AT Resources

We will continue to add more resources during the course of each school year.

TumbleBooks

Parents, staff and friends  raised funds (from the book fair) to purchase a one year subscription to TumbleBooks.  Click on the TumbleBooks button on the right to enjoy the books.  Also check out some background information about this site.

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Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC)

Lorrie Corry has provided us with some additional resources that focus on communication and development of AAC boards.

Teachers and staff: Let Lorrie know about any similar sites that you feel should be included as a "must visit" Web resource!

Designing Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) activities for students

AAC Messaging and Vocabulary - Vocabulary development site

ACE Centre North - Offers a wide range of services  to support communications and learning through the use of assistive technology and AAC systems.

ACE Centre North - Developing and Introducing Communication Books

Developing and Using Communication Books

National Center to Improve Practice (NCIP) - Tips for creating picture symbol boards for reading interactions

Creating Symbol Communication Boards for Reading

AAC Intervention.com -  Many activities and low tech ideas for providing communication are here. Also, tutorials on how to use software!

Project Participate…low tech ideas for making boards.

AAC Listserv - This is a listserv if you want to learn from others how they are designing AAC systems for others.

Communication Board Development using Boardmaker Resources 

www.speakingofspeech.com - (Must have Boardmaker Software from Mayer Johnson for this.)

Baltimore City Schools Adapted Book Site -  There are hundreds of books with communication boards ready to download!  Our media specialist and assistant area already starting this task for books at Everhart. Ask to see a Sample!

Adaptive Technology Services - Resource for those interested in articulation boards and handouts on idioms which have been engineered with Boardmaker symbols

Special Education Technology - British Columbia - Their resources have some good sample boards. Click on Resources, then Overlays, Templates…

Teacher Created Resources - Lots of Stories and literacy materials here that have been adapted with Boardmaker!

Visually Cued information using Boardmaker and other symbols:

Tinsnips is a special education resource site. It contains tools for teachers of individuals with autistic spectrum disorders, related developmental disabilities, and children with special needs. Quite a few of the activities are also appropriate for Pre-K and Kindergarten. 

Beyond Autism Pecs Pictures /Icon Page -  On this page you will find all kinds of great resources for Communication, Assistive Technology and Augmentative Communication. They were simply all getting to large and needed their own page! Hope you find some really helpful stuff here.

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Talking Books

How To Do It

To get you started, the following publication (PDF format, 1 Mb size) titled: How to create Talking Books in PowerPoint, will give you a wide range of information about talking books including legal issues related to the creation of them.  The above is the third version of this publication, put out by the ACE Centre Advisory Trust in Great Britain.

After reading the above publication, you might want to try your hand at creating your own talking book using this template that we created.  To view talking books created with PowerPoint, you either need to have PowerPoint software installed on your computer or PowerPoint Viewer (FREE!) in Windows.

Closing the Gap Website: Forum (opens new window) on Using Advanced Features of PowerPoint for Assistive Technology is particularly good if you are learning to make PowerPoint stories.  You will have to sign up in order to access all of their forums.

Overview for Teachers on how to use PowerPoint in classrooms.

PowerPoint Informational Slide Show for Teachers

Instructional PowerPoint for teaching

Teach yourself PowerPoint for teaching…

PowerPoint step by step tutorial

Simple tutorials in sections....

Creating Talking Books in PowerPoint

Advanced PowerPoint tutorials

PowerPoint Tips…i.e. resizing pictures, adding shapes, etc. from Microsoft.

Templates & Tools

Jim Luther's Website (opens new window) - some template slides and training that helps people make switch accessible spots on specific slides....not just switching through the pages.

Rubric for Designing in PowerPoint.

Free Templates

Free PowerPoint templates for teachers and students

More free templates!

Many templates and other resources here….

More freebies…

PowerPoint backgrounds

PowerPoint tools for adding plug-ins, html transfers, etc.

PowerPoint Pizzazz - Flash animation, etc.

Other Resources/Ideas for Creating Talking Books

Social Stories Site (opens new window) - for use in developing Talking Books

PowerPoint in the classroom

Classroom Resources

Using PowerPoint for “Game” format teaching…type in questions for “Who Wants to be a Winner, Etc.”

PowerPoint Presentations for Math

PowerPoint for Teaching in the Classroom

Science PowerPoint shows for use in classrooms

Animation Factory

Student PowerPoint Stories

Arts Festival Resources

Having seen the tremendous reaction/response from our son to the first talking book that we created, I would be happy to work with Everhart staff or parents in creating talking books for their children.  Webmaster

Assistive Technology Resources

Boardmaker

Boardmaker Listserv (opens new window) - An FSU grad up in Bainbridge runs a listserv (discussion group) regarding the use of Boardmaker symbols. The listserv is a Yahoo website.  To participate you will need to join Yahoo Groups (to my knowledge, no cost involved).

Intellitools Hardware & Software

Lorrie Corry our Assistive Technology Specialist suggested a visit to the Intellitools Website for information on players for Intellipics Studio, Intellimathics, and Intellitalk II. These allow users to "play" the activity created on one computer on all other computers without having the application on the hard drive... easy sharing of talking books, writing templates, and math papers on the computer.

She noted that David Davis at FDLRS/PAEC has done a lot of research in the area of assistive technology and put together a bunch of information.  The following email from David discusses his latest offerings:

"I have completed an "Incredible Teacher Resource Kit, vol 3" or ITRK3. This is just my current resource CD that I give to teachers each year. I will get copies to all of the FDLRS Centers soon, but you can view the contents with links to web resources at http://www.paec.org/itrk3 (opens new window). It actually turned into a 2 CD kit this time because I had so much to include."  David

Also, visit David's Desk (opens new window)

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Other Resource Sites

Inclusive Technology has free downloads for software directed at severe to profound disabilities...

Little Fingers Website (opens new window) - has some free software to download (added 2/6/04)

www.do2learn.org (opens new window) - software site for students with disabilities

www.webview.co.nz/ (opens new window) - accessible software games

Funding Resources

Beaumont Foundation of America - Will be giving out almost $400 million in computer equipment starting in 2003. The grant applications for schools and community organizations will be available on their website (opens new window) beginning January 6, 2003. The guidelines explain how they will be giving out $20 million each in computer equipment to community organizations and to schools in about half the country. Information on individual grants is also online but persons interested in those grants should apply by calling 1-866-505-COMP(2667). Note: persons with disabilities and those who are homebound because of disability or illness are especially encouraged to apply for these individual grants. Questions about the school and community grants can also be answered on that line. The Foundation's focus is on delivering equipment where it will directly benefit underserved citizens, and as such does not provide computers for staff. As they only give hardware, grants are made to established programs that have the funding, infrastructure and staffing to maintain their programs. Part of my job is to encourage truly innovative and excellent programs for persons with disabilities.

If you know of such a program that could use $20-200k of brand new, state-of-the-art hardware to help underserved communities, contact Nora Jean Hernandez, Program Officer, Beaumont Foundation of America (opens new window), or call her at (409)838-1812.  She is on the team working on California, Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Hawaii, and Alaska, but is also advising on grants for disability organizations and schools that serve students with disabilities. 

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Page updated: 04/07/2008