A new day has arrived for dyslexic and LD students where apps have been created to support the challenges that they have on a daily basis in school. Here is the "Top Ten apps" (with links to iTunes) for them to get started. 
A report just released, “Universal Design for Learning: Initiatives on the Move,” for the first time looks at how UDL is being implemented and understood.
"The new study finds that that many states and districts have embraced UDL’s tenets, which call for students to be presented with information and content in different ways and for giving them multiple options to show their understanding of what they know. The instructional approach is intended to help all students, not just those with disabilities." 
OT's with Apps has shared an extensive list of visual perceptual apps from the Family Vision Care website. By permission from Dr. Carole L. Hong, OD, FCOVD, they have shared a pdf link titled "Apps that can aid in Visual Skills" (appsforvisualskills2011.pdf) which provides apps categorized by visual skill and rated as beginner, intermediate or advanced skill level. Here are the categories of listed apps:
> Eye Movement Control > Visual Spatial Skill of Laterality and Directionality > Visual Motor Integration > Simultaneous/Sustaining Focus at Near, Depth Awareness > Color Perception > Visual Perception (Discrimination, Memory, Sequential Memory, Spatial Relations, Form Constancy, Figure Ground, Visual Closure) > Visual Integration 
"Visual Routine is a simple, easy to program visual schedule that helps your autistic or special needs child keep a routine. Routines can be tailored to their needs with audio feedback, and customizable pictures, audio, and text. Up to 4 choices can be embedded within each routine item, enabling someone to pick between options." "Fun with Directions is a ground-breaking app, designed to provide a fun and engaging way to practice listening, following directions, colors, spatial concepts, auditory memory and auditory processing. From the simplest of directions (“Touch the cat”) to the more complex (“With your orange crayon, color the large one that is a furry pet and likes to chase mice”) your child can grow and learn with this game over time. Sound effects and surprises keep the game engaging!
This app is a great choice for a toddler/preschooler, or any young child who would like to practice listening to or reading directions!"
Fun with Directions includes ten concepts: Give, touch, open, close, top, middle, bottom, push, color, erase. 
Check out the free apps for Autism Awareness Month. 
> Read&Write Web – With the Read&Write Web toolbar you can access and interact with web content using Text-to-Speech with dual color highlighting. This app includes a Dictionary and Picture Dictionary to look up unfamiliar words, Translator to translate selected words into multiple languages, Study Skills to highlight and extract important pieces of information, and Fact Finder to research on the web. > eBook Reader – Allows a user to log into Bookshare, search for, open or save a Bookshare eBook, and read the book aloud with dual color highlighting. You can also personalize speech and reading options. > Speech – Designed for smaller mobile devices and smartphones, Speech allows users to read aloud any typed or pasted text with color highlighting. > Dictionary – Another App meant for smaller mobile devices, Dictionary allows users to look up get both definitions and images and read aloud text definitions. 
Tina Childress, an educational audiologist and late deafened adult has compiled the most comprehensive list of apps relating to working with kids and adults with hearing loss. She has reviewed thousands of apps in this category and has made recommendations. She has a link to the that website where she created a Google spreadsheet with the apps place in these categories:
> Accessibility > Audiology > Sign Language > Sound Level Meters > Role Playing > Speech > Sound Therapy
Paul Hamilton writes about Speak Selection, a new feature in iOS5 that offers a TTS tool that can be used by learners who struggle with text. He also includes how to use the Define within Speak Selection.
"This will read aloud any selected text — in a web article, a text editor, an email, in Twitter, in text messages, or just about anywhere. It isn’t perfect. For example, Speak Selection won’t read in Facebook.
It is worth noting that Define is another helpful feature that is new in iOS5. This is available whether Speak Selection is turned on or not. Both features, however, are made available in exactly the same way. When a single word is selected, you are offered a Define button. When Speak Selection is turned on, ‘Define’ is offered at the same time as ‘Speak’"
Thank you, Paul! 
A special education teacher reflects on Book Creator and how it motivates students who are resistant writers. Here is her story:
"As a Special Education teacher of upper elementary grades, I have several students who are resistant writers. This app has amazing potential to motivate them to write more since the finished product is beautiful, accessible, intuitive, and reflective of their efforts.
