SEN Teacher “…provides cost-free teaching & learning resources for students with special needs and learning disabilities.” That’s how this major repository of special ed resources sums itself up. (SEN is the acronym from the UK that stands for Special Education Needs.)

SEN Teacher offers a substantial collection of “printable” downloads. There are links to websites that provide information about a wide range of disabilities. There is also significant list of websites that offer free online resources. Jane especially appreciated finding links to Tinsnips and Ispeek here.

Finally, there are numerous links to freeware download sites. The free software listed here includes programs to help develop basic mouse and other computer skills, programs to practice switch use, programs that support curriculum, and much more. There are even a few programs by SEN Teacher itself (eg. 1-5 Counting, 3D Shape Venn, Buried 3D Shape, Girl Face Matching)

The screenshots below show the free programs listed by SEN Teacher and the helpful way in which these are organized on the site.

Speaking Of Speech is a major online resource for speech/language pathologists and teachers who are “interested in the speech and language development of children”. It is a place where professionals can share ideas, lesson plans, materials, and even IEP goals.

Among other things, the materials exchange houses printable Boardmaker games, communication boards, and social stories that can be downloaded free of charge in pdf format. Some of the resources are helpfully organized by theme and according to school level. Your contributions to this exchange are encouraged, with clearly stated guidelines.

Pat Mervine, the experienced SLP behind Speaking of Speech, has created an invaluable resource that deserves to be well known.

ReadTheWords.com is a free and extremely versatile online text-to-speech service which allows you to enter text with the keyboard, to copy and paste it, or to upload text files in a variety of formats from your computer or from other websites.

Speech is generated quickly, and you then have a choice of 15 high quality voices whose reading rate can be varied easily. You can listen online, download an mp3 file for use offline, or embed your speech file elsewhere online. It was very straightforward to embed the audio player from ReadTheWords.com on a wiki page. Unfortunately, it isn’t so straightforward on edublogs, and I haven’t been able to embed it here on my own blog.

ReadTheWords.com offers text-to-speech in French and Spanish as well as in English.

do2Learn is a website that offers an extensive set of resources designed specifically to support the learning of fundamental skills by individuals with special needs. This site offers products for sale, but it also provides a significant number of helpful teaching and learning resources that can be downloaded free of charge. There are also some free online activities that support learning.

Resources available for download include symbol sets to help learn and communicate about daily living skills, pictures and symbols for creating social stories, visual maps, practice guides for learning to print and write, a variety of step-by-step art activities, as well as sing-along songs and interactive games to help learn basic skills.

Do2Learn provides resources about disabilities for teachers and families. Of special note is the “FASD Toolbox for Teachers”. This is a collection of effective classroom strategies for supporting learners with fetal alcohol syndrome disorder.

Fx Software is a website that offers free downloadable software. There are two categories–Assistive Software and Other Software. It is the Assistive Software that is of particular interest here. In this category there are 11 free downloads with the potential to make computer use and internet browsing more accessible for individuals who face special challenges.

Assistive software titles include:

• KwikLoupe — simple screen magnifier
• RapidSet — allowing you to conveniently change font and/or background colour
• Mouseketeer — mouse clicking/dragging
• Vu-Bar 4 — tool for keeping a single line of text in view
• Sonar 4 — provides a permanent ring around the mouse pointer
• Edgeless — causes mouse pointer to wrap around screen
• KeyCounter — keeps track of number of keystrokes to suggest need for rest
• mmFollow – adds cartoon character to mouse cursor
• Washer – adjusts screen for varying conditions of colour blindness
• Bigger Cursors — set of large colourful cursors
• Chunky Cursors – set of large chunky colourful cursors

Last week I wrote a post about Accessibar, which enhances the accessibility of web browsing in Firefox. Some of the tools offered here by Fx Software will also make web browsing more accessible. The programs from Fx Software, however, are designed to support all computer use, not just internet access.

