AT News From Around the Web

Here at the AT Network, we love seeing what other AT-focused organizations are doing.  We also like to keep up with AT news around the nation and the world.  

Here are some other blogs and interesting articles related to assistive technology that we have found on the internet. Feel free to tell us about another AT source that you frequent by typing it in our comments section below!

• Assistive Technology Blog: Learn about assistive technology for people with reading disabilities, dyslexia, low vision, blindness and other disabilities that make reading, writing and other tasks difficult. Written by someone who uses assistive technology to read and write. 

• I-Limb Ultra:  Prosethetic Hand Controlled by iPhone App:  this app is connected to a bionic prosthetic hand via Bluetooth and users can select different ‘grips’ for any specific tasks they need to do. Sounds like something out of a movie, right? That’s what 16 year old Patrick Kane thought when he was fitted with the bionic hand. He lost his hand as a baby due to meningococcal septicaemia, but with this revolutionary new device he is able to carry out movements that are so precise they have not been possible with a normal prosthetic in the past: he can now hold a glass, pick up a piece of paper and tie his shoelaces with the touch of a button on his iPhone. 

• Unique Learning Summer Curriculum:  If you haven’t had a chance to try the Unique Learning Systems Curriculum, now is the time to try it. Their summer curriculum is free! Unique Learning System is the only online, dynamic, standards-based curriculum specifically designed for students with learning disabilities. All materials are created using SymbolStix graphics. The unit lesson plans define three levels of differentiated tasks to accommodate a diversity of learners. 

• Goals to Support AAC use: When a student is provided an AAC device, the next part is to think about, how do we teach it? How do we support it? How do we write goals in the IEP. Remembering that goals must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely, when it comes to AAC, we must also consider that who, what, when, where and how. Who does our student need to communicate with? What do they need to be able to communicate for? When do they communicate? Where do they go in their lives? How are they going to communicate?

• TLC Spotlight: Blue2 Bluetooth Switch: With the Ablenet Blue2 Bluetooth Switch, you will have access to your favorite compatible iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch applications. You simply sync the Blue2 switch with your Apple® device and activate the switch scanning mode. With two built-in switches, the Blue2 supports both single and dual switch access. Additional switches can be used with the Blue2 Switch by plugging them into the available ports. 

•  International Conference on Assistive Technology: “A lot of the current technology for people  with disabilities focuses on addressing everyday needs like working, eating, moving about the house... That’s important, but it’s also important that people with disabilities have access to an outlet for their creativity. We are working to give people the ability to express themselves creatively."