‘A Framework for Braille Literacy: Integrative Assistive Technology in the Literacy Curriculum’

This session will introduce participants to A Framework for Braille Literacy: Integrating Assistive Technology Tools in the Literacy Curriculum, which is designed for teachers, parents, and other professionals to increase their knowledge and skills in integrating assistive technology in a Braille literacy curriculum. It focuses on a continuum of literacy tasks needed by students in all environments such as school, home, work, and community and in all levels of literacy (emergent, academic and functional) with today’s high tech tools. Thought provoking ideas in professional development and the role of the teacher are also provided.

‘Assessment of Access: Where to Start’

Strategies and Tools used by Occupational Therapists to assess appropriate access to technology for people with physical, cognitive, sensory and some learning disabilities.  Reflection on the SETT framework, HAAT model and other tools will be presented, providing key features to identifying appropriate technology needs for primary users.

‘Assistive Devices Industry Office’

The Assistive Devices Industry Office in Industry Canada provides information and guidance to the Canadian AD industry.  It publishes a quarterly newsletter and manages a number of websites (AT-Links and the Accessible Procurement Toolkit) that encourage the development, promotion and use of Canadian AD technology and services.  How we work, who we work with and what we are able to do will form the basis of the presentation.

‘Assistive Technology from a Different Perspective’

An entertaining ‘PowerPoint’ presentation dealing with some unique methods of incorporating ‘Assistive Technology’ in the classroom.  An extended case study of a Cerebral Palsy student in his final year of high school.  The student’s actual work, details of problems/resolutions and frustrations of using the technology and some unexpected surprises take you through ‘A Year in the Life of XXX’.

‘Assistive Technology Service Delivery Building Sustainable Community Based Programs'

The Assistive Technology Centre, located at the Lunenburg campus of the Nova Scotia Community College is a self-sustaining centre developed and maintained through creative, community based partnerships.  Broad based partners provide financial, in-kind, technical and administrative support to ensure the continuance and future development of the centre.  This presentation will provide a background of the Centre's development, how the partnerships were formed, the fee for service structure of the centre and long term objectives.  This presentation will be of interest to any individual or group who are interested in developing a community based assistive technology centre to provide supports to clients of all ages, with any disability, in the home, workplace or learning environment.

'Assistive Technology Tools & Strategies for Scheduling, Organizing and other Memory Aids'

This session will focus upon that growing area of organizing, scheduling and task support products that can be used as assistive technology for individuals who need memory aids and/or schedulers in order to be more independent. This may include, but is not limited to, people with autism, brain injury and cognitive disabilities. No, light and high technology strategies and solutions will be demonstrated. Issues in matching individual's needs & abilities to features of products will be addressed.

'Assistive Technology West Coast Style'
A Model of Community Based Service Delivery

In partnership, the Assistive Technology and Seating Service and the Technology for Independent Living program provide a continuum of clinical and technical support to people with disabilities across British Columbia. The distances and dispersal of the population combined with fiscal pressures in the health and voluntary sectors have led to the evolution of a unique model of community and co-operative service delivery. The presentation will provide an overview of the development of this provincial service delivery model, comparisons with delivery systems elsewhere, and plans to address future challenges.

‘Decision Making Framework’

The Department of Education, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has developed a Decision Making Framework to assist Individual Support Services (ISSP) Planning Teams in making appropriate choices of assistive technology for individuals with a range of special needs.  This framework is presented in a document, Using Technology to Enhance Students’ Differing Abilities (1996), that also contains information about assistive technologies in general, presentation of some sample technologies to address certain specific needs, as well as an extensive list of resources.  Formatted for World Wide Web access, with links to the sites of many publishers, distributors and other resource agencies, the document becomes an integrated resource for both professionals and parents.

Decision Making Framework Power Point Presentation
Student Profile
APPL Tech 2002
Enviromental Techtable
Implemetation Plan Draft

‘Doing Play through the use of Virtual Reality: ‘A Qualitative Study’

This session will report the results of a qualitative study of 19 participants aged 8-13 who received a virtual play intervention program. Their experiences were sought through in-depth interviews. Their comments related to their experiences will be shared. The results will be linked to theory and implications regarding the use of virtual reality as a pediatric rehabilitation intervention will be examined. A videotape showing participant's engaged in virtual reality environments will also be shown.

‘Liberated Learning Initiative’

The Liberated Learning Initiative (LLI) is a unique enterprise committed to exploring the use of speech recognition technology for students with disabilities.  It is the intention of the Initiative to demonstrate that speech recognition can offer new avenues for improving access to university lectures.  Since 1998 we have been testing this technology in university classrooms around the world in an effort to provide additional lecture material for students with disabilities.  This technology has shown to have several benefits for students with different disabilities and learning needs, as well as all students in the university environment.

