Protected: RV Switch Toys and Switch Progression
Download the handout for this training meeting PD Centre subscribers get free access to all of of our recorded webinars and training videos. You'll find more information about becoming…
Download the handout for this training meeting PD Centre subscribers get free access to all of of our recorded webinars and training videos. You'll find more information about becoming…
I had an email this morning from a colleague asking about the 'games' on my website. Nothing unusual there, I receive about 40 emails every day from colleagues requesting advice…
Our new free resources booklet is now online and it's packed with free programs, apps and web sites which you may find useful. There's some real gems this time. How…
Finally got around to uploading our new, free resources PDF booklet to the web site. The 22 page booklet covers visual and symbol supports, computer skills, lesson plans and curriculum…
After hearing about the problems some colleagues have been facing when running the activities they have downloaded from my web site (need admin rights), I decided to move away from the open framework program I was using and write something new. All of my new ‘slideshow’ activities will be published in a new format which will make them accessible to pretty much everyone.
The new format has specific sections for switch users at cause and effect level with both auditory and visual prompts. A touch screen section puts large targets around the screen which students will need to find and touch. Mouse or other pointing device users get a section with a huge mouse pointer and targets that change colour when the mouse pointer is over them. Finally eye gaze users get their own section with large targets and a cross hair cursor to help them pin point the targets. (more…)
Apple made a few changes with IOS 9 including adding ‘switch recipes’ to the long line of accessibility features on their mobile devices. Switch Recipes has huge potential for special education, enabling us to make bespoke switch actions for specific apps or students. This will open up even more iPad apps to our switch users. I’ve put together an example using the app ‘Drawing with Stars’. The two minute video below shows the process and there’s also a step-by-step PDF if you need it.
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I've just posted details of the first in our series of 'Every Moment Matters' ICT courses for colleagues involved in the education of people with severe, profound and complex needs.…
I designed my first program for switch users back in 1999 / 2000. I had attended a meeting where we discussed the possibility of creating ‘PMLD’ software that could run online and delivered through the Northern Grid for Learning web site. The result was SENSwitcher. 140 activities that could be operated with a switch, touch-screen or pointing device that could be configured to allow for specific student colour preferences, tracking speeds and more. (more…)
I’m not one to knock innovation, especially in the field of special needs where new technologies can have such profound impact for our students. Take eye gaze for example, originally developed to help sell food in supermarkets, now facilitating independence and communication for people with the most complex difficulties. Innovation is something to be encouraged. (more…)
Good to catch up with Dave Gilbert from Pretorian Technologies during my visit to the Holly Bank Trust in Mirfield yesterday. Dave demonstrated their new J-Pad device which enables comprehensive…