other types of assistive technology

Chris2

This discussion was created from comments split from: Hi, I'm Chris, I am an Adaptive Technology Specialist.

Chris2

Hi all

We get a lot of visitors on this forum looking for advice on all sorts of technology. I have responded to a lot of posts regarding iPads and touch screens (please keep the questions coming), but there are many other types of assistive technology available that can change someone's life and offer them a means to greater independence so I just wanted to offer some topic suggestions. I have recently been using a head tracker with individuals, where they use head movements to control the mouse pointer. This coupled with the latest incarnation of Clicker 6 is a fantastic learning and literacy tool.
Switch accessible IT resources are great activities for individuals who have physical access difficulties but also for able-bodied individuals who require extra support with the sequencing and processing of IT based tasks. Used with the right software, switches can enable a support worker or teacher to break down an IT process for an individual such as accessing and using the internet into more manageable steps. Of course, skills learned on a computer can also be transferred in to other areas of assistive technology to enable someone to make use of environmental controls or voice output communication devices for example. Windows 7 has some pretty nice accessibility features and voice recognition software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking allows a person to give commands and create written work on a computer by speaking to it. There is now a Dragon Naturally Speaking app available on the iPad which I will be trialling very soon. So some things to think about there and as always, please feel free to post questions…