‘Multimedia Means Reading and Writing for your Students with Autistic Spectrum Disorder’

‘Phenomenal First Drafts’

Participants will:
- Learn how to keep struggling writers focused and organized through the multiple stages of a long-term writing project
- Be able to use strategies to help students shift their focus from the mechanics of an outline to organizing and synthesizing information
- Learn several ways of utilizing the dozens of templates created that cover every curricular area and genre, and that address the diverse learning needs of struggling writers.
Learning how to gather, organize and synthesize information to produce  a high-quality first draft presents challenges for students with disabilities.  Draft:Builder™ , an organizational writing tool, helps students with their focus from the mechanics of an outline to understanding how their thoughts, ideas and information connect. 

‘Reading and writing about Age Appropriate Literature for Struggling Students’

This presentation will introduce the various formats of Start-to-Finish books by Don Johnston, Inc.  Key features for student interaction will be highlighted, as well as a discussion of ready-made teacher materials, which may be used before reading the novels or as extension activities after reading.  Write OutLoud (talking word processor) and CoWriter (word prediction software) will be demonstrated, with special emphasis on incorporating graphics and topic dictionaries from the Start-to-Finish books to offer additional support to students creating reports or responses to the novels.

Reading and Writing Power Point Presentation

‘SCRAP - Selecting Creative Resources in Assisted Participation (for persons with severe/profound disabilities’

This session will present a number of case studies in identifying, evaluating, developing and implementing assistive devices in the area of work and leisure for developmentally different adults.  The feeling of belonging and participating in the work force crosses all barriers of handicaps.  Practical examples will be presented of low-tech adaptations enabling individuals to participate more independently in chosen activities.  Providers and teachers looking for practical ways to include their population in worthwhile work will be the focus.  Examples of jigs and devices form manual to switch activated to be demonstrated. 

'Site Visits to Elementary Schools-South Shore District School Board, Bridgewater, NS'

Successful collaboration requires clear communication of ideas. The award-winning SMART Board interactive whiteboard is the Roomware tool that enables educators to achieve clear communication.

SMART Technologies Inc. is the industry pioneer in versatile, communication products that expand the potential of what groups can achieve.

During our workshop, we will review the world’s biggest mouse, the SMARTBoard. We will learn how to engage students with teacher generated SMARTBoard lesson plans.  We will see how Nova Scotia Teachers now use this technology and learn how to access the SMART Technologies educational  services plus how to apply for Smarter Kid Foundation grants.

Clients with cognitive deficits are sometimes excluded from AT/AAC intervention programs due to assumptions that they will be unable to learn and recall the use of the AT/AAC systems.  However, use of innovative memory training procedures can overcome these barriers. Specifically, the spaced retrieval memory training technique is an effective procedure for training clients with cognitive impairments to use AT/AAC systems.  For example, spaced retrieval memory training can be used with clients with dementia or traumatic brain injury to increase use of external memory or communication devices.  Screening procedures to determine candidacy and spaced retrieval training procedures will be
described.

This case study presentation of assistive technology implementation highlights the "best practices" used to teach a student with highly adapted curriculum needs. The presentation showcases the successful use of digital video technology to teach communication, appropriate social interaction, and early concepts.* The adapted curriculum makes use of programs like Boardmaker, Writing with symbols, Intellitools, Hyperstudio and Laureate Learning softwares. Many of the strategies used in the presentation of the case study could be of equal benefit to other students, parents, or educators attending the conference. The presentation will also highlight successful frameworks for assistive technology collaborations within the school environment.

‘Studies of the VisAble Video Telescope TM in Elementary, Secondary and Post Secondary Education’

Early in the year 2002, Betacom conducted three joint studies with educational institutions to explore the uses and effectiveness of the VisAble Video Telescope for low vision students in a variety of educational settings.  These included elementary, secondary and post-secondary environments.  These included elementary, secondary and post-secondary environments.  The potential and functional applications of the VisAble VideoTelescope™ - a portable video low vision aid – will be presented through the results gathered.

Visable Telescope Presentation
Visable Power Point Presentation

‘Switch Scanning Tips and Tricks’

Has your switch user ever tried to edit their work in Clicker 4?  Tried to print in Intellitalk II?  Tried to move from grid to grid in Writing with Symbols?  Come and let us show you some of our tips and tricks for scanners.  In this presentation we will demonstrate several ways we have learned to customize software to make an individuals’ access more efficient and independent.  By looking carefully at the features of particular pieces of popular software, we will show the participants how to set up the interfaces to take advantage of the possibilities.

