1. Jerrod L. Bain and Caroline L. Burdett

2.  Specific difficulties producing written language (Szklut, & Breath, 2001). -- Forming letters and using a pen and paper  Energies are diverted toward the physical process of writing itself (Richards, 1999).  Can interfere with students’ abilities to learn since teachers often depend on written work to measure learning (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2001).  “Writing skills are substantially below those expected given the person’s chronological age, measured intelligence, and age appropriate education,” which “significantly interferes with academic achievement or activities of daily living that require composition of written texts” (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).  Verbal organization and production of information far exceeds the ability to do the same via written expression (Kronenberger, 2003).

3.  Students are often be misjudged as lazy or unmotivated given their poor handwriting or sloppy work on written assignments.  Teacher interview:  low self-esteem, high anxiety levels, lack of motivation to write, and poor quality in writing assignments Also, poor handwriting, difficulty organizing ideas, poor spelling, and weak sentence structure  struggle to elaborate on ideas, and they spend more time on written assignments than their peers

4. http://www.donjohnston.com/media/flash/cowriter_student_samples/index.html

7.  Concept mapping software  Brainstorm and organize graphically  Various view options  Presentation manager  Differentiate instruction  Individualized needs addressed

9.  Word prediction software  Works with any program that accepts text  Multisensory  Word suggestions and prompts  Speech feature for words and sentences  Topic dictionaries

11.  Wireless keyboard  Assists in writing, revising, and editing  Link and upload files for collaboration  Individualize and differentiate practice  Monitor student progress  Works with other AT software

12.  Teacher Interview:  Allow extra time whenever possible  When allowed by the school  Do not over-penalize students for spelling errors  Be patient and positive!