Relationship between AT and Communication:
"By 18 months babies have heard 4,380 hours of spoken language and we don't expect them to be fluent speakers yet. If Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) learners only see symbols modeled for communication twice weekly for 20-30 minutes, it will take 84 years for them to have the same exposure to aided language as an 18 month old has to spoken language."
~Jane Korsten~
Assistive Technology provides the crucial link for children with Complex Communication Needs; as an attempt to compensate (either temporarily or permanently) for the impairment and disability patterns with severe expressive communication disorders.
AAC Modeling:
Aided Language Stimulation Video -lcpsat (Aug 11, 2015). Aided Language Stimulation Explained. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flFNMky22-U&t=3s
Leveled Core Boards: This resource includes 11 levels of core language boards. Core vocabulary make up about 80% of the words we say and can be used in a variety of environments to communicate and respond. When your child has mastered a set of words, he/she can move to the next board where additional words have been added. To aid with motor memory of finding target words on the board, the words remain in the same location on every board, even as words are added. Think of when you are using a keyboard to type: the letters of the alphabet stay in the same place on the keyboard, that way you become more proficient at typing. The words you child has learned stay in the same place on all the boards; helping the child to become a more proficient communicator.
Low-Tech Core Boards: This resource contains 4,9,12 option core boards to use with beginner communicators. By using the communication boards you introduce the power of language and core vocabulary. Use these to model language and increase participation.
Tips for using the communication board:
Always have it available
Model what you say on the board while you are engaging with the student
Do not quiz the student by asking them to find word; this a communication board, not a test
Find something motivating, target a word, model the use thereof, pause...
If you pause you allow the student to process
Visual Supports: These concrete representations of information are absorbed visually – they are static and remain in place thus minimizing the cognitive demands we place on students. Visual supports help students to make sense of the world around them. It helps them to predict what is going to happened next and what they need to do.
Communication Story: The purpose of a communication story is to share information, through a description of events occurring around a specific subject. We use these communication stories to educate as well as praise our students.
Apple Accessibility
Tools for Communication: If you have a speech disability or prefer to connect without using your voice, these innovations give you more ways to communicate, your way.
Students with disabilities who have difficulty reading and accessing standard print learning material require accessible instructional materials to participate in and make progress in the general curriculum. The individual educational plan team is responsible for determining if a student needs accessible instructional materials, the format of such materials, and the necessary related accommodations the student may need to participate in the general curriculum. When we attempt to match assistive technology(AT) literacy tools to support a struggling reader, we have to keep in mind the student's strengths and challenges, the student's reading environment(s), the types of text the student needs to read and the literacy tasks required of the student.
The following are some low-tech strategies and tools that may increase the accessibility and readability of standard text for some students.
Using Color:
Using color with text can create a visual focus and increase contrast and attention so that students can better attend to important information. Using these low-tech tools can increase student focus and comprehension and help students refer back to key vocabulary, main ideas and significant details.
Highlighters
Highlighting Tape
Transparent Colored Sticky Notes
Colored Overlays
Reading Strips
Adapting Print Books:
Physical Access- If a student has a physical disability that makes it difficult for her to handle books, pages can be made easier to manipulate or view. Standard printed books can be made more accessible with some low-tech adaptations.
Page Fluffers- inserting space between two pages so pages are easier to flip
Low-tech Book Holder- Angels book at an incline/upright position for better view
Visual Adaptations- Printed text can be modified for students with visual impairments by converting print to Braille or large print or by using low-tech methods such as tactile cues, tracking aides or handheld magnifiers. Students with reading disabilities can also benefit from some visual enhancements.
Braille/Low Vision
Specialized Font
Enlarged Text
Masking Tools
Handheld Magnifier
Tactile Cues
Listed below are resources that address digital tools which support various reading skills.
Microsoft Immersive Reader (our district-wide UDL tool):
Your Guide to Immersive Reader
Making Reading Accessible with Immersive Reader
Read Aloud Extension
Read&Write: Read&Write is a literacy support tool that offers help with everyday tasks like reading text out loud, understanding unfamiliar words, researching assignments and proofing written work.
