Showing posts with label Attainment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Attainment. Show all posts

Monday, September 9, 2013

#AppMondayTAS - Symbol Support

Each week I will be featuring an app from BridgingApps.org.  These apps are features in the Bridging Apps newsletter each week and are reviewed by Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and Special Education Teachers.  Come back each week for a new review.  If you’d like more information on how to use the BridgingApps.org website, or to find more app reviews, please click here.

Attainment's Symbol Support - $59.99 (Universal)




Reviewer Comments

SymbolSupport is an excellent app to be used as a reading and communication support for someone who needs symbol support to read and comprehend. This is an app that an adult/caregiver would use to create documents with symbols for someone who cannot read words or needs symbols to help them comprehend what they are reading.
SymbolSupport allows you type any text, and it adds symbols to each word as you type. The app comes with two symbol libraries: GoTalk Image Library and Slater Symbols, and then you also have the option of using images from your photo library.
When creating a document you have a variety of setting options. You can choose if you want the symbols on the top and bottom, if you want it to automatically symbolize the text or if you want to choose which words have symbols. You can choose if you want the parts of speech to be different colors and what colors you want. Each of these settings is set for that document only, so each document you create can be very individualized.
Along with these settings it also gives you “details” about the document such as, sentence count, word count, and grade level. You can also turn on the "read only" setting so that once you are done creating the document, the person using the document can not make changes on it. Once the document is finished and ready for the user you have more options. You can have it read aloud to the user and/or you can have it highlight each word as it is read. These options have to be turned on in your iPad’s general settings. You can also share this document via wireless or as an image through email.
There is also another app called SymbolSupport Viewer App. This app can receive, read, store and print documents that have been created in the SymbolSupport App but it can not edit the documents. So if you and the person who will be reading the documents each have your own iPad, you could have the full version of the app on your iPad and he/she could have the support app so you can then create the documents on your app and then share it with him and he can read it through the support app.
This feature would especially helpful to a teacher whose students have their own iPads. The teacher would need the full version but the students could just have the viewer app, and they would be able to receive any documents the teacher created. The teacher could create one document on her iPad and then share it with all of her students. (And the best part is that the viewer app is free!)
You can make your document as simple or complex as you want, so this app could be used for children/adults of all levels and abilities. The full version app also comes with a detailed and user friendly “User’s Guide” that is easy to access at anytime while creating document. Also be sure to check out the screen shots because that will give you a visual for what the documents will look like.
Mobile Devices
Assistive Traits
Assistive/Independent
iTunes Categories
BridgingApps Categories
Disclaimer:

You may copy, modify format, distribute and perform the work(s), including app reviews and any data even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission provided that you: a) cite our research project and publications as follows: BridgingApps, a program of Easter Seals Greater Houston; b) agree that we make no warranties about the work(s) or data, and disclaim liability for all uses of the work(s) or data, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law; c) when using or citing the work(s) or data, you should not imply endorsement by us; and d) do not misrepresent the work or its content, or any part thereof, or present it any manner which would have the effect of disparaging BridgingApps, Easter Seals Greater Houston or any affiliated entity or person.




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Monday, September 2, 2013

#AppMondayTAS - Attainment's Read to Learn

Each week I will be featuring an app from BridgingApps.org.  These apps are features in the Bridging Apps newsletter each week and are reviewed by Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and Special Education Teachers.  Come back each week for a new review.  If you’d like more information on how to use the BridgingApps.org website, or to find more app reviews, please click here.

Attainment's Read to Learn - $39.99 (iPad only)




Reviewer Comments
This app contains a library of books that addresses social and life skills. They are divided into 3 sections: Life Skills, Safety Skills and Focus on Feelings.
The app contains 85 unique stories, each with graded comprehension exercises. All text is highlighted as it is read, and the narration is very clear and easily understood. The reader can touch any word at any time to hear it pronounced. Definitions are also included with each word.
At the end of each story, comprehension exercises assess the reader’s understanding of each story. There are optional hints for the comprehension exercises. Test results are stored and can be printed. Optional automatic page reading and turning help readers who have difficulty navigating the app. The Read to Learn iPad App scans, and is accessible with one or two switches.
This app is heavily illustrated, but all illustrations are appropriate for children or adults. The stories are relevant to real life situations of most older children and adults.
We have used this app with children between the ages of 7 and 16 years old with the diagnoses of Autism spectrum disorders and ADHD. All of the children we have used this app with have enjoyed the app and willingly participated in the comprehension activities.
Mobile Devices
Assistive/Independent
iTunes Categories
Disclaimer:

You may copy, modify format, distribute and perform the work(s), including app reviews and any data even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission provided that you: a) cite our research project and publications as follows: BridgingApps, a program of Easter Seals Greater Houston; b) agree that we make no warranties about the work(s) or data, and disclaim liability for all uses of the work(s) or data, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law; c) when using or citing the work(s) or data, you should not imply endorsement by us; and d) do not misrepresent the work or its content, or any part thereof, or present it any manner which would have the effect of disparaging BridgingApps, Easter Seals Greater Houston or any affiliated entity or person.



