Literacy Instruction
for Individuals with Autism,
Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome
and Other Disabilities

Janice Light & David McNaughton
The Pennsylvania State University

Run, don’t walk to checking out this awesome website full of exemplars of students with complex communication needs learning to read and write.  The website comes out of the longitudinal research of Dr. Janice Light and Dr. David McNaughton.  Additionally, through Dynavox, they have published a curriculum called the ALL Curriculum – Accessible Literacy Learning.

I feel very fortunate to be weekly attending the research meetings for this project at the Pennsylvania State University.  It is a terrific experience to learn from such fantastic researchers.  From my special education background, I feel so thankful to think about new and old teachers being able to easily acquire high quality accessible literacy learning materials to support their instruction.

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Here is a terrific phonics resource that includes the 84 location Unity icon sequence cards for the Dolch words, the popular high frequency word list.  It is created and shared on Gail Van Tatenhove’s website, a great Unity resource.  Also check out all of her freeware resources at: http://www.vantatenhove.com/materials.php

Go to the 84 Location Unity Dolch Word Cards: http://www.vantatenhove.com/showfolder.php?id=30

Primer Dolch Words Unity 84 Screenshot

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Check out another generous offering by Byron Wilkes of Learning Magic Inc.  The exchange is filled with gems like this. The AEX or Intellitools Activity Exchange can be found at:  http://aex.intellitools.com

I saw the exchange was acting up, so here is the direct links to the resource on the Learning Magic Site.

Hoover’s New Wheels

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This activity is based upon a true story about a dog named Hoover who unfortunately suffered a broken back in a ‘freak accident’. Paralyzed in the hind portion of his body, he was forced to hop along on his front legs. Well that was true until a colleague of mine and I were able to fit him with some “new wheels”. This activity helps illustrate that being in a wheelchair is not that limiting. Hoover has been an inspiration to many of us who know him. Even when he hopped along and dragged his legs behind him he continued to be happy and thrived in his environment. But now with his new wheels he is able to chase the pesky squirrels that live in his yard again.

This activity was built in Classroom Suite v. 3.2. The activity can be run on the ITAN Player. But IntelliPics Studio 3® is needed to perform data capture, automatic grading and portfolio management, as well as any editing or changes to the activity itself.

Required Software: IntelliTools Classroom Suite® v. 3.2.

Grades 3-5.  Curriculum area: Language Arts.   File size: 23 MB

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Russel Cross recently posted a great list of accessible books on the ACOLUG (Augmentative Communication Online Users Group) Listserv.  Check it out:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ – project gutenburg – html, text (FREE)

http://www.ebooks.com/ – ebooks – Microsoft reader, Mobipocket, Adobe

http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/ – University of Adelaide – html, txt (FREE)

http://www.ereader.com/ – ereader – ereader format (use with Palm, Mob, Mac, PC) – has best DRM I have seen IMHO – can copy as much as you like but must enter name and credit card number every time.

http://www.fictionwise.com/ – Microsoft reader, Mobipocket, Adobe, Palm reader, fiction wise reader?

http://www.amazon.com – Adobe, Microsoft reader

http://etext.virginia.edu/ebooks/ – Microsoft, Palm – (FREE)

http://manybooks.net/ – eReader, PDF, Plucker, iSilo, Doc, or zTXT (FREE)

http://www.memoware.com/ – Formats, so many it insane (FREE) http://www.memoware.com/mw.cgi/?screen=help_format

http://www.pdabookstore.com/ – Memoware bookstore – many formats

http://www.pdabookstore.com/servlet/mw?t=help_help&si=4

http://www.buddhanet.net/ebooks.htm – Adobe (FREE)

http://www.adobe.com/epaper/ebooks/ebookmall/index.html – huge list of pay sites using Adobe

http://www.awe-struck.net/ – romance & sci-fi – HTML, PDF,Rocket, REB, Microsoft Reader,Pocket PC PDA, Mobipocket, EBookman, Hiebook

http://www.planetpdf.com/free_pdf_e…p?CurrentPage=1 – PDFs (FREE)

http://www.powells.com/ebookstore/ebooks.html – Microsoft, Adobe, Palm

http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/ – Rocket-eBook, Hiebook, Adobe PDF, MS-Reader, Mobipocket, iSilo, Franklin eBookMan, and Palm Doc.

http://www.diesel-ebooks.com/ – Microsoft, Adobe, Palm

http://www.bob-e-books.com/ – Microsoft, Rocket, Softbook

http://esspc-ebooks.com/default.htm – Microsoft PC Reader, Mobipocket

http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/ – PDF, RTF, HTML (Free?)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/clas…oks/index.shtml – HTML (FREE but only Dr Who books?)

http://ebooks.whsmith.co.uk/151ABB2…/en/Default.htm – Adobe, Microsoft, Mobipocket

http://www.ebooks3.com/ – html (FREE)

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Previously I wrote a post covering online text to speech recording called Listening to Research as MP3 Files on Your iWhatever.  Today, I got word of a very powerful tool of this genre called ReadTheWords.  It not only is quick, has a smooth graphic user interface, the ability to embed your recording, but it also has an option to have an avatar read your text.

Check out some information from their site:  http://www.readthewords.com

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As there is much big news to report on the accessible books front, I will be cleaning out the closet of all the drafted posts of this type. Check out this engaging book. Direct selectors can use the navigational arrows, and switch scanners can use the arrow keys to navigate.

Download the Book

skateboardersride.transistional

Download the Talking Book

skateboardersride.transistional.talking

Build Background Knowledge and Writing Motivation with Videos

Skateboarding Bulldog Tyson
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-abbze6T3Cs
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziDeUbifKIM
Skateboarding Tricks
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FrISkXDElQ
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf3n4pqsboE&feature=related (Super Slow Motion!)
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b10b3JZmC-E&feature=related Best Tricks Ever 2

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