Apple Accessibility:
Tools for Cognition: If you need support to stay focused or to streamline tasks, these tools can help make your day-to-day easier.
Bookshare:
Learning Ally:
Learning Ally Lesson Plans for Teachers
C-Pen Directions:
C Pen Reader Quick Start Guide
Source:
Cumley, J. (2015). Using the WATI AT assessment process: Reading access - Part II: Online training module. In Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), Assistive Technology Internet Modules, www.atinternetmodules.org. Columbus, OH: OCALI.
Writing:
The process of writing consists of two features, which are the (1) composition of written material and (2) the motor aspects of writing. While the composition of written material involves thinking, planning, and editing, the motor aspects of writing involves more physical abilities such as handwriting and keyboarding skills. Some students have disabilities that may make writing by hand or typing on a keyboard difficult.
Dell, A., Newton, D., & Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities (2nd ed.). United States: Pearson Education.
Writing Continuum: Writing Continuum by Bonnie Campbell Hill
What Assistive Technology Tools Can be Used to Help Students With Writing?
Assistive Technology Continuum for Writing -
Motor: AT Continuum for Writing- Motor
Composition: AT Continuum for Writing- Composition
What Digital Tools for Writing are Readily Available for Brevard County Students to Use on their laptops?
Accessibility Tools
Dictate and Read Aloud: Microsoft Dictate and Read Aloud
Text Suggestions (predictive text): Turning On Text Suggestions in Microsoft
Microsoft Accessibility Website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility
Voice Typing in Google Docs: How to Open a New Google Doc and Use Voice Typing
Kami Read Aloud and annotate on PDFs Extension: Annotate PDFs in Kami
How to open and annotate PDFs in Microsoft Edge: How To Set Microsoft Edge as Default PDF Viewer Tutorial [2025 Full Guide]
Read&Write: Read&Write is a literacy support tool that offers help with everyday tasks like reading text out loud, understanding unfamiliar words, researching assignments and proofing written work. Work with your LATS to get this in place for a student you think would benefit.
Everway Read and Write Extension
Graphic Organizer Templates
Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers- Graphic Organizer PDFs
Apple Accessibility:
Tools for Cognition: If you need support to stay focused or to streamline tasks, these tools can help make your day-to-day easier.
Assistive Technology Continuum For Computer Access:
Assistive Technology Continuum for Computer Access
Continuum created with information from: Nankee, C. (2016). Using the WATI AT Assessment Process: Switch Access - Part II: Online training module. In Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), Assistive Technology Internet Modules, www.atinternetmodules.org. Columbus, OH: OCALI.
Microsoft Ease of Access: Microsoft's Ease of Access allows the user to customize settings for vision, hearing, and how the user interacts with the computer.
Vision- Microsoft Ease of Access Vision Settings
Hearing- Microsoft Ease of Access Hearing Settings
User Interaction- Microsoft Ease of Access User Interaction
How to Find the Ease of Access Settings- Ease of Access in Microsoft Settings
Microsoft Accessibility Website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility
Apple Accessibility:
Tools for Mobility: Discover features that make it easy to modify your touch, create custom gestures, or control your devices in the ways that work best for you.
Tools for Vision: If you’re blind, have low vision, or just prefer larger text, these features help you customize your display, control your devices, or navigate your surroundings.
Tools for Hearing: Explore tools designed to enhance the sounds you hear, or help you stay connected without hearing a sound.
Types of Switches (Mechanical Switches, Touch / Low-touch Switches, Sensory / Proximity Switches, Sip / Puff Switches, Voice / Sound Switches): Switch Type Descriptions
Switch Considerations (Types, Determining Switch Site, Hierarchy of Mounting Switches): Switch Considerations
TLC's Switch Progression Roadmap Diagram: Inclusive TLC Switch Progression
Switch Use Hierarchy: Linda Burkhart's Stepping Stones to Switch Access Chart
Camera Mouse: Camera Mouse is a free program that enables you to control the mouse pointer on your computer screen just by moving your head.