Clicker 4 Scanning
Clicker 4 Scanning 2
Intellimathics
Intellitools
Intellitools 2
Scanning Tips and Tricks
Speaking Dynamically Pro
Speaking Dynamically Pro2
Writing With Symbols

‘Turn up the Volume on Reading: Struggling Readers will Read More’

Children at the 90th percentile read 200 times more words outside of school than children at the 10th percentile.  These same struggling readers lag behind their able-reading peers in vocabulary development, background knowledge, fluency and comprehension skills.  Increased fluency, vocabulary, background knowledge and comprehension are outcomes of the volume of text read.  The more students read, the more information, motivation and pleasure they derive.  Carefully written leveled text and scaffolded supports, like using technology with printed text, make introducing vocabulary systematically and background knowledge easy.  Students increase their fluency and make the connection between volume of text read and increased comprehension

Tour of the South Shore Alternate School, on site at the Nova Scotia Community College, Lunenburg Campus.  This session will include tour and discussion of use and application of a variety of different assistive technologies including digital video technology; Start to Finish Books; Write Out Loud; WYNN; Math Software with 16 at risk students.

‘Using IntelliTools Classroom Suite to Adapt an Integrated Unit’

Developing and adapting an integrated unit using the IntelliTools Classroom Suite can be fun and functional!  In this session, participants will learn about the application of IntelliPics Studio to make multimedia learning activities such as digital books and quizzes; IntelliTalk II for making writing activities including electronic worksheet and IntelliMathics for targeting math concepts such as sorting and classifying and number sense.  All of these curriculum activities will be presented within the context of curricular themes, with lesson plans and curriculum standards.

Integrated Units Intellitools Power Point Presentation

‘Using Kurzweil 3000 to Enhance your Students’ Study Skills’

Kurzweill 3000 is a reading, writing and study tool that supports a student’s independence.  This presentation focuses on how a student can use the software to improve their comprehension and retention by allowing them.

‘Video-Based Low Vision Technologies’

Presenters will provide an overview to acquaint participants with the tremendous versatility and utility of video technology as a platform for low vision assistive devices. Participants will have an opportunity to experience and discuss the relevant performance features and operating characteristics of commercially available non-CCTV video devices. Presenters will discuss effective assessment and training protocols for these devices and how they can be incorporated into a comprehensive low vision rehabilitation service program. Anticipated future developments for video rehabilitation technology also will be discussed. 

‘Web4All’

As part of its Connecting Canadians strategy, Industry Canada (IC) wants all Canadian citizens to be able to access information. This includes seniors, people with disabilities, people who are unfamiliar with the Web and those who are not fully literate. Web 4 All, a Government On Line (GOL) pilot, has created a customizable computer interface based on universal design principles so each user can select, save and deploy their own interface preferences using smart card technology that automatically configures a suite of assistive software and hardware. Web 4 All makes public internet access locations accessible to those requiring "non-standard" computer technology. It also offers a significant cost savings to internet access locations, since the bulk purchasing of third-party licenses and hardware, and turnkey installation, training, and support procedures should significantly reduce costs associated with providing assisted technologies.

‘Web4All – Community Based Application of Web4All by Youth Working with the Technology’

The Web4All youth team will be presenting the process of successfully working with the primary users of Web4All and implementing Web4All into CAP sites.  The presentation will include testimonials from users and staff who have worked directly with Web4All, hurdles that had to be overcome to make the program a success, and what steps will be taken to make this program a further success.

‘Writing with Symbols 2000’

Writing with Symbols 2000 is a versatile symbols program for teachers and their students who are developing reading, writing and communication skills.  Computer generated pictures provide literacy support.  Students read, write and interact with picture symbols to promote literacy development.  Teachers use Writing with Symbols 2000 to create materials in support of non-reading students and/or those with little or no speech.  Students use those word and symbol displays to write and read picture word stories – all with speech feedback support.  The program is readily personalized by importing your own images.

Writing with Symbols Power Point Presentation
 

‘Word Study for Struggling Students – Simon Sounds it Out’

You understand that students who struggle with phonological awareness need practice and lots of it!  Simon S.I.O is the research-based, tutor-led individualized phonics program that provides the necessary practice your struggling students need to become skilled readers.  Simon has been supplemental word study intervention in classrooms for over six years and remains the industry-standard phonics instruction for students with disabilities.  Simon’s new activities, age –appropriate book, and off-computer activities will not only keep your students engaged but will also help them to increase fluency, decoding skills and comprehension!  Record keeping assessment and lesson plans will help you report-out results more efficiently/effectively than ever before!