Assistive Technology How To

Academic Tools – How To
Communication Tools – How To

About Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology (also known as AT or adaptive technology) is defined in several Federal laws (Assistive Technology Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act) as including both assistive devices and the services needed to make meaningful use of those devices.

An AT Device is: Any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially, off the shelf, modified or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.

AT Service is: Any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition, or use of an Assistive Technology device. Includes: evaluation, training, maintenance and modification.

Scope of the Assistive Technology Team:

Academics: Software and Hardware to support Math, Reading, Writing, and Organization
Communication: Low, Mid, and High Tech Systems
Computer Access: Alternative Keyboards and Mice, Switches and Switch Interfaces, and Mounting Systems

The AT Request Process:

A consultation with an AT Team member is the first step. Send a completed Request for AT Consult Form (RfATC) to either the main department email or a specific AT team member.

*504: Please contact the Student 504 Department at 504Coordinator@seattleschools.org regarding AT needs for those with 504 Civil Rights Protections.

Academic Tools – How To

iOS related

Bookshare with an iPad:

**Before books can be loaded onto an iPad, the student must be a Bookshare Member.

Bookshare memberships are free to students with qualifying print disabilities.
Bookshare Sponsors can add students as members. To become a Sponsor, email Marika Wong at mwong@seattleschools.org or Pat Delaney at pjdelaney@seattleschools.org. Once you receive an email from Bookshare to complete your account, create a username (your SPS email) and a password.
There are Institutional Memberships and Individual Memberships
- Institutional Memberships allow teachers to download textbooks in addition to all the other books available on Bookshare.
- Individual Memberships allow students to download books, but not textbooks.

Once a teacher is a Sponsor, they can add a student as a Member.

To add a student:

The teacher will go to the bookshare.org, and log on, using their email and password.
Once logged in, click “My Account.”
On the left side of the screen, click “My Bookshare.”
Under “Seattle School District” choose “add or update members.”
On the “Manage Members” page, you will see the entire list of SPS students who have been signed up for Bookshare. Before adding a new student, check the list to see if the student is already enrolled. Save time by filtering for your school, so you only see students at your school who are currently enrolled in Bookshare.
Scroll to the very bottom of the list and select “add a member” to enroll a new student.
In the pop-up window, complete the information for the student.
Select “save and add individual membership.”
1. If the “save and add individual membership” doesn’t appear, go back to the member list, select the pencil to “edit” and then choose “add individual membership.”
An additional window will pop-up asking for parent email information. The Individual membership will allow students to be able to access Bookshare books (not textbooks) independently, but parents first need to complete the forms that Bookshare sends them. The parent will create a student username and password for the Individual account Bookshare login. This allows students/families to add Bookshare books to their reading app (Read2Go or Voice Dream Reader, for example).

Students who are Bookshare members can have books downloaded to a computer, an iPad, or other tablet. The Bookshare website shows how to download a reading tool to read Bookshare books.

For reading books on an iPad:

To download books using Read2Go, please do the following:

Open Read2Go.
Select Settings.
Select Sign In.
Enter your Bookshare login email and password.
Select Search.
Enter a book title, author, or ISBN in the search field. Or Browse using the given categories.
Select a book by tapping on the book title.
Select Download. Organizational members will need to select a student.
Select Yes to open the book.
Press Play to read the book.

To download books using Voice Dream Reader, please do the following:

Open Voice Dream Reader
In the upper left corner, tap “+”
Choose “more”
Turn Bookshare button “on.”
Enter username and password (either teacher or student).
Turn “prefer images” on.
In the search window, search for a book.
Choose student name to download book.
After the book(s) are downloaded, select “+” again, select “more” again, and turn Bookshare “off.” This effectively logs the teacher out.

A few things to keep in mind:

To display books with images, you will need to set “Display Images” to on, under the Visual Settings
Important: If you’re downloading a book on behalf of a student through your organizational account, be sure and log out of your account before handing the device to the student, for security reasons

To read Bookshare books on a computer, please visit the Bookshare website for other reading tools and instructions on how to download and use them.

Microsoft O365 related

Using Office Lens on an iPad

Open the Office Lens app.

Fist time users will need to allow the app to access the camera—choose “OK.”

Pick the iPad up, separating it from the keyboard (if applicable), and have the document on a well-lit flat surface.
Hold the iPad over the document, with the “home” button on the iPad oriented towards your belly button.
Stand up, in order to capture the entire page, holding the iPad flat and steady.
When the blue box is framing the entire document, tap the white button, to take the picture.
Determine whether the picture is clear and free of other items in the photo. Discard a bad photo by pressing the back arrow in the upper left corner.
If needed, move items away from the area, so only the document is in the photo, and retake the picture.
Office Lens will automatically capture, correct lighting, and straighten the photo.