Camera Mouse & Look-to-Learn Download
Organization:
Organization is a subset of executive function along with other neurologically based skills. Areas of organization include self-management, time management, information management, and material management.
Self Management: Self-management can be defined by self-organization and self-regulation skills that allow students to measure their behavioral outcomes against a set of standards. Examples include sitting on the carpet in circle time rather than lying down or running around the classroom, paying attention to the teacher and not daydreaming, raising your hand and not blurting out the answer.
AT tools for Self Management
Sensory Regulation Tools: While general suggestions such as deep breathing, heavy work, motor breaks, fidget toys, white noise, or music are useful for helping students regulate their attention, it is important to work with an OT trained in these types of interventions when putting programs in place. Sensory activities can be very prescriptive in that the type of input may vary widely based on the student’s needs.
Movement and Deep Pressure Tools: Movement tools may include air-filled seat cushions as well as ball chairs, swings, bikes, or rocking chairs. The movement obtained through these tools may help students get the sensory input they need to maintain attention, for example. Some students may also need sensory breaks that allow them to move outside of the classroom. Movement may be paired with a heavy work activity such as carrying the full milk crate back from the lunchroom or wearing a weighted or pressure vest to allow a student to focus on school-related tasks. Heavy work and deep-pressure tools are used as calming activities.
Fidgets: Fidgets here refer to small objects that can be compressed, stretched, manipulated, or moved. They may include small rubber balls, silly putty, small fine-motor toys, add-on pencil erasers that have a squishy or movable component, or toys that fit in the hand but can still move. The challenge when using these tools is to ensure that they are not misused and become more of a distraction for the individual student or his peers than a tool for helping the student focus on tasks.
Auditory Tools: Various kinds of auditory stimulation can help with self-regulation by either blocking sound or providing a better sound field so that sounds are not distracting. Music, white noise, noise reduction headsets, environmental noise are examples of auditory tools that can assist with self management.
Visual Tools: Visual tools may also help students who have difficulty with self-management. The power of visual supports (using either pictures or words, or both) is that, unlike verbal directions, instructions, or prompts, the visual support remains available for the student to see, use, and refer back to.
Time Management: Time management is an area of executive functioning that is also easily observed by teachers in the classroom. It encompasses the ability to estimate time, how to allocate time, and how to stay within time limits and deadlines.
AT Tools for Time Management
Task Analysis: Task analysis is a critical skill that can be used to make tasks more manageable. This includes breaking tasks into manageable steps and figuring out where in the process steps are breaking down if the task is not being completed on time.
Chunking: Chunking helps students plan for how much time it takes to complete a particular overall task, as well as any associated subtasks. Chunking assignments helps the student understand not only the overall task but also the smaller steps needed to complete the project. In addition, by completing a smaller step or a series of steps, the student feels less overwhelmed, more in control, and gains a sense of accomplishment.
Batching: Batching is another helpful strategy, whereby the type of tasks for a project are grouped by similarity. For example, a student who searches for all of the images at one time for her slide presentation is batching this task, as opposed to looking for a specific image one at a time for each slide or concept. This limits the amount of back-and-forth time the student is spending on a particular task.
Routines / Habits: Once expectations have been established and routines are in place, habits become established and students are better equipped to handle the expectations that inevitably occur. Habits can yield healthy routines for time management, self-management, as well as management of information and materials.
Calendars / Planners: Calendars provide a graphical representation that denotes days, weeks, and months of a year. Planners take things one step further by incorporating multiple dates and planning for future events, dates, and/or assignments.
Checklists: Whether in paper-based or a digital format, checklists are one of the first tools to consider when looking for ways to manage time effectively. Checklists integrate time management with the process of task initiation through completion, help streamline tasks by providing an outline, provide motivation by striking through a task or checking a box to signify completion, and can help establish and maintain routines.
