Team of Advocates for Special Kids
Technology E-Newsletter

November 2015
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Upcoming Assistive Technology Workshops
  
  
Apps for Older Students
Wednesday, November 11
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
TASK Anaheim
Call (714) 533-8275 for more information or to register for this workshop.
  
Reading and Writing Tips and Tricks
Thursday, November 12
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
TASK Anaheim
Call (714) 533-8275 for more information or to register for this workshop.
  
Apps for Older Students
Thursday, November 19
9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Westside Family Resource and Empowerment Center
Culver City
Call (310) 258-4243 for more information or to register for this workshop.
  
Reading and Writing Tips and Tricks
Wednesday, December 9
9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Westside Family Resource and Empowerment Center
Culver City
Call (310) 258-4243 for more information or to register for this workshop.
  
  
For more workshops, including our workshops on special education and parental rights and responsibilities under the law, please visit the full workshop schedule on the TASK website.
   
  
  
  
TASK Membership  
  
  
Please consider joining TASK as a member! Members receive the following benefits: 
  • Free TECH Labs
  • Bimonthly 28-page TASK newsletters 
  • Membership is tax-deductible
Membership is as low as $35.00 per year, per family. We need your support to continue to provide a central resource center for legal rights and responsibilities information and to continue providing TECH Center services. You can join online; visit the Membership page on our website for more information. 
   
    
  
  
 TASK Needs Board Members 
  
  
Are you the parent of a child with special needs? Has TASK helped you in the past? Perhaps you are a professional that has worked with TASK advocates or attended one of our many workshops? TASK is currently recruiting members for our Board of Directors. Make a difference by helping to guide our organization into the future.  Please note that board positions are on a volunteer basis. Board members must be willing to participate in our monthly board meetings via toll-free conference call. Call Brenda Smith, our Deputy Director, at (714) 533-8275 for more information about this exciting opportunity or to request a board packet. 
 
Fall is officially here, although you would not know it by our weather here in sunny Southern California! This month, I have quite an assortment of lovely assistive technologies.
  
First of all, I would like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to Therapy Box for donating ALL of their wonderful apps to TASK's TECH Center. We are proud to be a preview center for this amazing company. Their apps include:
  
Inku
With intelligent word prediction and an intuitive spell check, inku is designed to make typing with dyslexia much, much easier! Check out inku in action with this YouTube video.
  
Rhyming Bus: Sounds for Spelling and Reading  
Rhyme judgment is a key skill for early reading and speech development. Help Dubdub and his friends board the rhyming bus! Designed by a speech therapist and brought to life in a fun game designed for early readers. Uniquely illustrated with a choice of either a London or New York skyline, this app is sure to engage early readers and their parents alike!
  
ChatAble
Create and use symbol based grids...or use photos to make visual scene displays. Or take both and create a hybrid page. The possibilities are endless with ChatAble. ChatAble is an easy to use communication aid app for people with communication difficulties who benefit from symbol and photo support. Parents, teachers and therapists can create page sets in minutes with an intuitive set up. The customization options are extensive to enable people with a range of physical, cognitive and language abilities the opportunity to use the app to communicate at home, school or with their family and friends.
  
Predictable: Text-Based Communication App
Multi-award winning app for people with speech disabilities who need a sleek, simple and smart way to communicate! Predictable allows a person to type a message using the intelligent word prediction, which learns their pattern of use, making prediction even faster. Use Nuance voices, record your own voice saying familiar phrases or use your voice-banked ModelTalker voice.  NOTE: This app is available in multiple languages, including Spanish.
 
New and Notable Info on Apps:
  
New App: Seasame Street and Autism, by Sesame Street (FREE!)
These resources are for all families, with or without children with autism. They'll help build understanding, reduce stigma, and provide support with everyday routines. For parents and caregivers, the Sesame Street and Autism: See Amazing in All Children app provides tools to help families with preschool children with autism, as well as help those just learning about autism celebrate differences and build bridges of acceptance. Read more about the app on the AppyMall website.
  
9 Apps and Tools that Build Better Working Memory
These 9 apps, games, and other tools can help your child improve his working memory-retaining more of what he works so hard to learn. 
 
