Georgia Department of Education Division for Special Education Supports Georgia Project for Assistive Technology 1870 Twin Towers East Atlanta, Georgia Supporting Reading Success through Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology Definitions Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Definition of Assistive Technology Assistive technology device Any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities. Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools Definition of Assistive Technology Assistive technology device EXCEPTION. The term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, or the replacement of such device. Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004

Definition of Assistive Technology Assistive technology devices for reading include a range of tools ranging from easy to complex and inexpensive to expensive that are used to support : phonemic awareness phonics vocabulary comprehension fluency Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Definition of Assistive Technology Assistive technology for reading is used to: –Remediate deficits –Compensate for deficits Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Remediation of Deficit Areas Strategies and skill based instruction is needed to improve deficits areas. Assistive technology can play a role in remediating skills. –For example, for a deficit in decoding skills, use of a phonics program which utilizes multiple learning avenues, along with teaching strategies, can assist the student with improving his phoneme identification. –AT use can help compensate for the deficits while skills are improving. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Remediation Tools A range of assistive tools used by students to build skills in target reading skill areas Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Remediation Tools Earobics (Cognitive Concepts) –Systematically teaches critical phonological awareness, listening, and phonics skills required for learning to read and spell –Adapts level of instruction to students skill level –Several levels available: Earobics Step I (Ages 4-7) Earobics Step 2 (Ages 7-10) Earobics 1 for Adolescents and Adults (10 years and older) Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Remediation tools Simon Sounds It Out (Don Johnston) –Assists students in learning familiar sounds and word families –Assists students in developing core word attack skills –Increases recall of hundreds of high frequency words –Provides repetitive practice in making words with onsets and rhymes –Two stages available Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Remediation Tools Wordmaker (Don Johnston) –A phonics, phonemic awareness, and spelling program Based on the Four Blocks Literacy Model Students learn to manipulate letters to create words and then sort words into rhymes which they then use to decode and spell new words Assist students in improving phonics, rhyming, blending, and chunking skills Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Remediation Tools Assistance for finding remediation technology Media Specialist Technology Specialist Content Specialist Fellow Educators Educational Technology Training Centers Georgia Learning Resources System Georgia Project for Assistive Technology Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensation of Deficit Areas Generally, assistive technology serves to compensate for deficit areas by enhancing access to and success in completing instructional tasks that require reading and comprehension. –For example, a voice output word reading program will compensate for difficulties in decoding, word recognition, and vocabulary. It will not directly remediate reading difficulties. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Examples of Frequently Used Tools Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Positioning Aids –Allows for optimal positioning of text Notebooks PortaBook Stand (Onion Mountain Technology) Slant Boards (Pocketful of Therapy) Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Tracking Aids –Enables students with visual tracking difficulties to maintain their place in the text Reading Window (Teacher Made) Bar Magnifier (Independent Living Aids) EZC Reader (Really Good Stuff) Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Contrast Aids –Alters the foreground-background contrast to promote visual access to text Highlighters Highlighting Tape Acetate Report Covers Color Overlays (National Reading Styles Institute or Onion Mountain Technology ) E.Z. Reader (Really Good Stuff) Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Word Identification Aids –Offers portable solution for reading difficult words Electronic Dictionaries (Franklin Electronic Publishers) Reading Pens (Wizcom) Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Magnification Aids –Allows for controlled enlargement of text to magnification level needed Closed Circuit Television Systems Binocular and Monocular telescope Hand held or Stand Magnifiers Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Alternate Format Books –Provides access to text in an optimal format Large Type Books Braille Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Alternate Format books – –Symbolized Text Supplements printed text with picture symbols for beginning readers Writing With Symbols (Mayer Johnson) Clicker 4 (Crick Software) PixWriter (Slater Software) IntelliTalk 3 (IntelliTools) News 2 You weekly newspaper Weekly Reader: AbleNet Edition Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Alternate Format Books –Audio-books Highly portable reading solution that provides access to printed materials in an auditory format »Books-on-Tape (Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic) »Literary Books from the Library of Congress »Commercially available audio-books Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Alternate Format Books –Computer Books Books for older struggling readers who need age appropriate topics with reduced vocabulary and language complexities (considerate text) and other supports for comprehension. –Start to Finish Literacy Starters (Don Johnston) –Start to Finish Literacy (Don Johnston) –Start to Finish Core Content (Don Johnston) –Thinking Reader (Tom Snyder) Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Alternate Format Books –E-Text Electronic versions of books that can be visually displayed. E-text can be found on line at various websites. Some sites provide free access and others are commercial sites that require purchase. Please refer to GPATs website for a list of E-text websites. Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Text Readers –A variety of programs that can be used to read text on the computer display. They convert text to speech via speech synthesizer software. –Many commercially available options at relatively low cost. Cast eReader (Don Johnston) Write OutLoud (Don Johnston) –Some can be downloaded from the Internet ReadPlease ( E-Text Reader (www. readingmadeez.com) Please refer to GPATs website for a listing of free Text readers Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Advanced Reading Aids –Provides auditory reading support as well as visual enhancement features. –Some aids offer study aids as well as writing support. –Kurzweil 3000 (Kurzweil Educational Systems) –WYNN (Freedom Scientific) –Read & Write Gold (Text Help) Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Text enlargement technology –Allows for controlled enlargement of text to magnification level needed Computer-based software applications –ZoomText Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Compensatory Tools Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools Screen Readers –Will read anything on the computer screen. JAWS (Freedom Scientific)

Determining the Right Tool(s ) Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Determining The Optimal Tool(s) Student abilities and needs Required tasks Available supports Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Benefits of Assistive Technology Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Benefits of Reading Aids Productivity Independence Achievement Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Things to Keep in Mind Technology is no substitute for good instruction Technology should be used in conjunction with other available supports Technology use should be monitored and changes made as needed Georgia Department of Education Kathy Cox, State Superintendent of Schools

Georgia Department of Education Division for Special Education Supports Georgia Project for Assistive Technology 1870 Twin Towers East Atlanta, Georgia Chris Swaim Contact Information