Visual Schedules: Visual schedules denote time visually, usually using graphic symbols, images, or line drawings. Visual schedules can be used to outline a student's day or a series of tasks that make up a specific routine. Visual schedules are appropriate for students who have not mastered literacy, visual learners, or any student who benefits from information presented in a visual way. However, they are especially important for students with ASD to support schedules, tasks, and routines.
Timers / Reminders: Knowing how long a task (or subtask) takes helps foster an understanding of time and, therefore, time management. Indirectly, it can also increase efficiency as the student may work more thoroughly or spend a higher proportion of time on task. Reminders, whether low-tech notes drawing a student’s attention to an appointment or a digital reminder preprogrammed for a specific event, are beneficial for many situations.
Information Management: Some students with weak organization skills struggle with handling information in an effective and logical way. They often have difficulty setting priorities, making plans, sticking to a task, and getting things done.
AT Tools for Organizing Information
Color and Size: Utilizing color and size to either highlight or mute information is valuable. For example, use of color-coding to organize subjects, tasks, or specific types of information is helpful. Apart from color, critical content may be differentiated from less important content by size – that is, using large and small lettering, or large and small notes.
Sticky Notes / Index Cards: These easily removable paper notes with adhesive backing come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, and can be written on. Whether big or small, these notes can be used as bookmarks, temporary reminders, or for storyboarding. Index cards can be beneficial for organizing information sequentially and serving as notes for developing a presentation or for storyboarding. For students who have difficulty keeping cards together, index cards may be grouped by using spiral bound index cards or held together by a ring. Some students benefit from having a grouping per subject.
Tabs and Flags: Tabs come in a variety of colors and sizes and are helpful for separating papers by topic, subject area, or content. Writable flags come in a variety of colors and sizes. Flags are similar to sticky notes but are more durable and, therefore, ideal for long-term projects.
Notebooks and Binders: Notebooks offer a way to organize information by topic, subject, or context (e.g., home vs. school). Bound journals or composition books eliminate the mess of torn spiral-bound paper pieces. Using bound notebooks with perforated pages, make it easy to tear out the pages when written work must be turned in. Binders typically are used to contain folders or notebooks from different classes. Binders are closed with zippers, buckles, or Velcro™ and are equipped with pockets, pencil cases, and/or embedded file folders.
Online Formatting: Gone are the days when students had to pour over appropriate ways to format citations, references, and footnotes. These days, all they need to know is the name of the required format and then turn to one of the many applications or "on board" tools that can format the information appropriately. Tools such as Easybib.com or bibme.org can import bibliographic information according to MLA, APA, Chicago, and a host of other styles.
Filtering Information / Simplifying Information: There are multiple ways to focus information so as to limit information overload. Sometimes teachers utilize every square inch of their classroom boards and walls with everything from reminders to tools, important dates, charts, or even motivational posters. However, this can be visually overwhelming for some students. Several tools are available for filtering information. One low-tech instructional material for a student who gets easily overwhelmed consists of a file folder with a "window" cut out so that the student can only see a small amount of text at a time on their paper. From a digital perspective, have you ever opened a web page only to find that it was too overwhelming to read? Photos and other images may be showcased in a disorganized way, margins may be small, "white space" may be limited, or there is no consistent flow. The Snap and Read Chrome Extension available to all BPS students and teachers has a "Remove Distractions" settings to provide the text in a cleaner, less distracting view. Some tools can help simplify complex information so that it is easier to read. These applications, such as the Snap and Read Chrome Extension "simplify vocabulary tool" and Rewordify.com actually simplify the language itself.
Visualizing / Graphic Organizers / Storyboards: Teaching students to visualize information in their head about a particular story, concept, or process helps them organize and synthesize information. Graphic organizers (also referred to as web mapping) are a tool whereby students use interconnected symbols to visually convey concepts, ideas, or the flow of an essay or process. A storyboard is a graphic organizer that shows a series of pictures sequentially to tell a story. It is used to visualize and sequence the various parts of a story.
