Motivational Monday

AAC Awareness Month: Deep Discounts with Assistiveware

To celebrate AAC Awareness Month AssistiveWare will be offering a 50% discount on 4 of their popular apps: Proloquo2Go, Proloquo4Text, Pictello and Keeble. Gateway to Language & Learning©, the core word vocabulary available through an in-app purchase in Proloquo2Go, will also be at half price.

The discount, available worldwide on the App Store, will be in effect from October 10th through October 12th.

If you buy more, you save more

The discount also applies to Apple’s Volume Purchase Program for Education. When your school or educational organization purchases 20 copies or more, you get an additional 50% off! That's 75% off the original price!

Spread the word

Do you know people who could benefit from these apps? Make sure you share the news about this limited-time discount!

If you have any questions about the discount please contact the AssistiveWare support team at support@assistiveware.com

* Please note: The discount percentage is based on the US App Store. Exact prices vary from country to country. Bundles will not be discounted during this promotion.

AAC Awareness Month: TouchChat 50% off October 4-6

For the first time ever, the TouchChat app is going to be offered 50% off for 3 days only to celebrate AAC Awareness Month!  The discount will be valid Wednesday, October 4th through Friday, October 6th.

This promotion includes all TouchChat apps worldwide (except Classic TouchChat). However, the discount does NOT apply to in-app purchases.

To purchase TouchChat in the App Store:  simply go to the App Store, search for TouchChat App, make the appropriate selection (make sure it shows up as 1/2 off), and purchase using your Apple ID.

To purchase Touchchat using a Purchase Order:  Purchase orders need to be dated October 4, 5, or 6 and they need to be received  by us through email (info@touchchatapp.com) or fax (330-674-6726) on October 4, 5, or 6.  Any P.O.'s received outside of these dates will not honor the discounted purchase price.  NO Purchase Orders will be accepted by any means outside of fax or email.  Purchase Order pricing will include tax. 

Purchase Order pricing is 

$82.50--TouchChat HD app

$165—TouchChat HD with WordPower app

Note: The discount % is based on the US App Store. Exact prices may vary in other countries.

Dyslexia Awareness Month: Dyslexia Explained eBook

Although dyslexia has become a more common discussion in classrooms and homes, it is certainly not a black and white disability. Just like snowflakes, each person with dyslexia is unique in how their disability manifests. If you’ve heard the term dyslexia and aren’t sure what it means, you’re not alone. Many questions tend to arise when it comes to dyslexia.The incredible folks at Nessy created an eBook, Dyslexia Explained, to provide answers and help others develop a better understanding of dyslexia. Below you can find an overview of the book and the chapters highlighted. Click here to access the full Dyslexia Explained eBook.

Click here to access the full

Dyslexia Explained eBook. 

Dyslexia Awareness Month: A Recap of Past Resources

Dyslexia Awareness Week is aimed at encouraging appropriate screening, assessment and intervention for those living with dyslexia. Additionally, it provides a platform to provide education on and debunk the myths about dyslexia. Take a look back at some of the incredible resources previously posted about dyslexia on Where It's AT to help kick off this week. Be sure to stay tuned here for more valuable resources to come! 

• Understanding the Struggles of the ADHD & Dyslexic Child
• Dyslexia and the Brain
• Learning Ally's 1 in 5 Initiative
• Everyone Reading: Dyslexia - Making it Personal
• Decoding Dyslexia
• Assistive Technology at a Glance
• Embracing Dyslexia
• Why Audiobooks Work Infographic
• Assistive Tech 101: Basics for Students with Dyslexia
• Dos and Don'ts on Designing for Accessibility
• Demystifying the 4 D's: Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dyspraxia and Dysgraphia
• Dyslexia....There's an App for That!
• Webinar Wednesday: Alumni Webinar: Assistive Technology in the Workplace with Jamie Martin
• Friday "Appy" Hour: Reading With Dyslexia Simplified With Pocket

Dyslexia Awareness Month: 10 Classroom Indicators of Dyslexia

The following list of 10 Classroom Indicators of Dyslexia was created and compiled by Nessy. Nessy has been making fun, educational software for children since 1999 and has developed a reputation for exceptional quality. Nessy offers the complete dyslexia aware solution with a suite of multi-sensory products aimed at making learning to read, write and spell fun. Nessy has a fun, multi-sensory approach to learning through games, videos, worksheets and a suite of apps to help build confidence and teach valuable reading, writing and spelling skills. Visit the Nessy website to learn more about the products they offer.