**For students with motor challenges or for younger students, teachers/staff should take these photos ahead of time, or upload documents directly to the student’s OneDrive.

Once the photo is taken, you can either add more photos for multi-page documents, or select “done.”

In the “Export to” window, select “Word.” The file then uploads to OneDrive.

Once it has transferred, tap on the document, and it will open in Word.

It can now have text entered, read aloud, and edited.

Enter text: In the “home” tab, a cursor will appear. Just tap where you want to add text, and you can type in answers. If the document has graphics, there may be challenges getting the text entered in exactly the right location, because text can’t be added over a graphic.

Read aloud: In the “review” tab, select the “A” with the sound waves. The text will be read aloud from wherever the cursor is positioned. In the lower corner of the page, start, stop, rewind, advance, and settings are available. The setting gives adjustment in speech rate.

Highlight, draw, etc.: In the “draw” tab, there are options for other types of marking on the document.

When completed, select the “share” button in the upper right corner to send to a teacher. Select “invite people” and type the teacher’s email address, then “send.”

Laptop Accessibility Supports

Communication Tools – How To

Communication Device Supports

Manage Your Expectations

Students are not “fluent’ in the use of their device when it is first introduced. They may not talk in sentences or even their current language level using the device right away. It will take time for them to understand where vocabulary is stored in the system and how to use it in a meaningful way with others.
In the early stages, you may see your student explore the device or babble, which may look like play. Your student may hit the same button over and over or create nonsense sentences. This is normal. Over time, students learn to use their talkers through purposeful interactions with others.

The Importance of Modeling

Students need to be shown how to use the device before they are expected to use it to communicate with others. Modeling helps your student learn the words on their device and increase their language.
Modeling in when parents, teachers, or other communication partners say words on the student’s device as they are speaking when they interact with the student.
Modeling may feel clumsy at first, but will become more natural the more you do it.
Model at their language level or one word up. For example, if your student uses two words at a time, you would model two or three word phrases on the talker.

Provide Wait Time

When your student has an opportunity to answer a question or make a comment using their talker, pause and wait for 10 to 20 seconds.
Be quiet while waiting. It can help to count in your head.
Wait time is important because your student needs to be able to understand the question, think about the answer, and find the words they need.

Incorporate the Talker Into Daily Routines

Tie the use of the talker to the goals you have for your student. Use it within the activities and tasks you do day-in and day-out. For example: reading, play, math, snack time.
Familiarize yourself with your student’s communication goals from their IEP
Consult with your SLP and other IEP team members for more specific ideas.
Provide consistent access, do not take the talker away!

Accept and Respond to ALL Communication

Respond to all student-initiated communication, in any form — for example: gestures, spoken words, or words on their talker.
When we accept ALL communication we are showing students that their voices matter!

Have Fun! – Students learn best when engaged in positive social interactions.

Communication App How Tos

TouchChat

TouchChat – Add a Page

Turn OFF Guided Access

Open Apple Settings , scroll to the bottom on the left
Select TouchChat (TCh) > Allow Editing > ON (green)
Exit Apple Settings by selecting the iPad ‘home’ button
Open the TCh app
Select ‘Menu’ (from the upper right of the orange bar) then select ‘Edit Page’
Select ‘Menu’ then ‘Load Another Page’
Select ‘WordPowerXTemplate (Copy)’ then select, ‘Done’
Select ‘Menu’ then select ‘Import/Copy Pages’
Select ‘Duplicate This Page’
Enter a new page name in the ‘Page Name’ field, then select Save
Select ‘Done’ in the upper left

Now you need TO LINK a BUTTON to your NEW PAGE

Navigate to the page where you will create a button that links to your new page
Select ‘Menu’ and then ‘Edit Page’
Select a blank button and then select, ‘Edit This Button’
ENTER the name of the new page (in CAPS) in ‘Button Label’
Select or Import an appropriate image
Scroll to bottom of ‘Edit Button’ window
Under ‘Button Actions’ select ‘Edit’ then select ‘Delete’ assigned Actions (if listed)
1. Select ‘Add’ then ‘Navigate’
2. Select the new page (you can search for the page you created)
Select ‘No Animation’ then, ‘Save’ then, ‘Done’
Use the ‘home’ button to edit TCh
Open Apple Settings , scroll to the bottom on the left
Select TCh App > Allow Editing > OFF
Exit Apple Settings by selecting the iPad ‘home’ button
Open TCh