I have not had a chance to download and test all of the Fx Software titles, but I’ve been favourably impressed by the ones I have downloaded. The programs download quickly because they are small. They are also easy to install. I particularly liked the potential of Vu-Bar 4 for some individuals who face reading challenges as a result of a learning disability.

Accessibar is a toolbar that can be installed as an add-on for the Firefox browser with a set of tools to make the internet more accessible for people with special needs. Accessibar is especially useful for those with low vision. As with all toolbar icons in Firefox, the toolbar shown below can include text that names the function of the icon. All of the Accessibar functions can also be activated with keyboard shortcuts that can be configured by the user.

In the words of the toolbar’s developers, here’s what the Accessibar tools will do for you.

• Web page fonts and background colors can be changed from a selecton of 70 colors on current session
• Icons with configurable shortcut keys to increase and decrease Font size.
• Line spacing can be increased or decreased to five different spacing settings incrementally.
• All images (including Flash) displayed on a web page can be selected as being hiden or shown.
• All changes made to web page display can be restored to original page settings by pressing “Restore Page“.
• Changes made to the currently displayed web page persist until “Restore Page“ is selected.
• Integrated Text To Speech reader. Reads out strings hovered over as well as focused elements.
• Reader settings can be configured allowing the selection of the voice, volume, speaking rate, pitch, and voice range.
• Toolbar functions have configurable Hotkeys (keyboard shortcuts).

I tested Accessibar’s text-to-speech function, and I found it to work reasonably well. It does an especially good job of reading links and buttons. As a sighted reader, however,I much prefer to use CLiCk,Speak for reading passages of text. I wonder if it might be the same for individuals with low vision if they are able to use Accessibar’s tools to enable them to see the web page effectively. I added the CLiCk,Speak buttons to the Accessibar toolbar. The only drawback is that there are no keyboard commands for the CLiCk,Speak buttons.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners.

I intended to write this post about my favourite online dictionary, but in good conscience I have to write about more than that. The website I’m highlighting here offers the best online dictionary I know of, but it also offers a great deal more.

Answers.com is a website that offers an extensive range of reference tools: a dictionary that includes spoken pronunciation; a thesaurus with links to entries for each of the synonyms; a list of antonyms; a “word tutor” containing an audio file that uses the word in a sentence; the wikipedia entry for the term; translations into multiple other languages; and context specific references to sources such as the “Veterinary Dictionary”.

I’ve long thought that dictionaries are not very user friendly for many people who need them, especially individuals with reading challenges. Answers.com helpfully offers a clear audio pronunciation for each entry. In Firefox, with the CLiCkSpeak add-on, definitions and other reference material can also be read aloud for anyone who benefits from that.

Answers.com is one more compelling reason to switch to Firefox, if you haven’t already done so. With the “Answers” Firefox add-on installed, you just place the cursor on any word on a web page you’re reading, then hold down the Alt key, and click the mouse to bring up a box like the one below.

One more benefit of using Answers.com in Firefox is the Google search bar that comes with Firefox. Answers.com is one of the options available in the drop down menu. If you wish, you can conveniently start your search at Answers.com. If you are beginning to research something, ghis seems to me a great place to start for an overview.

Answers.com is ad-supported, but this seems a small price to pay for such an excellent and accessible collection of references. This is a tool that is of value to all learners.

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners.

I’m particularly fond of Web 2.0 applications that offer me the opportunity to express myself effectively with a variety of media. Prior to the advent of affordable digital technology, I was completely incapable of putting together anything presentable. I do not have the aptitude to be an original creative artist in any traditional medium. Now, however, if I put in some time and effort with readily available online tools, I can hold my head high when I share my graphic or multi-media work.

In my own k-12 years, I would have given my left arm to have access to digital options for creative expression and presentation that are now available. As educators, we need to ensure that ALL learners have ready access to the tools they need to be successful communicators. For many, success and a satisfying sense of accomplishment are achievable only with some of the new digital tools that are becoming available.

