Oregon State-Wide Assistive Technology Gathering, Start of a Busy Week.

I am in Portland at the Oregon state-wide assistive technology meeting, February 11th and 12th. Monday, we will be presenting updates on our different regions and services. There will be a presentation on NIMAS the new standard in digital text and we will also look at the OTAP (Oregon Technology Access Program) website. It is on my sidebar under important links.

There will be a day workshop on Tuesday with Kelly Fonner, link here, presenting on assistive technology in the curriculum. I will give you highlights of her workshop Wednesday, so check back for that.

I will be posting some of the highlights as far as ideas and news from the meeting that I think might be helpful to you. I have a stock-pile of great other topics and information to post over the next couple of weeks that has been coming in and I will get to it all eventually. I am having to start keeping a log of notes and lists so I don't forget things!

Career Showcase to Present Assistive Technology as Career Option:
On Wednesday I have a table at a career showcase for teens from schools to explore different career options. I am thinking that it might be a great place to do a podcast - interview some teens on what their definition of assistive technology is - what do you think? I have some fun things to set up and let them explore for that day. I will fill you in on that day the end of the week. I have to get the podcast thing going. I have a long list of podcast projects to get recorded and archive so I can start posting.

Assistive Technology Wiki is coming.

I have started working on the categories for an assistive technology wiki for parents and specialists to post product reviews and tips. It is going to take me awhile to get it set up and ready, but it should be available by the end of the month if I can get it set up so it is easy for folks to use. I want it to be collaborative, allowing entries on products, like on Amazon, where people can tell about the product and rate it. I think it would be very valuable to the consumer and give people more information on what products are out there.
There are lots of great things happening behind the scenes right now that are going to be exciting to see take shape over the next few months so keep checking in!

All the best to you!

Image credit: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-oregon/PortlandOregon.jpg

OT and PT Supports for Disabled Children

I am beginning to find that one of the pleasures of writing on my blogs is the great email I get. I am beginning to hear from people through my email. It is so exciting to think that we can reach out to each other and support what others are doing. If you have a blog on children, disabilities and related services please let me know. You can email me if you would like. I will be sharing the information I am getting from those emails from time to time and making a "My Blog Family" listing so that you can visit their blogs and sites too.

I had an amazing lady email the other day. She is an occupational therapist, a physical therapist AND has her Phd. She has been busy! She said that she has been reading my blog and enjoying it. She has recently written a chapter in a book titled: "Ergonomics for Children". She writes posts on areas of working with children, especially advice to parents that would be a great support for parents as well as other therapists and specialists.

Her name is Barbara Boucher and her site is: http://www.therextras.com/

Barbara lives in San Antonio, Texas - my native state, by the way, and is a child development specialist with a desire to work with the parents of children with disabilities. If you are a parent and you are looking for OT/PT advice and support check this site out. There is some nice information there.

All the best to you!

Please check out my other blog at http://nolimits2life.com/blog

Also, if you enjoy this blog, refer it to your friends and colleagues and post it on your links.

Today was a landmark day for me. I was in 3 cities, 5 schools, provided AT services for 6 children, 1 parent, 4 assistants, 3 high school resource teachers, 2 Early Learning Specialists, and 2 elementary teachers. I even bought 3 chocolate chip cookies for a high school life skills class fund raiser. Life is so great when you can help out by eating cookies!

I had a potentially confrontational discussion this morning that turned out beautifully. I left the visit with 2 new colleagues and friends that I am setting up Assistive technology support for.

I had the most incredible training session with a stay-at-home-mom of a CP student. The mom wanted to be trained on how to use Intellitools Classroom Suite at home with her daughter to do writing and math. This family includes 4 other children: 2 in college, 1 in the military, and a 2 year-old. Dad works for Walmart and has found that the best way to help at school is to volunteer hours because Walmart donates $250 to the organization where he volunteers when he serves a certain number of hours (I don’t remember how many - sorry). So that is his “spare time” service - and as the only bread-winner for the family. I tell you folks - these are the unsung heroes!

So what does this have to do with No Limits to Life? Everything. I see positive and dynamic people around me everyday and I have to say that one of the biggest pleasures in my life is to BELIEVE that abundance and fullness surrounds me all day. When I am able to get in a mindset that God, the universe, the creative source - whatever you believe you should call it - wants only the best for me today, and I go out expecting and being thankful for good things, those things become a reality for me. To me, this is the “No Limits Lifestyle.”

What is your lifestyle? Whether you are disabled or not, you have a choice to make. How are you going to live today? You get to choose. Abundance or lack. Failure or success. Grief or joy. Allow yourself to dwell on the blessings that are yours, the things you have to be thankful for. See the positive potential in your situation rather than the worst-case scenario. I am telling you, after practicing that a while and experiencing the changes and blessings in your life you will never go back.

To top off my day, I went to my email to find notification from “Ezine Articles” (see the link in my sidebar). I had submitted my first article a couple of days ago and was hoping it was accepted. I would be on the beginner/basic level. The email said that I had been accepted into the expert category on my first submission and that it would be on the high traffic home page. It was also being syndicated out on their exclusive email to subscribers. I was given the icon on my sidebar to post advertising I was featured in Ezine Articles. So you can see my new “trophy” over there!
Life is good. I am tired from a busy and prosperous day. I wish the best for you and ask that you do yourself a favor - be generous and gentle with yourself. Give yourself some slack and find something great to celebrate in your day. Tap into that “No limits Lifestyle”.
All the best!

