Eve,

We are in New Jersey too. I live in Tinton Falls and overall my district has
been very supportive of Anthony's needs. They are truly committed to including
him in almost everything. We don't always agree on every issue but they are
trying very hard and they really care about him. He is thriving in a regular
fifth grade class with a one on one aide. He has spastic quadriplegic cp and
uses a power chair for mobility. He's bright, verbal and a typical 10 year boy
in many ways.

As far a the expectations of the student,  I would expect the child to do
whatever the rest of the class is doing. Since the child is in sixth grade, I
would let the child tell you when he or she is being pushed too much or be
observant of signs of frustration. So often children with disabilities are not
expected to do much. I would also communicate with the parents on their
expectations of the child.

I'm glad to hear you have the Intellikeys keyboard. Anthony has been using it
for years. It's pretty amazing. There are many features that are available with
the keyboard such as adjusting the required lift off time (amount of time to
take your fingers off the keyboard) you can turn the repeat off (that's useful
when a child leaves their fingers on the keyboard for a few seconds after
typing) and there are various overlays. There is one that can be used instead of
a mouse. It's the one with large arrows on it. Anthony prefers to use a
microspeed trackball instead of the overlay but it can function as a mouse to
allow you to move the pointer on the screen.

There is also a numbers overlay to be used with math programs. We are waiting on
the new release of Math Pad plus which is supposed to include fractions and
decimals. It is scheduled for release in November of this year.

There are keyguards available for the keyboard too. That is an acrylic overlay
that has holes in it to isolates your fingers as you are touching the keys. This
is good when you are reaching for one key but accidentally hit the one next to
it. Anthony used it when he was younger and it was very helpful but now he is
faster on the keyboard without it.

Anthony just got Co Writer this year and has limited experience with it. I saw a
demonstration of it and I was very impressed. For Anthony, we have it set at the
intermediate level. That programs predicts words based on frequency of use, how
recently it was used and grammar. You have the ability to add words to the
dictionaries. This might be useful for units you may be covering in the future
that may have words that would not be a part of the standard dictionaries. I
have high hopes that this program will encourage Anthony with his writing.
Typing is tedious for him because his upper body is involved and he tires
easily. We still uses dictation when ever needed - he dictates to his aide or to
me when doing homework. I'd rather see him more independent on the computer, but
when he gets frustrated or tired, we switch to dictation. You need to balance
the need for independence and frustration. To me, what's important is capturing
his thoughts online rather than always focusing on the physical act of typing. I
know he will never be able to make a living as a typist so I keep that in the
back of my mind.

Also within Co Writer, try experimenting with color combinations for the fonts
and backgrounds. I believe the book suggests certain colors for certain
disabilities. We let Anthony choose his colors. He picked black fonts on a green
background.

My dreams are that voice recognition software will be easier for him to use by
the time he reaches high school. We've looked at a few programs, but they are
very cumbersome to use. You need to train the software to learn your speech and
then correct (edit) all the mistakes it makes as it types what it thinks you
said on the screen. To use this software, you need to have good editing skills.
Since Anthony is only 10 years old, he doesn't have the greatest editing skills
so we are not using this type of software yet.

For assistive technology resources in NJ check out the following:

www.CaineAssociates.com
www.Techconnection.org
Lakeview School in Edison.

We've used all three and have been please with all of them. Good luck to you and
your students. Hoep this was helpful.

Eve wrote:

> Joyce,
> Thank you so much for your reply.  I teach 6th grade in New Jersey, and
> there is an abundance of support form the district and the parents in
> setting up this program. What state are you in?
>  We will be using Write:Outloud, and Co Writer, along with IntelliKeys.
> Several of the teachers who will be working with my student were in a
> training session, and will continue to be trained with the technology
> throughout the year.  I have an open line of communication with the parents,
> and they are extremely supportive of our program.   Some of my question is
> related to my expectations of this student, because it seems the more I
> convey that I expect, the more he pushes himself.  However, I want to be
> realistic while setting high expectations.  I also do not his aide to do his
> work, and "enable" him.
> Thanks for any suggestions!
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Bruce notte <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, September 29, 2000 8:45 PM
> Subject: Re: hello
>
> > I would love to help you. My son has been using assistive technology since
> he
> > was 18 months old and he is now 10 1/2 and in a regular 5th grade class.
> Can
> > you please tell me what grade you are teaching because the technology
> changes
> > as children grow. Also knowing what state you are in would be helpful in
> > referring you to local resources.
> >
> > You also might want to check with the parents. They could have a wealth of
> > knowledge. I had to introduce my son's district to to the concept of
> > assistive technology. Of course that was 7 years ago and there was
> > significant resistance from our district at that time.
> >
> > Joyce, mother of Anthony
> >
> > Eve wrote:
> >
> > >     Hello all!
> > > I have just joined this list, as I am a mainstream classroom teacher =
> > > with two children with Cerebral Palsy in my classroom this year.  I am =
> > > presently being trained in some assistive technology, and would welcome
> =
> > > any suggestions!