Glogster is an online option for presentation and for sharing creative effort. I believe this application has a wide range of potential classroom uses. Glogster’s slogan is “Poster Yourself”, and it has provided a platform for creating single page “posters” that can incorporate a variety of media–graphics, text, audio, and video. Although each “glog” is a single page, you can include links to other glogs.

Glogster encourages users to share their work “with friends all around the world”. Work can be shared in Glogster’s own gallery, via email, or embedded on other web pages. As long as there isn’t audio or video content, work can even be printed on paper to be put up on the wall at school or the kitchen fridge at home.

Glogster may be a bit busy and confusing at first glance, but it’s really delightfully easy to use. Image, audio, or video files can be uploaded and then dragged, dropped, positioned, sized and edited right on the glog. There is a substantial built-in library of “walls” for the background. There is also an extensive collection of graphics that can be added. Many of these graphics are animated.

The only glitch I encountered with Glogster was an embedding challenge. I wasn’t able to embed a glog in this Edublogs blog or in another WordPress blog. I was able to embed it on a PBWiki page, but I was unable to reduce the large format. Still, all the other usual Web 2.0 ways of sharing work are available. Glogster also encourages users to tag their work.

For an example of a well executed and creative piece of work on Glogster, please follow this link to the “tree of knowledge” The simple greeting below was created in Glogster, but I had to take a screenshot in order to include it here. Here’s the link to the full-size version on Glogster.


FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners.

About 3 years ago, my son told me I should get with the program and switch to Firefox. Since then, I’ve become a diehard fan and promoter of the browser. Because I work in the field of assistive technology, I especially appreciate the add-ons that have been written for Firefox to make the internet more accessible for people with special challenges. I’ve written here about CLiCkSpeak, FireVox, and Mouse Gestures. Today I’m highlighting a website whose sole focus is the accessiblity features of Firefox.

Access Firefox The raison d’etre for this site is clearly stated in its tagline: “Because the Internet is for everyone.” That resonates with me. The internet has created gateways to the world and facilitated connections that simply had not been available to many people with special needs before.

Access Firefox has catologued a significant list of Firefox extensions and themes that enhance Firefox accessiblity. The site offers assistance for anyone who needs to figure out how to download and install these add-ons. Access Firefox is also doing its bit to promote ongoing development of add-ons that facilitae access.

Ken Saunders, the site’s creator, is legally blind; and the majority of resources listed on Access Firefox are for individuals who are either blind or who have low vision. CLiCkSpeak, however, is an example of an add-on for sighted individuals with reading challenges. Mouse Gestures is an add-on that makes the internet accessible to individuals with physical challenges that keep them from using a typical hand-operated mouse.

The accessibility features that are being written for Firefox illustrate the power of open source software and of communities that form in response to specific needs.

Welcome to this Treasure Chest of Free Stuff!

FREE online resources and downloadable programs for learners and their teachers.

Learners of all ages and abilities need access to the internet! The number of reasons is growing exponentially as quality educational websites arrive on the scene. Here’s another incredible resource. This one is especially valuable for individuals who cannot use a mouse or keyboard.

Papunet Games is a website with an engaging set of activities designed specifically to work well for individuals who use switches to access a computer, including those who use two switches for step-scanning. The range of activities is extensive, and there are varying levels of challenge within many of the activities.

Among the numerous high quality puzzles and games on the site, what I found especially exciting was the set of “drawing activities”. These activities offer an opportunity for children who cannot hold a crayon or paint brush to paint or colour with their switches. The art work created on the computer can then be printed out, perhaps for Mom to put up on the kitchen wall.

The site is uncluttered and ad-free. It is also worth noting that the activities on Papunet are great for kids who can use a computer mouse. The site can therefore be used to facilitate inclusion.

I’ve recently discovered a couple of other sites with worthwhile online activities designed for switch-users. I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to blog specifically about them, so I’ll just include links here: HelpKidzLearn from Inclusive Technologies and CBeebies from the BBC.