Assistive Technology Lab

Very generous contributions from two alumnae have enabled us to create an assistive technology lab with two computer stations and up-to-date software. Depending on the station, there are zip drives, DVD-ROM, and CD-rewritable drives. There are powerful scanners and a laser printer in the lab. Student trainers take a student with a disability through a quick training to learn the basics of the lab's software programs. Students then have access to the lab 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, reserving two-hour time blocks for use.

The PC platforms include the following software packages:

Naturally Speaking

This voice recognition package from Dragon Systems Scan Soft is continuous speech so you can talk naturally without pausing after each word. The student talks and the computer types what is said. It takes about an hour to train the software to understand each student's voice patterns. Everyone gets their own speech file, which is updated after each use. Whenever a student talks into the computer and corrects any errors, the computer's accuracy gets better and better. It learns from its mistakes!

This software is good for students who have hand mobility problems, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other problems typing. Students who have learning disabilities that affect writing, typing, and spelling have found it useful. Some students use less complex words in their written work because they can't figure out how to spell the higher-level words. Naturally Speaking spells words for students.They can even talk their email messages to friends and professors!

The software also helps students who have organization problems with their written work or language expression. By talking their papers out, organization begins to form and the structure of the ideas emerges. Since many great ideas and points were already said, and typed by the software, a lot of what's left is cutting and pasting! Remember, the writing process is really an idea process whose end result needs to be in written form.

Kurzweil 3000

Many students with reading problems and concentration struggles benefit from listening to their books and handouts. In the past students had to either join Recordings for the Blind and Reading Disabled (RFB) or request readers. RFB took a while to get tapes of the books to the student and many times didn't have the book. Handouts and journal articles weren't available. Readers on campus were a little better, but the logistics of listening and reading chapters while trying to get future chapters put on tape presented many diffivulties.

The Kurzweil 3000 solves all this. Once trained (about an hour), a student can scan any text, handout, or journal article and have the computer read it back to her. She can choose from a number of computer voices, speed at which it reads, and the highlighting of text. The Kurzweil can also read email and the Web. As more books and texts are put on CDs and more journals are put on the Web, reading software packages will become even easier because students won't have to scan the material; it will already be in a format the software can read.

The Kurzweil also has a study skills feature for highlighting text or making notes. A student can print out the text highlighted (maybe for quotes in her paper) and your own notes. She can also bring a Word document, such as a paper she wrote on Naturally Speaking, and have it read for her! Many students can edit their papers much better when read back to them.

The Kurzweil is helpful for people with visual impairments, reading disabilities, processing speed problems, and even attention deficit disorder. Many students with ADD have found that listening to the text with headphones and following along with the highlighted text helps them keep focused and improves their comprehension.

Inspiration

Inspiration software helps students organize papers by allowing them to structure their ideas in either a more visual mindmapping/webbing format or in a hierarchical ABC format. At the push of a button a student can go from one format to the other.

ZoomText

This software package magnifies anything that can be brought up on the PC's monitor: the PC's control pages, text being read on the Kurzweil, a paper being spoken on Naturally Speaking, email, the Web. Even pictures can be magnified. This software is very helpful for students with vision impairments.

As technology develops further, computers are going to become even more effective tools for students with disabilities. Some of this software is even somewhat affordable for students to buy and install on their own personal computers in their residence rooms. Students are encouraged to investigate the Web sites provided to see how these packages may assist them. Please, contact John Body with recommendations about other helpful software packages.