If you didn't listen to the interview with Patricia Sublette yesterday on No Limits to Learning Live, you missed some great discussion on working through TBI with families, strategies to help these students and some AT discussions:
We discussed the transition back into school after a brain injury, the physical healing process and then the hard work of getting used to developing new skills for learning. Students come back without a strategy for accomplishing tasks, knowing how to work through and finish tasks, etc.
Strategies for reminding students, presenting tasks lists and AT such as using cell phone features, peer note-taking with One Note software for the tablet PC and even the use of the Nintendo DS were discussed.
We also touched on issues of sports injuries and being informed on protocols for concussion and brain injury. With the spring and summer youth sports such as little league, soccer and swimming seasons as well as camping and outdoor recreation season coming, we need to be aware of the higher incidence for injuries.
Patricia had stated that there are about 1.4 million brain injuries in the U.S. annuallly and that half of them are children between 16 and 21 years of age. Because of the high risk-taking nature of teens and the fact that they can survive head injuries better than older adults, they make up a high percentage.
The National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, TBI Publications link has free brochures, wallet cards, posters, DVD education sets, clipboards, etc that you can order to give away. These are great tools to educate coaches, families, young athletes and camp leaders/counselors.
Access the Brain Injury Association of America website and Patricia's TBI Educator site for more information.
The actual site for the No Limits to Learning Live where there are more blog posts, past archives and more links for Patricia are at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nolimits2learninglive
You can hear the archive of this show by clicking on the Blog Talk Radio Player on my sidebar and go to the web area by clicking on the profile icon within the player.
All the best to you!
Lon
Working Through Joubert Syndrome with Assistive Technology Tools
I have been working with a student who has Joubert Syndrome for the past year or so. He is in middle school and the parents love him dearly. They struggle with Autistic-like issues as well as orthopedic and cognitive difficulties. One of the key successes for him is his love of the computer. We have set up a laptop and a Big Keys Keyboard for him. We use some online tools, but the program we have seen the most success with is the Intellitools Classroom Suite.
We have been able to adapt his curriculum content so that he can have it set up to select on-screen "buttons"and have content read to him. He can use the Intellitalk to be able to type and hear back what he writes immediately. Since his academic goals tend to be foundational aspects of numbers and letters, the activities are a natural for him. We have been adapting activities to contain high interest topics for him and yet teach the concepts he needs to learn.
Print Disability Access:
Our newest addition is accessing Bookshare.org with his own account to get texts that he can hear. With the access to this, an on-screen reader and Classroom Suite, we are able to modify content so he can have access to the curriculum needed at his level.
The Joubert Syndrome Foundation website has some great information and support links. I would highly recommend checking them out to learn more.
Remember to check into the latest edition of our AT Blog Carnival and the interview with Patricia Sublette coming up this morning on No Limits to Learning Live.
All the best to you!
Lon
Assistive Technology Blog Carnival Edition 2 is Up
The April Edition of Assistive Technology Blog Carnival is Live.There are some interesting posts for you to link to.
Read about:
-Taking students with multiple disabilities to see Les Miserable
-Assistive Gaming
Contributors unclude myself, Kate Ahern, Ricky Buchanan, Ron Graham, Dr. Barbara Boucher, Robert Martinengo, Jason Voiovich and others.
I am so excited to see some incredible people submit their work. I was humbled and awed by the skills and talents of these folks. Their personal stories alone are amazing, let alone the posts they submitted.
Check it out - you'll be glad you did.
Also: Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29 at 10:30 am I will be visiting with Patricia Sublette Ph.D about Traumatic Brain Injury on "No Limits to Learning Live". This interview will be followed up next week with an amazing interview with a TBI survivor. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/nolimits2learninglive
All the best to you!
Lon
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