, and I love that she made this tutorial about Dragon Dictate using Tildee, and is sharing it with staff and parents!

Here is the tildee blog, and here is the Dragon Dictate blog.


Happy Therapy!


And here's an addendum: she just sent me a second tutorial on how to email your Dictation to your self.  Check it out here.