Soft Clothes

Recently I saw a post on the QIAT list about an interesting piece of low-tech AT.  While I guess not specifically AT, it is interesting and might be useful to students with sensory issues.


Soft Clothes are a brand of clothes that are stylish and fun with super soft fabric, no labels, and special tailoring like seamless underwear.  Here's what the designer says about the line:

Itchy, clingy, stuffy clothes are a nightmare for any little one—but when a child is Autistic, has ADHD or is extra sensitive to texture, the discomfort can be debilitating. Enter Soft Clothing. Using specially developed fabrics and tailoring, this label makes kids happy with comfy apparel that looks great, too. 

I like that there are quite a few choices including dresses and a blazer for a boy.  Definitely worth checking out if you have a child with sensory issues.


Patrick

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Pointscribe

One product that I had decided to check out at ATIA is Pointscribe.  I'd heard about it on the QIAT list and thought it sounded interesting.  Basically it's software for teaching handwriting.  Sounds simplistic, but it's more than that.  It has several very interesting features - it works with touchscreens & tablet computers (that work with pens). It includes auditory & visual feedback and can teach basic shapes/lines, and will move up to letters, numbers and even cursive.  You can even create own scripts and have kids trace over it.

At ATIA I took the opportunity to try out the program, it worked extremely well, was responsive, and was easy to use.  It worked well with both the pen from a tablet computer as well as using my finger on a Magic Touch screen.  You can download a free 30-day trial from Pointscribe - Free Trial.  At this time the program is only available for PC, but I'm told a Mac version is forthcoming.  Try out your copy today!

Patrick

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Listserv's

One of my comments recently was from fellow blogger, Ricky Buchanan, at ATMac, and she asked:

I'd love to see a post about what AT-related listserves you're a member of - I'm not on any of them and I'm not sure where to start!

It's been a while since I've shared so here we go. I am Co-Moderator with several people at the Yahoo Boardmaker Group. This group was started by a professional and includes parents, teachers, OT's, AT specialists, and any other kind of person who might use the Boardmaker Software. There is a limited file area where we can share files, and also a place to share links. The main purpose of the group is to share ideas, and ask questions to problems. Questions about special education and many other items are discussed.

I also belong to the QIAT Listserv. QIAT stands for Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology and was developed by Joy Zabala from the University of Kentucky. QIAT is a philosophy of how to provide Assistive Technology appropriately. It's also a listserv to share ideas, ask questions, and just talk about AT. A great place to get ideas.

Last I recently started sharing bookmarks on Diigo.com. This is a social bookmarking site like Delicious.com (which I've talked about here). One feature of Diigo is the ability to join and share links with groups. I've started a group called AT in SPED. Anyone who joins the group (which is public) can share and see links that other people have shared. There's a great toolbar available here. It gives you offline access to your bookmarks, and will store your "unread" bookmarks for later viewing. So feel free to join the group and get some new links!

Patrick


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Internet Groups

I currently belong to 2 internet groups that are extremely useful for professionals, and parents alike.  One is for the software Boardmaker and the other is QIAT.


Boardmaker is a group of parents and professionals that share ideas, information, and files with each other.  The group receives between 15-25 e-mails per day on many different ways to use Boardmaker, and how to do things.  Questions are encouraged and files are available to download and are encouraged to be shared with the group.  To sign up head to Yahoo! Groups, then search for Boardmaker.  You may need to sign up for a Yahoo! ID.


The other group is called QIAT - Quality Indicators for Assistive Technology.  This is a group of professionals that share information about assistive technology.  Again, you will receive between 15 and 25 e-mails per day.  Topics from new blogs, new literacy programs, how to teach concepts, discussion of devices, and questions are fair game.  The group was started by Joy Zabala.  You can sign up for the list here, QIAT.




-  Patrick