You can read the article that was published in Ezine Articles HERE.

This blog post is also on my other blog, No Limits 2 Life, because I felt it was important and I didn't want anyone to miss it!

If you like this blog, please refer it to your friends and post my links on your blog. Email and comments are welcome.

Electroplankton New Visual Music Game

Electroplankton is a new game on Nintendo DS. It was designed by Toshio Iwai, an interactive media artist from Japan. This is not a game, it is more an interactive and manipulative music and art activity. There isn't any objective to accomplish really, just exploratory play with color and sound. Children with high interest in in music and art could find this to be therapeutic and a behavior reward too. The drawback is that it is a Nintendo DS game rather than a computer game. Go to the link to see the beautiful blend of color in the Flash enabled site. Watch the video below to see it in action and a review.

All the best!

Lon




Image from: http://www.imagequest3d.com/photos/plankton/untitled.htm

Virtual Magnifier and Lightspeed Assisted Listening: The Eyes and Ears of Assistive Technology

Yesterday Was "Eyes and Ears" Day:

I had a chance to visit an elementary classroom today and ask a fourth grade boy what he would like to try in a piece of amplification equipment in the classroom. He was excited to try a personal FM system by Lightspeed (an Oregon Company by the way) that has a little cube speaker that can sit on his desk. The teacher had been trying out a classroom system with a big speaker for the whole room. If it were me as a student, I would feel funny about the entire class listening to the teacher through a wireless microphone just for me. The student is excited to try this small custom piece of equipment just for him.

I was able to hook up a high school computer teacher with a cool FREE tool that is open source for the visually impaired. It is the "Virtual Magnifying Glass" which is an on-screen magnifier. It can be downloaded HERE. You can drag it around, stretch and change it's size and increase/decrease the power of magnification.

It is very handy for ANYONE to use when teaching a class or presenting in a large room. When your laptop is hooked to a data projector and it is shining on the screen, you can click on the magnifier icon and slide it up and magnify details of an image, data base, etc. so everyone can see in the back of the room. I love it.

All the best to you!

Free Guide for Assistive Technology is a Great Support from WATI

Considering AT is a Federal Mandate:

Did you know that assistive technology must be considered for every student on an IEP? This means that when teachers, specialists and family gather to discuss a student's IEP goals and how to meet them, assistive technology must be given time for discusion and collaboration. Oftentimes this gets overlooked because the members of the team are unfamiliar with assistive technology and don't know where to start.

Free Tools to Help:

The Wisconsin Assistive Technology Initiative (WATI) has a great guide to help in the discussion and consideration of AT for a student. The consideration guide gives you a checklist of low, mid and high tech options in AT under various curriculum areas and skills. It gives teachers and parents a place to start in research as well as information to make a beginning decision on what should happen next. Hopefully, by seeing ideas and tools off the checklist that could help support the IEP, the team would request further assistance from an assistive technology specialist.

You can download the WATI Assessment forms by going to their website linked above and on my Important Links page. Select the products link. On that page is a link to free materials. The document is "WATI Assessment forms -forms only". You can view them on a pdf file and print off what you want.

The WATI Consideration Guide:

Look for the Wati Consideration Guide and the accompanying 2 page checklist. There are also screening tools, data collection forms, AT ssessment trial sheets, etc. I will do another post on the law and requirements where I can give a little more detail. If you would like more information or have specific questions, feel free to contact me by comment or email.
WATI is a great resource!

All the best to you!

Lon

OTAP is Oregon's Best Resource for Disabled Children

Oregon Technology Access Project

I want to tell you about some friends and colleagues of mine at OTAP. OTAP stands for the Oregon Technology Access Program. The program is sponsored by the Oregon Department of Education and is housed at the Douglas ESD in Roseburg, Oregon. It is run by some very committed and dedicated folks who work daily to support the needs of children. OTAP was started as a grant-funded enterprise to provide training and equipment to families, teachers, specialists and the disabled children they serve from birth to 21 years of age throughout the state. Eighteen years later, it has proven it's worth by providing quality services for the disabled child and those who support them.

A Resource for Equipment Loans:

I work with school districts, helping them find what equipment will work best to support IEP goals for their disabled students. My loan library at the Umatilla Morrow ESD can only loan equipment to schools with the cooperation of the Case managers and clinicians.

OTAP's services are for anyone. If you are a parent, you can go online directly and review equipment under categories and check out a device to try before a purchase. It is shipped to you and you must pay for the return shipping. A checkout lasts for 4 to 6 weeks.

My advice to parents is that you do some research online under the disorder you are dealing with and find out what types of AT are being used to support it. After you have done some research, you will be able to browse the catalog with a little more knowledge. If not, the equipment data base can seem rather overwhelming. The OTAP staff can help with general advice and steer you towards agencies that can help you.

If you want more information on the equipment catalog and check out, contact Kim Philpott at 541-440-4759; email:kim.philpott@douglasesd.k12.or.us

The OTAP link is HERE and will also remain on my Links that I Support list permanently as a very important resource. Please use it and check them out. Look for some future posts that spotlight the staff and information they have that might be helpful.

All the best to you!