Graphic Organizer Templates: Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers- Graphic Organizer PDFs
Material Management: Materials management is the ability to keep one's workspace, play areas, and materials orderly. It also encompasses the ability to determine what materials or resources are necessary for a task and have them readily available. Students who have difficulty with organization may lose materials and/or fail to turn in completed work. The true test of an organization system is whether one can find materials, information, or any other needed item in an efficient manner.
AT Tools for Material Management
Classroom Organization: Modification of the environment is a simple way that may help students organize their materials and, as a result, function more successfully. For students who need to maintain consistency and routine in an environment that is frequently changing, it may be best to keep their desk, materials they use, and other environmental needs in the same place, even as other aspects of their environment are changed. For students who are distracted by external stimuli (visual, auditory, or other), establishing a location that minimizes such distractions may improve their ability to organize their materials.
Cubby / Desk / Locker Organization: Beyond classroom organization, many students benefit from strategies and tools to help organize their cubby, desk, or locker area. A template or picture showing where things need to be stored in the desk or locker is great organizational tool. Involving the student in designing the system will help establish ownership and ensure individuality that will help the student remember where her things need to go. Pictures labeled with words can be used for students who are not yet able to read. Such visuals will not only help the student make connections between the pictures and the text, it will also help ensure that any others assisting the student will be using the same vocabulary and points of reference with the student. Commercial desk organizers are available or trays (plastic or even cardboard) that can slide in the area like a drawer are much easier to access. To prevent the tray from being pulled completely out of the desk – and potentially spilling its contents onto the floor – a string may be attached from the drawer to the back of the desk.
Folders / Binders: Folder or binder systems may assist students with organizing their materials. Folder systems are often developed by the teacher for an entire class in the early grades, but as students approach grades where they are changing classes for each subject, they typically adopt their own coding systems for their files and documents. Folder and binder systems can be coded with colors, word labels, pictures, or symbols. Practicing using the system accompanied by team members checking and observing the student using the system may help the student learn to be more effective with its use. Practicing putting papers into the folder system correctly so that they are not crumpled or hanging out is one example of how to fine-tune an existing organization system. Some students will be able to identify that papers are not inserted correctly, but may not have the problem-solving skills to figure out how to insert them correctly.
Electronic Filing and Storage: One of the advantages living in a society where technology is used pervasively throughout the day is the availability of an assortment of apps, software, and mobile tools for organizing. However, despite their general appeal, every app does not work equally well for every user. Therefore, when identifying possible apps or sources for organizing or planning, it is important to apply a feature-matching process to determine tools for trial. Some considerations include the type of platform currently used by the student, what tools/devices are used in the student's current and future environments, what tools/devices the student is familiar / comfortable with, mobile / desktop accessibility, and ease of use. Many schools are using learning management systems, which allow teachers to post assignments, resources, and other materials in an electronic format that can be accessed any time using the Internet. Features of alarms and reminders that send messages and notifications of upcoming due dates are used by students for remembering to turn in assignments at the correct time, etc.
Information Gathered from:
Weingarten, S. (2016). Using the WATI AT Assessment Process: Organization - Part I: Online training module. In Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), Assistive Technology Internet Modules, www.atinternetmodules.org. Columbus, OH: OCALI.
Stindt, K. (2017). Using the WATI AT Assessment Process: Organization: Self-Management – Part IV: Online training module. In Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), Assistive Technology Internet Modules, www.atinternetmodules.org. Columbus, OH: OCALI.
Bessey-Bushnell, F. (2017). Using the WATI AT Assessment Process: Organization: Time Management: Online training module. In Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), Assistive Technology Internet Modules, www.atinternetmodules.org. Columbus, OH: OCALI.
Bessey-Bushnell, F. (2017). Using the WATI AT Assessment Process: Organization: Information Management: Online training module. In Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), Assistive Technology Internet Modules, www.atinternetmodules.org. Columbus, OH: OCALI.
Stindt, K. (2017). Using the WATI AT Assessment Process: Organization: Materials Management - Part III: Online training module. In Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI), Assistive Technology Internet Modules, www.atinternetmodules.org. Columbus, OH: OCALI.