The Assistive Technology Blog Carnival "Mad Scientist" Edition is Up


Happy Halloween!

I am proud to present the October Mad Scientist Edition of The Assistive Technology Blog Carnival. We have quite a few posts this month from some great bloggers.

Check out ideas on talking book PowerPoints, useful Mac tips and ideas, creating switch adapted toys, A mad scientist party, Using Multiple Communication boards, and more.

There are some mad scientist projects like a tech'ed out pumpkin, a look at Tesla on video, Superman fights a mad scientist and a Mad Scientist site with online how to science experiments. There is even a link to a Mad Scientist video game you can download (a pretty substantial demo) for free.

I hope you enjoy!

Lon

Live Interview Today with DAISY Consortium - Sharing the Vision: Making Information Accessible to Everyone


Secretary General of DAISY Consortium will be my guest this afternoon at 2 PM Pacific on No Limits 2 Learning Live on Blog Talk Radio

Ever since I worked on several pieces concerning the process of converting text to the DAISY format using MS Word last spring, I have had some wonderful discourse with folks from the DAISY consortium. They proved their ability to be on top of the online discussion concerning their tools and public opinion when they left comments clarifying some technical issues I had with converting text.
I commended them for their involvement at this level and the team expressed their thanks for the positive input. You see, we forget that there are folks hard at work dedicating days and weeks and months of time to build software to make our lives easier. Many times their efforts go unnoticed and only the negative responses are all that get heard.
I want to share that the DAISY Consortium team has gone above and beyond in their supporting their tools and technology. In light of this, I am very honored to be able to present an interview with George Kerscher Ph.D. and Secretary General of DAISY Consortium and Lynn Leith, the editor of the DAISY Planet online newsletter and Head of Information Services. Lynn has a long background in Canada with the CNIB Library for the blind in audio master production. She has been great to correspond with me and work on setting up this interview.
We will be discussing the NIMAS standards, an update for the MS Word plug -in, strategies for using DAISY files for learning supports, as well as future goals and projects. We will also be talking about the WBU treaty proposal for WIPO -World Intellectual PropertyOrganization taking place on Nov 3 and their thoughts on its implications.

I hope you will join us today, Tuesday, October 29th at 2 PM Pacific time at No Limits 2 Learning Live for the interview.

As always, the archive will be up after the live stream for folks to access from the player on my sidebar or from the talk show archive at the link above. I am also starting to put all the archives on my No Limits 2 Learning.com site under the archives link along with many other resources.

Remember also that the Assistive Technology Blog Carnival "Mad Scientist" Edition will be up on Halloween day and there will be some fun surprises.

All the best to you!

Lon

Yikes! A Switch-adapted Toy for Halloween

A vintage battery operated Frankenstein brings memories of the fun we had as kids with Halloween toys. Why not create a fun switch operated toy using a battery interrupter to bring some Halloween fun to the orthopedically impaired?

Whether it is a screaming doorknocker, a Frankenstein dancing to the monster mash, a rat with glowing eyes or an animated witch, using a battery interrupter can transform a simple toy into a fun treat with a seasonal flair.

There are two ways you can do the battery interrupting. One way is to get a thin piece of copper metal and using snips or scissors, cut it in a circle or square about the size of a dime.

Using speaker wire, solder one of each of the two wires to either side of the copper plate. The other end needs to have the wires soldered to a 3.5 mini jack plug that you can buy at Radio Shack or at a computer electronics shop.

The following tutorial will give you some pictures and directions that are more specific:

Here is another way for the more technically challenged:
Save some time and buy a pre-made battery interruptor from Enabling Devices for $9.95. They also have a nice free tutorial pdf on how to install and use their battery interruptors.
I have used a notching file tool that allows me to notch a hole in the side of the battery door so that the cord can fit through. These can be bought through infogrip for $9.

I have found that the straight-forward toy, as far as having a single action and single switch, is a lot easier to adapt. I bought one toy that had 3 settings and by using the interrupter, I only got one feature and it wasn't that exciting. To get to the main brain of the toy, I had to undo a lot of screws only to find a plastic casing I would have had to break. I would suggest looking for the simplest featured toys you can find for this kind of project.

Here are some pictures and links to some fun Halloween toys that might work I found on a quick search:


























Switch adapted toys can make all the difference for kids with orthopedic impairments or low functioning students working on cause and effect. Just make sure that you know what stimulates or scares your students so you are not setting them up for a real scare that you didn't intend on having happen! If you have children that have fun with the ghosts and goblins at Halloween, these adapted toys could be a real treat!
All the best to you!
Lon
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)