I have been using this app with one of my students with intellectual disabilities and what an incredible tool! We took pictures of this student making various emotional faces and then helped her draft a repetition book. She loved being able to record herself reading the pages and willingly practiced and practiced her Frye words and her fluency, without even realizing that she was doing it. She is also happily practicing pronunciation and sentence structure, skills that she would sometimes prefer to ignore!"
Thank you Melanie for telling your story.
"MAIN FEATURES:
Download TextGrabber + Translator and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. 
Speaking of useful apps, this one's a genuine life-changer. John, a seven year old who has autism, uses the Proloquo2go app, which turns pictures into sentences then voices them out loud so they can be repeated.
April 2nd marks World Autism Awareness Day, as research suggests one in 100 children are now diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Via Barbara Bray 
AppWriter by LingApps is the first text editor for the iPad to offer users of all ages with reading and writing disabilities. It includes a set of integrated tools that include TTS, word prediction and a Mobile OCR Kit. What does this mean? Convert any printed text to a readable format from your iPad!
Here are the features:
> No WiFi or 3G needed; everything is embedded and runs directly on the iPad > High quality TTS with highlighting as text is being read > OCR - "Any paper document or image becomes accessible. Through the integration of Mobile OCRKit, textbooks, photocopies and handouts are easily converted into text documents. The text can be spoken out loud by AppWriter with color highlighting or edited. AppWriter OCR is the simplest and most affordable way to get any textbook or handout converted for everyone to read and listen to on an iPad. AppWriter OCR comes in more than 12 different languages." > Word Prediction with the ability to hear each word before selection. > File Management - emailed, copied to clipboard or export to DropBox.
This will level the playing field for millions of students worldwide! |
Grace App is a non-speaking, simple picture communication system developed for people with Autism to communicate their needs independently.
"Why use Grace App?
> Support Independence: Grace App was developed to be a communication system that the user controls independently, to discriminate their needs.
> Support Consistency in Communication: Grace App is portable, discreet, personal, always available and easy to use and maintain. Choose, take, add photographs and replicate across as many Apple devices that you like.
> Build Social Interaction: With Grace App the user must present the visual sentence and interact with a listener who models, prompts & rewards the user’s attempted pronunciation of each word." 
Paul Hamilton lists the top apps for students who struggle with text. Just 13 more ways to level the playing field!
> Paperport: Note-taking app with audio and voice recognition > Text Grabber: Turn hard copy to readable PDF > Cloudon: Do equations and other math on the iPad > Type on PDF: Complete tests on the iPad; import PDF's form Dropbox > Abilipad: Word prediction with TTS > Nebulous Notes: Text editor; integrates with DropBox > AudioNote: Combine typed and handwritten notes with built in mic to record voice. > Dragon Dictation: Easy to use voice recognition; use "Speak Selection" to read dictated work. > vBookz PDF Voice Reader: TTS for reading PDF files > GoodReader: Offers TTS for text files; works with DropBox > Idea Sketch: Create mind map and turn it into an outline. > Book Creator: Create and share multimedia projects on the iPad > Side by Side: Split iPad screen into up to customizable "windows"
"OneVoice, an iPad app that helps those with disabilities communicate, released a new version with support for 22 languages. This makes OneVoice the only professional augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) app that supports a language besides English. Finally giving voices to users all around the world.
The languages include German, Spanish, Brazilian Portugese, Arabic, and many more. Some languages have a single speaking style called a voice. Others like French have six unique voices so that users can find something that most closely matches their speaking style.
Until now, professional quality AAC applications have solely been in English, overlooking other languages. So the new languages provided by OneVoice open up a whole new communication opportunities to children around the world." 
Here are a set of ESL apps that are free for the using. The author of this list has asked that you rate these apps after you have used them. They include: > Site Words for Reading HD > ESL Express > iGE Lite > Phonics Word Family Free > LearnEnglish
From Carole Zangari of PrAACtical AAC, here is a list of 49 Free or Lite Versions of AAC Apps. Here are some considerations when selecting these apps.
AAC App Considerations
> Core word approach or functional language approach or visual scene approach > Pre-made communication displays or create your own > Sentence building options > Options for morphological learning > Allows for full communication including requests, saying no, greetings, ventings, and sharing of information
- from Technology in (SPL) Education 
Here are three iPad apps that can offer an easy way for parents to encourage speech and language skills in toddlers with communication delays. "Simple cause and effect apps are perfectly age appropriate for this group. Let’s look at some simple ways to use these apps to encourage expressive language."
