Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs is a blog, led by Kate Ahern, is full of useful resources, reviews on new technology (light and high tech), and a very welcome focus on curriculum and putting ideas into practice. This blog specializes in top quality information and is very readable. It is a terrific resource to utilize in preparation for back to school.
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I am really blown away about how rich the Accessible Instructional Materials Consortium’s website has become. http://aim.cast.org This is a terrific resource for learning about the latest information regarding digital texts and accessible instructional materials in education.
Look how Origin Instruments helps this drummer reinvent his way to rock. This is one of the best assistive technology stories of the year. This is a must read/watch and share. Accessible drums
Disabled musician reinvents the drum
By Chris Welch, CNN
Dan Herlihy and I are very excited to present a session:
Dan & Sam: Cool, Free, or … You’ve Gotta Have It Applications!
at Closing the Gap! Date: Fri, Oct 16, 2009 from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm
Here is a preview of the presentation.
Here with the best group in the world in Richardson, Texas, we are talking about how to integrate information. Here are some ways to collect new information to integrate.
- Teaching Learners with Multiple Needs http://teachinglearnerswithmultipleneeds.blogspot.com/
- Speech Language Pathology Sharing http://speechlanguagepathologysharing.blogspot.com/
- Schuyler’s Monster Blog http://www.schuylersmonsterblog.com/
- Teaching Every Student http://teachingeverystudent.blogspot.com
- Teaching All Students: http://teachingall.blogspot.com
- Free Resources from the Net for Special Education http://paulhami.edublogs.org
http://aacliteracy.psu.edu
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.
Adam Bowker and I are having this great ongoing dialogue about the application of a host of new tools that will be become available in the future. Recently Dr. Light sent us information about Sixth Sense, a MIT Media Lab’s new Fluid Interfaces Group project led by Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry . The basic concept is that your portable computer, in this case a cell phone, combined with a video camera and portable projector create a system that allows you to access relevant information about the environment and interact with that information. This has created a paradigm shift for me and I think you should check out this talk by Pattie Maes from this past February’s TED. What do you think about this type of technology tool in relation to AAC, Literacy, Universal Design for Learning?
by Samuel Sennott
FluidTunes is a free Apple OS X software that uses gesture recognition to control your iTunes library. In other words, by harnessing the power of the iSight camera, the user swipes their hands at the buttons to play the music, stop the music, flip to the next song or flip to the previous song. I first heard about FluidTunes on the fantastic gtd blog Lifehacker. Check out the video I made demonstrating the interface and explaining a few thoughts about how people with the label of special needs could use technology like this.
Okay, so we are not yet in a full on Minority Report experience where Tom Cruise uses complex gestures to control his computer screen that is projected into the air. Nor are we going to see this instantly become a popular access method for individuals with the label of special needs. Yet, it sets our minds ablaze. We have all watched the progression of the eye tracking work move into eye gaze control systems that are really starting to work for individuals with physical disabilities. For nearly four years now, I have been doing a test of the eye gaze systems where I emulate the frequent movements many of my students often display. The systems are now starting to pass that informal test, as of this summer. It seems eye gaze computer control has moved from a potential and a cool thing in the conference exhibit hall to something that works. TobiiAti, PRC, and Dynavox are all committed to its implementation. So what will happen with the concept of gesture recognition? Well, in a way, it already is happening. Just see ASL’s excellent selection of various types of proximity switches. Karen Kangas has championed the concepts behind the benefits of using switches of this type. For these switches, you simply need to move within the right range to activate the electronic switch, which can control your wheelchair, computer, etc…
How terrific is it that the developer, David Frampton, made this application available for free? I am personally having a blast with FluidTunes. Much respect and thanks goes out to him for sharing it and for setting our minds ablaze thinking of the possiblities for individuals with the label of special needs. As we approach the release of Mgestyk, the comercial gesture based control system, we can certainly consider ourselves warned that this is coming to the mainstream. With an estimated cost of roughly the price of a high end webcam, it looks like this technology will be applicable in the assistive technology field. See the following Mgestyk videos.
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I for one am going to have fun playing music with this tool and let my mind wander as I do. Yet, I am not going to go gorilla arm with this concept. Although, even at the moment I can imagine practical implementations of gesture based switches that could be created with a usb hub and a couple different web cams. What do you imagine?
by Samuel Sennott
imagine symbols icon
Do you know about the 4000 Imagine Symbol set that is free for personal use. You can go to www.imaginesymbols.com and download the entire brightly colored set of picture symbols. There are also low cost options to liscense the symbols. Don’t forget that you can load them into your iPhoto library for easy use with various applications.
by Samuel Sennott
Check out this London restaurant reported on by Engadget. How fun would it be to go here with people using AAC? And if they had some scanning/ alternate access options. Fun dreams.
London restaurant claims fame with touch-sensitive tables, colorful menu projectors
Read this Article