Author: AccessAbility Smyles

Quad Media(QM) is a term I haveg used. Like Quad blogging but with multimedia. No one has yet has taken up the idea of having a multimedia blogging group that shares their media through so have a look at my examples. It would be great for schools and settings to share with each other the animations, flims and other media they have taken. I will put up a Persicope film today sometime to show how this can be a tool for sharing events live! Speaking from where ever you are in realtime, Using our smartphones such amazing opportunities for film production is possible. Let me demonstrate to you later today at :-

https://aas123.com/qm/

This site has been going for 3 years now and so has accumulated a following. We are soon going to reach 12,000 hits with 850 people subscribed to receive info as it is posted directly. This is all without advertising or paying for adverts. I did invest in advertising which was a mistake as absolutely nothing came of it! Therefore, I steered away from advertising and consider each request very carefully as I can see the value of SEO and the Facebook adverts, etc. Word of mouth and passing on posts via my facebook and twitter feeds have been very useful. My linkedin pages also generate interest. I have an “Apps for Special Education,” group there which has 4,254 members. Do take a look over there.

If you have suggesting for making this blog site more widely available I’d be happy to listen and respond to your request! Always open to  new ideas!

Thanks to Joan M.Brennan for this list of sites which I have included in our resource section under Autism Weblinks .

If readers here are interested in even more autism resources, please consider visiting my blog—“Help for Struggling Readers.” The following articles may be helpful:

1. BEST Apps for Autism-2015
http://helpforstrugglingreaders.blogspot.com/2015/01/best-apps-for-autism-2015.html

2. Helpful Literacy Tools & Resources for Autism
http://helpforstrugglingreaders.blogspot.com/2014/09/helpful-literacy-tools-resources-for.html

3. A Dozen for Autism–A Book List for the Spectrum
http://helpforstrugglingreaders.blogspot.com/2012/07/dozen-for-autism-book-list-for-spectrum.html

4. BEST Apps for Sensory Processing Issues
http://helpforstrugglingreaders.blogspot.com/2015/04/best-apps-for-sensory-processing-issues.html

I hope you will find these helpful to individuals with autism who also have reading challenges.

I have mentioned here that I find the Windows  Surface Pro 3 the fastest PC I have ever owned. Manily due to the solid state hard drive and processor power. The Windows Surface Pro 4 is not yet released in the UK and gives the user a wider screen and the pen now rubs out and is magnetised to latch to the top of the surface. Anyway here are the details. Watch out for the SurfaceBook which combines all the benefits of a Surface but more of a combi laptop/tablet! Click on link below to view the information:-

Windows Surface Pro 4

If you scroll down the above links screen you will see mentioned the Microsoft Band. This fully integrates data from the band to Microsoft applications that keep a track of your fitness levels. Sounds a great tool for health and fitness.

Seeing what Patricia has sent me has given me an idea does anyone else out there have websites they can recommend? Please send me them . It would helpful to have a similar format – title and weblink. Also to know if its targetting a particular need or area. I intend to add what you send me to the resource bank eg Cerebral Palsy Weblinks, Physical Disability Weblinks. Or it could be more general – Teaching Weblinks, Professional Weblinks or Parent Weblinks.

A website is a website – so please send me your suggestions to myles@aas123.com . Love to hear from you!

I had this response sent into this website by a parent which sounds extremely useful for other parents to know. So thanks Patricia Sarmiento! I will also add them to my weblinks as well.

As the mother of a special needs child – my son, James, has autism – I understand the unique challenges that parents, families and educators of these exceptional children face daily. Many days run smoothly, but let’s face it – some days are more of a struggle than others.

In honour of school being back in full swing, which always presents many changes to our children’s routines, I decided to create a list of some of the articles I’ve come across in the past few months that shed light on many of the ways we can support our special needs kids. I’m passing these resources on to you in the hopes that you’ll share them with your audience, too. I believe they’ll make a great addition to your site (especially if included here: http://aas123.org/dyslexia-and-send-weblinks/)!

Home Safety for Kids!

http://www.mortgagecalculator.org/helpful-advice/home-safety-for-kids.php

5 Important Reasons Why Your Child Needs Routine to Succeed

http://www.nwresd.k12.or.us/autism/FiveImportantReasonsWhyYourChildNeedsRoutinetoSucceed.html

PBS Parents: Communication Strategies for Children with Learning Disabilities

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/learning-disabilities/strategies-for-learning-disabilities/communication-strategies/

Create Your Own Anti-Anxiety Kit for Children

http://www.thechaosandtheclutter.com/archives/create-your-own-anti-anxiety-kit-for-children

5 Ways for Teachers to Help Students with Special Needs

http://www.specialneeds.com/activities/general-special-needs/five-ways-help-students-special-needs

Adapting the Childcare Environment for Children with Special Needs

http://www.extension.org/pages/61358/adapting-the-child-care-environment-for-children-with-special-needs

Disability Remodeling

http://www.improvenet.com/r/costs-and-prices/disability-remodeling-cost

Financial Assistance for Accessibility Home Repairs and Modifications

https://www.disability.gov/disability-can-get-help-modifying-home-make-accessible/

A Guide for Disabled Homebuyers

https://www.redfin.com/blog/guide-for-disabled-home-buyers

Create symbol flashcards, timetables, stories and a lot more with no installation needed.

Easy to use templates

Choose from a wide range of page layouts, from large display flashcards to small 

vocabulary grids.

 
Widgit Symbols 

Access to more than 14,000 Widgit Symbols, with free automatic symbol updates.

Mac and PC compatible

Widgit Online can be used on Windows, Linux and Mac computers and resources can be viewed on iPads and tablets.

Share 

With a group account, you can share resources with colleagues and classmates, with full control over user access.

Online Storage 

Create and save your symbol resources and access them from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Hear

Widgit Online uses high quality, streaming text-to-speech to read your resources aloud.
 
 
Go to http://www.widgitonline.com and start creating resources with a free 21 day trial.

My good friends at Widgit Software have released this brand new product which replaces Symwriter Online. This is a cloud-based symbol processing and making tool for different teaching aids:-

“Widgit have launched a new online service called ‘Widgit Online’. Symwriter Online has been incorporated into the new service.

*** You can now make flashcards, timetables, games and a lot more using the simple grid templates
*** Technical headaches will no longer happen because no software installation is needed and you can access your account from anywhere with an Internet connection
*** Save, share and print your symbol resources with colleagues with a group account

You can find more information about it here:

www.widgit.com/products/widgit-online

We have reprinted our catalogue to reflect the new online service. If you would like a copy, please get in touch and I will gladly send some out to you.”

https://speechlogger.appspot.com/en/ – is a website that allows a user to talk and have his speech turned into text. What makes this site different is that there is no logon and no training making it a tool that schools might wish to use as it works with the browser only. It’s accuracy is quite good and facilities are on the page to save and edit. But it is a simple tool and doesn’t have the options of sentences and grammar as Dragon Dictate has. But great for everyone to try and to have it accessible to all.

Dropittome – this is a really useful website for schools and others to share files with each other. Password protected so that only the person you want can access the facility this is a powerful way to remotely share device material and also to share different file formats as well. Great for collaboration and flipped classroom work!