Saturday 18 October 2014

Suggested AT program Program for a Dyslexic student

Suggested AT program Program for a Dyslexic student
Stephen Cordwell, ISTV and Print Disability Specialist Teacher.

Contents



1. Personal Observation Notes (interview format)

2. Recommendations and Ideas

3. Program Introduction and Rationale

4. Required Equipment

5. Proposed Program







1.Personal Observation Notes



Name: Student X
Age: 16 YO
School: A High School
SDL: History of multiple interventions and diagnosis of dyslexia/print disability.


Interests:
Wood works
Rugby
Body-Boarding


Dislikes:
English
Math


Q: If you had to read something would you prefer at home or school?
A. At home is better for reading
* Student X rarely if ever hands in work from home


Q: What is your main way to record ideas in class?
A. Notes App on iPad


* A check of Student X’s notes app and school books reveals that Student X has recorded 0 information this year in written form and only a few lines of text are to be seen in his NOTES app on the iPad- it is currently October, Term 3 and Student X is in Yr 10.


Q: Do you use any technology to access curriculum information currently?
A.  Photos of shopping lists and Speech Selection on iPad


Q: Do you use the internet to find information?
A. Only really the NRL website because i know where to find the information i want.(the scores)


*Student X has an amateur photograph as his cover on his iPad of Waves Breaking at a local beach, and he admits he is interested in photography and has used a proper camera before and enjoyed it


Q: Do you prefer typing or writing?
a: Writing
* However it bears to mention that there is no evidence of written work anywhere in Student X’s Locker, Bag etc, only some typed class notes on the iPad.
Q: What would be the best way to record your thoughts if you could choose?
A: Using my voice
Q: Do you like the idea of dictating to a computer program?
A: Yes, i tried Dragon a few years ago but it didn’t seem to work very well- i’d like it if it worked better.


Student Xs Computing Teacher
“ I have Student X for graphics, i chose a less complicated alternative drawing program on a Windows Machine, whilst the other students used a more advanced drawing program.  Student X was able to complete the drawing but unable to email me any of his work”


Student X’s English Teacher
“ I have Student X for English and i modified the lesson by providing Student X with an audiobook on an SD card but Student X did not know how to use an SD card and i’m not sure his iPad can read them.”


Student X’s Special Ed Coordinator
Student X does not adopt to new technology quickly or independently as his peers do, I suspect he is thwarted by the literary component on his technology for use.Student X learns and represents best by speaking and listening and requires high structure to tasks in which learning is effective. In most interventions, Student X will typically show improvement to start with but his success is not sustained or maintained and Student X tends to forget what he has been taught quickly unless it is taught or understood in a meaningful way so that it becomes long-term memory.


Q. Student X, is there a teacher here who teaches you in a way that you enjoy and understand best?
A. Yes, My Science Teacher explains things in a way that i understand.


Q. What technology do you currently have access to at home?
A. Personal iPhone, iPad for School, Mac for School that stays at home, Windows Machine used in some classes.
Q. Out of these which do you think is currently the best tool out of the three for Class?
A. The computer is probably better


Q. How do you find contacts on your list on your iphone to send them messages?
A. Oh i just type the beginning of their name into the searchbar and they come up
Q. Have you ever done an email to a teacher
A. No, I Can’t Email
* Upon inspection, Student X’s iPad is set up with School Account- but never used for emailing work- i’m personally  confident that Student X could email as the skillset for emailing and SMS on an iPhone are almost identical but i suspect that Student X has not been explicitly taught these things or had them reinforced within class- i suspect that Student X is not familiar enough with any one particular Operating System to have found any consistency to learn these operational fundamentals.
2. Recommendations and Ideas.


General Tech


  • Formal overview of Mac,IOS, Windows- what they are and why they are different and how to manage these devices.
  • Introduction to Dyslexic Fonts and Basic Text-to-Speech in MAC and IOS


Core Training


Read And Write Gold and Dragon on  Windows machine- and proper training on the windows laptop


iPad/iPhone
  • Effective use of Reminders,Calendar and Notes to organise.
  • Prizmo to GRAB text from Worksheets
  • Google Maps with Voice for navigation
  • Tripview for Travel Training
  • iBooks and Voiceover
  • iPad for Internet Exploring
  • Finding Information with Search
  • SIRI and Dragon Dictation (if they ever work within a CEO environment)

3. Program Rationale



The following is a proposed educational program to introduce and equip Student X with specific AT skills to assist in his special print access requirements.

Student X currently struggles to read and write in print and has limited access to his iPad and School Computer. The purpose of this program will be first to address access problems and issues Student X may be having in his general computer use and then to equip Student X with some AT tools that will enhance his access to curriculum materials and be compatible with Student X’s issued laptop in his next school.

4. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED



Teacher Requires
*Windows Laptop with Dragon Dictation and ReadandWriteGold installed. ( Currently will only require Read and Write Gold for Windows on work laptop)


* iPad with Siri and the following others apps, Prizmo, Reminders, Calendar, Notes,s Google Maps, Tripview Lite, Ibooks with some books loaded up, Dragon Dictation,  iReadWrite


*note* I will need a day with the device in advance  to learn how to use SIRI with Dragon Dictation, and iReadWrite as well as organisation apps myself)- i currently only personally own an ipad 1 which is no longer compatible with modern apps or operating systems- i’ll be unable to teach these skills without first learning them myself.


Student Requires


Student Laptop with  WINDOWS, Read and Write Gold , Dragon Dictation, Microsoft Office,


iPad 3rd Generation or higher with the following apps
Reminders,Calendar and Notes to organise.
Prizmo 10.99
Google Maps with Voice for navigation
Tripview Lite
iBooks
SIRI and Dragon Dictation (+verified as working  within a CEO environment)


5. Proposed Program.



Stage
Objective
Indicator
Equipment required
Rationale
Evaluation
1
Showcase and orientation of Accessible Machine
Student X should know a few basic Dragon commands and demonstrate starting up his computer and APPS and opening a word document ready to go with his voice set up.
A Windows Laptop with Read and Write Gold, Dragon Dictation, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer.
It will be useful for Student X to first get to see and experience a computer that is customised for himself and has the necessary tools that he will work with. I will show Student X very basic computer operation and demonstrate the use of read and write gold and dragon dictation. After which i will set Student X up so that he can train his voice to Dragon Dictation.

2
Touch Typing Basics and File management Basics.
Student X should be able to identify the correct typing position and will need to know basic OS functionality to save, organise and send his work.

Student X should be able to navigate to MYDOCUMENTS and create folders and demonstrate saving files into these folders.
A Windows Laptop with Read and Write Gold, Dragon Dictation, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer.
For Student X to successfully use a computer as a piece of AT it is essential that he has an understanding of basic file management and operation of his Windows Laptop which will be issued next year at his new school

3
Advanced Read and Write Gold Features

Voiceover on iPad with Browser and Ibooks

Laptop with Read and Write Gold and word processor as well as iPad with admin rights and access to the Net.
This lesson will focus on the options Student X has for customising voice, pitch and speed as well as verbosity and to use his read and write gold app to read emails i will send him.

4
Advanced Speech with Dragon Dictation
Student X should be able to save and open files using Dragon as well as cite the majoroperational features of Dragon in word processing and text entry. Furthermore Student X will need to be able to demonstrate how he will find additional keyboard shortcuts and voice commands in the manual using Read and Write Gold to have this read out to him.

Laptop with Dragon Dictation and Word Processor
This stage will teach Student X about Dragon Dictation- basic computer functions, Punctuation and Text entry as well as How to operate the computer basically using Dragon.


No comments:

Post a Comment