> Peek-a-Boo Barn: " A much loved app by many therapists. A great place to start with this app is to imitate the noise the animals make when they appear. Children’s first sounds for words include M, B, P, W."
> Furry Friend: "Lenord is a sweet furry friend who can repeat what you say. This is great for our little ones working on communication."
> Zoo Train: "a bit more advanced and more appropriate for your 3-4 year old. It’s a great example of an opportunity to use environmental sounds."
Thank you Jenna for sharing these apps! 
Speech-language pathologist, Joan L. Green, makes her app picks for kids with learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorders. These apps were selected based on the option to individualize them for a child's particular needs. She includes apps in the following categories: > Speech > Language > Reading > Writing and spelling > Organization and Note taking > Communication > Listening skills 
Revolutionary apps for simplifying everyday life with brain injury
"Almost everyday, we hear of new smartphone applications (“apps”) developed for just about everything — from staying organized to finding pharmacies or restaurants while on the road. It’s hard to keep up.
The BrainLine team sifted through many resources to collect this list of iPhone, iTouch, and iPad apps that could be useful to people with a brain injury — and their families and caregivers. We will cover other smartphone platforms in the next installment of this series."
Download the app chart on this site! The iModeling Boundaries™ app teaches a child the boundaries of touch. It uses photos (uploaded by the parent/carer) of people involved in the child’s life. The child sorts these photos into groups. Each group has a specific relationship (e.g. family and friends) and a specific kind of touch (hugs and kisses) designated to it.
This sorting process needs to be guided by the parent/carer of the child. The iModeling Boundaries™ app gives the parent/carer the tool to start the conversation around the boundaries of touch and relationships.
The iModeling Boundaries™ app combines two current models of safe-touch; the contact model, which focuses on the types of contact you might have, and the relationship model, which focuses on the type of relationships you engage in. We call the iModeling Boundaries™ app a contact and relationship model." "iModeling app is a Video Modeling application designed to teach skills to people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other disabilities. Video Modeling uses video to teach new skills. It can be used to teach people of any skill level.
Video modeling is an evidence-based intervention which uses video to teach skills to children with autism and other disabilities. It can be used to teach skills to people of any developmental level.
iModeling™ app puts video modeling technology in the palm of your hand – you can plan, film and edit video footage for your child on one device. An inbuilt tutorial explains the basics of video modeling therapy.
And most important of all, the technique has been researched over three years by Autism SA, an organization with almost fifty years experience delivering services and therapy to people with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
To celebrate Autism Awareness Month, the iModeling and iModeling Boundaries apps created in conjunction with Autism SA are now on sale!" 
Included with this app list are lesson ideas and ways to create a Playlist using MentorMob.
"These apps are incredibly engaging and meet the needs of our diverse learners. They allow learners to interact with the plot, characters, and even design of the story. They also support multiple learning styles because they are visual, have sound, and animation. Students can even begin to craft their own stories using their voices, drawings, images, videos, and so much more!
Check out each of the apps in the playlist I created with a really cool free tool, Mentor Mob, which helps educators organize online learning content into a simple Learning Playlist platform. AutismTrack is free today in recognition of Word Autism Awareness Day. This app usually cost $49.99.
AutismTrack™ is a journaling tool that empowers caregivers of those with autism to easily track interventions, behaviors and symptoms. 
Paul Hamilton has offered an excellent review of vBookz PDF Voice Reader for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. The key app features:
•16 languages aloud. •Open any PDF directly from the mail, dropbox or iTunes sync. •Read almost any PDF aloud. •Reading orientation tools. •Auto text follower mechanism. •High quality male and female voices.
Here are some of Paul's comments: "It could hardly be easier to bring PDF files into vBookz PDF Voice Reader! Simply open a PDF email attachment, or a PDF file in your DropBox account. Then click on the forward icon to be given the option of opening the file in vBookz PDF Voice Reader. Once a PDF file has been opened, it remains on a book shelf in the “Library” for future reference. The process seems to work well with both short files and those that are book-length."
There is also a version of vBookz PDF Voice Reader for Mac computers. |
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