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Monday, August 19, 2013

#AppMondayTAS - Attainment's Community Success

Each week I will be featuring an app from BridgingApps.org.  These apps are features in the Bridging Apps newsletter each week and are reviewed by Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and Special Education Teachers.  Come back each week for a new review.  If you’d like more information on how to use the BridgingApps.org website, or to find more app reviews, please click here.

Attainment's Community Success
- $39.99 (iPad Only)



Reviewer Comments
Attainment’s Community Success is an app that is designed to help users with disabilities prepare for and become more independent on community outings. It is well developed and shows a true understanding of the many complex skills one needs in order to access the community with independence.
There are 24 community-based tasks covered in the app. Examples of tasks include, but are not limited to: going to the library, riding in a car, riding the bus, and waiting in line. The tasks are broken into the following five easy to navigate categories: Getting Around, At Home, With People, Out Shopping, and Around Town.
Information within each module is presented in a variety of ways that includes interactive stories, photographs and illustrations, as well as video modeling. The tasks are broken down in four different areas including steps to complete the task, social skills, a story, and a video. This is consistent throughout the app making it a good user experience, especially for students with autism that do well with this consistency and predictability.
Other features that are beneficial include the ability to hear text read aloud, the ability to have various words in the stories defined, comprehension questions at the end of each story to check for understanding, and the option to create an account for students that access the app. You can even extend learning by role-playing various scenes and recording them using the camera on the iPad. This helps with skill retention and generalization.
The easy to use layout, consistency of material within each module, and the ability to use this app with individuals and small groups, for instance, broadcasting it on the smartboard, make it worth the current price of $39.99. It can be used in conjunction with other materials and products from Attainment as well. A detailed pdf document is available in the app to explain some of the other customizations including a number of alternative accessibility features.
Mobile Devices
Assistive Traits
Assistive/Independent
iTunes Categories

Disclaimer:

You may copy, modify format, distribute and perform the work(s), including app reviews and any data even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission provided that you: a) cite our research project and publications as follows: BridgingApps, a program of Easter Seals Greater Houston; b) agree that we make no warranties about the work(s) or data, and disclaim liability for all uses of the work(s) or data, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law; c) when using or citing the work(s) or data, you should not imply endorsement by us; and d) do not misrepresent the work or its content, or any part thereof, or present it any manner which would have the effect of disparaging BridgingApps, Easter Seals Greater Houston or any affiliated entity or person.




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Monday, April 8, 2013

#AppMondayTAS - Attainment's Dollars & Cents


Each week I will be featuring an app from BridgingApps.org.  These apps are features in the Bridging Apps newsletter each week and are reviewed by Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, and Special Education Teachers.  Come back each week for a new review.  If you’d like more information on how to use the BridgingApps.org website, or to find more app reviews, please click here.

Attainment's Dollars & Cents ($39.99, iPad Only)


Reviewer Comments
This is a comprehensive app for learning about (US or Canadian) money. There are 3 levels within the app. they are: Counting Coins, Spending Money and Making Change.
The level Counting Coins begins with simply labeling coins and their monetary value. It then progresses to sorting coins, matching coins and combining coins for specific values. The next level is Spending Money and includes a shopping game which requires the student to follow a shopping list and pay for the items and a quiz.
The final level is Making Change. In this level, the player pretends to be the cashier and makes change for a variety of amounts. This app is great for reinforcement of money skills that are often difficult to reinforce.
We have used this app with children functioning between the 5 and 9 year levels with diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder, speech and language delay and developmental delay. It would also be great for typically developing children and adults with intellectual disabilities or aphasia. For those with motoric impairments and need to access the app with a switch, this app has single or two-switch scanning.
Mobile Devices
Independent Traits
Assistive/Independent
iTunes Categories
BridgingApps Categories

Disclaimer:
You may copy, modify format, distribute and perform the work(s), including app reviews and
any data even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission provided that you: a)
cite our research project and publications as follows: BridgingApps, a program of Easter Seals
Greater Houston; b) agree that we make no warranties about the work(s) or data, and disclaim
liability for all uses of the work(s) or data, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law; c)
when using or citing the work(s) or data, you should not imply endorsement by us; and d) do not
misrepresent the work or its content, or any part thereof, or present it any manner which would
have the effect of disparaging BridgingApps, Easter Seals Greater Houston or any affiliated
entity or person.




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