Turn ON Guided Access

Proloquo2Go

How to Create a Folder – Proloquo2Go 5.0

Turn OFF Guided Access

Open Apple Settings
Select the Proloquo2Go (PLQ) app (scroll down on the left side of the screen)
Turn ON ‘Show options button’
Press the Home button to close Settings.
Open PLQ app
Open Options , select ‘Restriction,’ turn ON ‘Edit Mode’
Go to the folder to be modified
Select the pencil icon at the bottom of the page
Add a folder by selecting in the first blank button.
In many cases the folder you want to add may already exist. Select “Link to Existing Folder” then, in the search bar, type the name of the folder you would like to link to, to see if the folder is there.
1. If it is there, select it then select Next >, Select Done then Done in the upper right
2. If it is not there, proceed to step #11
If the folder you want is not in the Folder list, select ‘Cancel’ on the left and select ‘+folder’ again then select ‘New Folder’
Select a Template from the list on the left. Tap on them for a preview or scroll to bottom of list and select “No Template” then select ‘Next >’
Type the name of your new folder then tap on the button and select “choose a symbol” for your new folder:
1. ‘Choose a Symbol’ – from the line drawn symbol set
2. ‘Choose a Picture’ – from the Photo Library
3. ‘Take a Picture’ – directly from the camera
Select ‘Done’ and ‘Done’ in the upper right corner
Turn off ‘Edit Mode’ by selecting ‘Options’ , then select ‘Restrictions,’ turn OFF ‘Edit Mode’
Close PLQ by pressing the iPad home button
Go to Apple Settings and turn OFF the ‘Show options’ button.
Press the Home key to close Apple Settings
Open the PLQ app

Turn ON Guided Access

Grid for iPad

LAMP Words for Life

TD Snap (formerly Snap + Core First)

TD Snap – Add Page

Turn OFF Guided Access

Go to the page where you would like to add a Page.
Select the gear icon with a pencil over it on the top right corner of the page to access Editing.
Tap on a blank button (the same color as the page background and has a “+” on it).
Tap the text entry box next to “Label” to bring up the keyboard and type the label of the new page.
Tap the magnifying glass or the camera icon under the “No Symbol” box next to the Label and Message to add a picture.
1. The magnifying icon will bring up a search.
2. You can search for symbols or do a google image search.
3. The camera icon will bring up the device camera, allowing you to take a picture.
In the Content area, scroll down to Actions.
Select ‘Add Action.’
Select ‘Link.’
The Link action will bring up a menu of choices:
1. Link to a New Page: Create a new page
2. Link to Existing Page: Link to other pages already created in the Page Set.
3. Link to Copy of Page: Link to a copy of a page already created in the Page Set.
4. Import and Link to Page: Import a page from a different Page Set (i.e. Motor Planning, Core First, Aphasia, etc.)
To create a new blank page, select ‘Link to a New Page.’
In the Name text box, type the Name of the new page.
In the “No Symbol” box you can use the magnifying glass to search for a symbol or Google image search and the Camera to take a picture.
You can choose to keep or remove the Speak or Insert Message Action.
1. If you keep the Speak or Insert Message action, the name of the folder will be spoken and then navigate to the new page.
2. If you remove the Speak Action, when the button is tapped it will only navigate to the new page.
Tap Style in the left of the edit menu, under Content, to change the button appearance such as the background color or border color.
Select ‘Done’ (top left of screen)

Turn ON Guided Access

Go Talk Now

Go Talk – Add Pages

Turn OFF Guided Access

Exit Player mode by either swiping down from the top of the screen with three fingers or pressing the Home button for 10 seconds. (You can choose which method you want to use in the Settings of the app.)
Select Page Editor.
In the bottom green bar of the screen, select the icon with three pages, next to the button with the exclamation mark in a speaking bubble icon.
From the three pages pop up, press the ‘+’ in the top left corner to add a new page.
From the pop up, choose your preferred option:
- Online Gallery: Select page options from the Go Talk library
- My Templates: If you have added templates here, you can use them for creating new pages
- Import from Another Book: If you have other Books added to your app, you can import pages from them.
- Import Scene Pages from PDF: Can add a PDF as a background image to a visual scene page.
- Duplicate Page: Can make a copy of an existing page in your Book
- Page Wizard: Allows you to add Title, Images, and button text prior to the creation of the page to make editing faster.
- Keyboard Page: Adds a keyboard or typing page
- Add Blank Scene Page: Create a visual scene page
- Add Blank Button Page: Add a page with buttons you can customize.
If you have chosen Blank Button Page (the most common) follow the next steps.
Tap the name of the page in the middle of the green bar at the bottom to change the name of your page.
Tap the empty square next to the name of the page to add an image for the page title.
Tap the main part of the screen to exit the page name editing section.
Use the ‘Set Page Options’ button (next to the Home icon in the bottom green bar) to change the amount of buttons on the page, the background color, and other settings.
- Toggling on “Express Page” adds a Message Bar.
When you have finished editing your page, press the orange Home icon in the bottom left to exit editing.
Select Player mode.

Turn ON Guided Access