Adapted Keyboard

Adapted keyboards are differentiated keyboards to meet the needs of the student. Adapted keyboards come in so many different styles, sizes, and colors. There are also an array of different types of keyboards that serve different purposes. Students can even have keyboards designed specifically for their diverse needs! Overlays can be customized for the student to form questions, write sentences, and perform different functions on the computer.


Here is a student using her adapted keyboard! Look how amazing it is for her to be able to type and communicate!

Multisensory Educational Software (MATH)

Multisensory educational software is a curriculum that adapts multisensory methods into lessons. There are so many different programs out there that have different multisensory components. Some of the programs I saw focused more on hands on learning with many manipulatives. Others had auditory/visual components and kinesthetic activities to teach math skills. To see which program your students would benefit from, I suggest for you to first research all the different programs out there! Students that would benefit from this type of software are individuals with math dyslexia, ADHD, learning disabilities, kinesthetic learners, visual learners and auditory learners!

Books on CD

Books on CD's are similar to scan and read software in the sense that the material is being read to the user. However, books on CD's do not have all the features that scan and read softwares have. Books on CD's is simply an audio of a person reading the book. Books on CD's are simple and great for about anyone! While listening to the CD, you can read along with the text in the book. Individuals with disabilities that really benefit from books on CD's are those who are blind, visually impaired, dyslexic, and learning disabled.

Scan and Read Software

 

Scan and read software is when papers are scanned onto the computer which then is able to be read. This is a great assistive technology option for students who have visual impairments or who are blind. Also individuals with dyslexia, learning difficulties, or physical impairments can also benefit from this type of software! The software is great because it has text-to-speech capabilities, highlighting, bookmarking, text notes, and a dictionary!

Naturally Speaking Voice Recognition Software

Naturally speaking voice recognition allows the user to speak into the computer and the software can dictate what the user is saying and write it out in a document. Students wear a headset with a microphone so that they can speak what they want written on the screen. The software is able to delete words and add punctuation when the user tells the computer. This software would be great for a student who has low fine motor skills, since they would not need to type!

Talking Word Processor Software

Talking word processors (TWP) are writing software programs that provide speech feedback as the student writes, echoing each letter as it is typed and each word as the spacebar is pressed. Students with learning disabilities find that having written material read aloud assists them to better edit, comprehend and organize. TWP programs offer other adjustments such as enlarging the size of the text and changing the color of the foreground, background and highlighting box to follow along the text being read. TWPs offer the ability to select from a variety of different voices, as well as adjust the rate and volume of the speech. Some other features are spell check, highlighting rates, or word prediction.

Word Prediction Software

  

Word prediction software helps users during word processing by predicting a word intended to type. Predictions are based on spelling, syntax, and frequent/recently used words.The user types the first letter of a word, and the program offers a list of words beginning with that letter. After the user chooses a word, the computer predicts the next word in the sentence even before a letter is typed! This program helps students who struggle with writing.

Here is a tutorial on how a word prediction software works. In the video, Brian talks about a program called eType which is free!