Reading Apps that Help People Who Are Blind Enjoy Books and News
VisionAware posted yet another super-informative assistive technology blog about reading apps on their website October 8, 2015. The piece, written by Steve Kelley, CVRT, VisionAware contributor, titled, "Five Great Reading Apps for Booklovers Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired," gives an overview of the various features offered by five iOS device-compatible reading apps (four of which are free apps). The five apps detailed include the NFB Newsline app, Voice Dream Reader, iBlink Radio, AIRS-LA, and Bard Mobile. To learn more about these apps, visit the post at VisionAware.
  
New Free iBook: Handsfree: Mastering Switch Control on iOS
Luis Perez and Christopher Hills have released an iBook about switch control. Switch Control is a powerful accessibility feature that is built into iOS and OS X to allow users who are unable to use a touch screen hands-free access beyond simple taps. With Switch Control, users with motor difficulties can perform most multi-touch gestures, control many of the media playback features of their devices and more. This book is an international collaboration between Christopher Hills, an accessibility consultant and expert Switch Control user from Australia, and Luis Perez, an inclusive learning consultant based in the U.S. With step by step directions supported by closed captioned videos that explore each Switch Control feature in detail, these two fellows will have you well on your way to becoming a true Switch Master. The book covers the latest Switch Control features introduced in iOS 9. You can download a copy of the book for free.
 
Everyone probably best knows Siri as female and American, but what you may not realize is that you can actually change Siri to a male voice and even give it a different accent or language. Normally when you activate Siri, it will respond in an American, female voice, which many iPhone and iPad users may have long assumed is the only way "she" works. You can, however, change Siri so it responds in a male voice, with either an Australian or British accent, and even another language. Read the article on How-To-Geek to learn how.
  
Pictello meets Tar Heel Reader
Ever heard of Tar Heel Reader? It's a wonderful collection of free books on a wide range of topics, founded by the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies. From now on, you can import and enhance Tar Heel Reader stories in Pictello. No need to update your Pictello, and it's free! Read more about it on the AssistiveWare website.
Online Finds:
  
Get Peanutized!
Although this isn't specifically assistive technology, it is FUN! With the release of the new Peanuts Movie on November 6th, this website allows you to turn yourself into a customized cartoon character from the Peanuts world.
  
Download How to Control Windows 10: The Settings Guide 
The control panel, one of the most important interfaces in Windows, is being slowly retired. In its place, Microsoft has introduced a successor, a process that began in Windows 8 and continues in Windows 10 with the new Settings app. Download this eBook and get started learning about Windows 10 settings today!
  
2015 Attainment Catalog
The 2015 Attainment Catalog is now available to browse online or to download. Attainment Company is a wonderful resource for social and life skills curriculum, apps, software and much more!
 
12 Computer Programs, Websites and Apps for Making Social Stories
For many children with special needs social stories are very helpful for staying on task and ensuring that the child is prepared for future events and activities. Social stories can:
  • Improve a child's behavior when there are changes in routines
  • Encourage a child to complete less-preferred tasks
  • Reinforce or teach abstract concepts, such as time (e.g. next, later), actions and prepositions (e.g. open, put in)
  • Break down multi-step tasks into smaller, more manageable parts
  • Increase your child's independence by improving his ability to complete parts of his routine with less hints or prompting

Making social stories for your child with special needs can be a time-consuming task. This article from Friendship Circle  features 12 sites that will help you make effective social stories.
That's all for this month. I hope you found these resources to be helpful. We at TASK wish you and your family a safe and joyful Thanksgiving.
 
Happy APPing!
 
Laura Simmons-Martinez
Technology Project Director
Team of Advocates for Special Kids

TASK is a nonprofit Parent Training and Information Center that serves all ages and all disabilities. TASK is funded in part by grants from the U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education. The views expressed in this e-mail newsletter do not necessarily represent those of TASK, the U.S. Department of Education, the State of California or any other funding source, nor are they an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before congress. Advertisements or refernces to trade names, commercial products or organizations do not constitute endorsement by any of the above.