To read the original article click here.

Signs of dyslexia usually become more obvious when children start school and begin to focus on reading and writing. Here are ten of the most common warning signs.

1. Phonological awareness

This is the ability to recognise individual sounds (phonemes) and work with phonemes to create new words.

Typical problems are:

• Confusing vowel sounds, e.g. writing ‘i’ for ‘e’.
• Difficulty rhyming.
• Chunking words into syllables.
• Blending sounds into a whole word.

2. Typical spelling mistakes

• Spelling words as they sound
e.g. wont instead of want
• Mixing up the sequence of letters
e.g. hlep instead of help
• Reversing the sequence of letters
e.g. was instead of saw
• Missing out a letter
e.g. wich instead of which
• Using the wrong letter
e.g. showt instead of shout
• Adding an extra letter
e.g. whent instead of went
• Using a ‘t’ instead of ‘ed’
e.g. lookt instead of looked
• Can’t remember when to use ‘ck’ or ‘ke’ at the end
e.g. lick instead of like


Words and letters are often jumbled in the mind.




3. Unable to remember times tables and number sequences



A multiplication fact may seem to be learned and then a few days later has been forgotten again.
The same goes for phone and pin numbers. Difficulty remembering a sequence of numbers is a sure sign of dyslexia.



4. Writing

Someone with dyslexia is likely to have lots of ideas but have difficulty putting them into writing.
They will take much longer to write and produce less than other students.
Many people with dyslexia write long, rambling sentences with no punctuation.
Although there may be lots of ideas they often do not know where to start.



5. Reading

Immediately forgetting what has just been read.
Slower reading speed.
Missing out words or skipping lines as they read.



Have you ever read a page, got to the bottom and realised you’ve just forgotten everything you read?This happens all the time to those with dyslexia. Words and their meanings don’t stick very well.
Reading becomes slow when you have to work out every word.
So much mental energy is used on the process that no memory capacity is left to comprehend.

Dyslexia means you may read a word and then further down the page not recognise it again. There is no visual memory of the word.
Their eyes can seem to jump over words, missing them out, skip out whole lines, sometimes they just skip part of a word.



6. Homophones: there – their

A homophone sounds the same as another word but is spelled differently.
They are a nightmare for those with dyslexia who usually have a poor memory for how a word looks and quickly learn to rely upon the strategy of learning to spell a word by building it phonetically. This doesn’t work for homophones.




7. Do you know the Alphabet? Backwards!



Dyslexia causes difficulty recalling sequences accurately so it is very likely that learning the alphabet will be problematic.
Using songs and rhyme often helps but the real giveaway is whether they can say it backwards – a nearly impossible task for those with dyslexia!
Dyslexia is also likely to cause problems learning the names and sounds of letters.





8. Mixing up left and right

It has become a cliché but its true that many with dyslexia cannot learn to automatically remember left and right. They have to stop and think about it.




9. Can’t remember what you’ve been told



A sure sign is difficulty carrying out a sequence of directions.

“Get out your book. Turn to page 23. Read three pages.”

Someone with dyslexia might only remember one of these things and have to ask again. Having to ask again makes them feel stupid.


10. Reversing numbers

Someone with dyslexia might see 57 but remember it as 75
Or write the answer to 6×7 as 24 instead of 42.
The output of the information becomes muddled.



Children with dyslexia that have been taught phonics can often learn to say the individual sounds but not blend them together. They can’t hold the sequence of sounds in their head for long enough. They might just panic and guess wildly.
Remember, no two people with dyslexia are exactly the same so any child with dyslexia is likely to have a mix of these signs of dyslexia.


Source: Nessy

Dyslexia Awareness Month: Motivational Monday