Where It's AT: Mrs. DiChiara's Technology Blog: December 2017

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Where It's AT: A Year in Review

Thank you to all of my incredible Twitter followers and Where It's AT subscribers. I hope you continue to find the resources and information shared here to be of value to you, your children and students. Your support is deeply appreciated and I look forward to another exciting year filled with learning and growing together.

And without further delay here's the Where It's AT: Year in Review....click on the title to access the article

▼ December

▼ November

▼ October

▼ September

▼ June

▼ May

▼ April

▼ March

▼ February

▼ January

Friday, December 22, 2017

Seasons Greetings

10 Tips for Special Needs Families Celebrating the Holiday Season

The holiday season brings great delight and happiness, but let's also keep it real...It can be stressful. And even more so for parents of special needs children. The following article, 10 Tips for Special Needs Families Celebrating the Holiday Season, by Courtney Barnum highlights important tips to bring back the joy and reduce unnecessary stresses during this time of year.

Her top 10 includes:

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare!
Have an escape plan.
Shop online.
Let go of perfection.
Always take food.
Let them be comfy.
Let us stim.
Take fidgets, tablets, phones and more.
Don't feel bad for saying no.
Do what makes your child happy.

For more details, click here to read the full article! It's definitely worth the read!

Source: The Mighty

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Webinar Wednesday: Center for Technology and Disability Webinar Central

Looking to enhance your professional practice or support your child's learning difficulties, be sure to check out these free, real-time and archived webinars on all focused on various AssistiveTechnology topics from the

Center for Technology and Disability.

https://www.ctdinstitute.org/cafe

A few of the December topics included....

-Use Audio & Video to Engage Students and Promote UDL

-Giving Instant Feedback to Disabled Students with Technology to Create Engagement and Motivation

-Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Accessibility in Higher Education

-AAC Implementation Plans: Preparing for Successful Communication

-Call to Action: Addressing Digital Accessibility

-Transition Tech Tools to Empower Your Student

-Making it Happen: Addressing Digital Accessibility

-Technologies and Strategies to Help Students Start, Focus, and Finish Strong

Be sure to check out the long list of topics available for viewing!

Monday, December 18, 2017

Motivational Monday

Friday, December 15, 2017

Friday "Appy" Hour: Easy Spelling Aid

Although this year I was unable to attend the IDA (International Dyslexia Association) Conference, I did use the power of social media to keep up with some of the highlights being shared by my Twitter PLN (Personal Learning Network). As a sidebar, if you are unsure of what a PLN is or the immense benefits of being connected on social media, please read by previous Where It's AT post "Getting Connected".

Amongst the Twitter highlights from IDA, I happened upon a post regarding an app called Easy Spelling Aid. After doing some quick reading, my interest was peaked and I needed to see firsthand what this app was all about.

As with my first encounter with Epic!, my initial thought was.....how did I not know about this app sooner? As a technology specialist, I immediately thought of the many students who require ongoing spelling support, and Easy Spelling Aid app does just that! Not only is this app suited for students and adults with learning difficulties, but also for those learning to read and write or others looking for a translation tool to and from English?

The Easy Spelling Aid app is the perfect tool to help children learn how to spell and write any word at home and at school. This app can spell words or phrases instantly by utilizing superior speech recognition, finely tuned to pick up on your child's voice.
Key Features...

Improves literacy performance and spelling, helps with comprehension and vocabulary and develops recognition and correct spelling of words in their appropriate context
Reduces blocks in the creative thought process when users stumble across a word they cannot independently spell.
Provides a way to easily and quickly find out how to spell the word without having to wait for a parent, teacher or assistant to help them.
Boasts superior, accurate and incredibly fine-tuned speech recognition
Supports 22 languages, including regional US English
Includes writing styles US D'Nealian Manuscript and US D'Nealian Cursive.
Also includes the Open Dyslexic font displayed in a choice of 6 background color combinations, as a means to accommodate users suffering from dyslexia and improve readability.
No ads, in app purchases, externals links and profanity is filtered

How It Works...

Step 1: With an easy-to-use interface and seamless user experience, users are presented with a clear blue user-friendly interface. The instruction "Touch mic & talk" is displayed above the circular mic symbol. On touching the symbol, you will be prompted to "Talk". By pressing "Done", the app will begin processing the word or phrase dictated.

Step 2: Upon pressing "Done", the app will proceed to produce your input displayed in your chosen writing style.

Step 3: The chosen writing style can be changed in the Settings, which are also easily navigated to from the main screen. Additionally, within the Settings, you can change between multiple languages, select translation language, reverse translation, select a background, select a dyslexic option, display upper and lower case letters and turn off speech output if you wish.

Cost...

The Easy Spelling app is available on Google Play, Amazon Apps and the Apple App Store.

Google Play: $3.99
Amazon Apps: $4.99
Apple App Store: $5.99

Download Easy Spelling Aid now!

EASY SPELLING AID

EASY SPELLING AID

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

ADHD and Dyslexia: Why Do They So Often Co-Occur?

Source: Understood

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

7 Special Needs Parenting Podcasts Worth Listening To

As educators and parents we are often searching for the latest information to help support our youngest learners. Podcasts are an excellent way to obtain the latest information on matters affecting your students or children from many leading experts in the respective fields. Nicole Eredics, a former teacher, education writer, parent and advocate, compiled a list of the top 7 special needs parenting podcasts that are worth listening to. Below is an abbreviated list. Click the link to read a more in-depth description of what each podcast has to offer.