Assistive Technology

Assistive technology (AT) is "any device, piece of equipment or product system that helps people with disabilities fully participate in the workforce and in the communities," as defined by Disability.gov, a federal Web site that contains disability-related resources. The Alliance for Technology Access may also offer some guidance through the maze as a way of promoting use of AT among children and adults.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities, LD.org, offers thorough explanations, information, and links (such as the E-ssential Parents Guide to AT) to a slew of topics that LD students and their families will find useful.

Great Schools is a national nonprofit aimed to "guide parents to become effective champions of their children's education." There are many informational articles about AT, check out AT Tools for Reading. You can also browse by grade level, and look for AT tools for math, writing and listening.

An overlooked benefit of AT is its help in reducing the stress often experienced by students with LD explains LD.org in their Overview of AT. Make technology part of your back to school planning. Learn about AT possibilities, familiarize yourself with AT laws and services that can benefit your child.

Graphic from uvm.edu/~cdci/tripscy/images/aim-triangle.png

Education Revolution 2010

What a great event, the second annual Education Revolution at AT&T Park in San Francisco. EdRev 2010, sponsored by Parents Education Network (PEN), is, according to PEN Founder Dewey Rosetti, "a comprehensive array of guides, resources and tools of all kinds to launch students who learn differently or sustain those students on their paths to success." Featured guest speakers included Dr. Ned Hallowell, Director of The Hallowell Center in Sudbury, MA and author of 18 books on various psychological topics including Driven to Distraction and Delivered to Distraction among others; Youth Speaks Poet Brandon Santiago; and Jonathan Mooney, Founder and President of Project Eye-to-Eye, a mentoring and advocacy non-profit organization for students with learning differences.

I picked up lots of referrals for tutoring, summer camps, summer schools, and also visited the Livescribe and Recording For the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D) exhibits. It was a full day. I think the highlight was listening to the SAFE high school student panel discuss their experiences with learning disabilities/attention disabilities--truly heroes on a long journey.

A fun link to check out is SparkTop.org. It offers kids who learn differently opportunities to explore their own creative juices.

SparkTop.org is run by the Professor Garfield Foundation (PGF), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the FREE delivery of fun, engaging educational content. Jim Davis, creator of Garfield the Cat, had to overcome asthma and a stutter as a young child and feels that ALL of us have some challenge to overcome as we learn. SparkTop was originally created by Schwab Learning, formerly a program of the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation. In January, 2008, PGF was selected to care for the SparkTop.org site.

Graphic courtesy of http://www.parentseducationnetwork.org

Wildflowers and Poetry

Writing about wildflowers and poetry during National Poetry Month seems like a natural.  Canadian born author Ruth Heller (1923-2004) lived in San Francisco for seventy years and wrote and illustrated nonfiction books for children using rhyme.  She believed that children could grasp big ideas and was one of the first authors to combine beautiful illustrations in nonfiction books for children. Several series of books by Heller are still widely available including Designs for Coloring, How to Hide (Reading Railroad) books, World of Language, and World of Nature.  Heller's writing is strongly influenced by Dr. Seuss and Gilbert and  Sullivan and has a rich rhythm and rhyme.

Curriculum Choice, a blog created by home educators has a list and explanation of the eight titles in Heller's World of Language Series,  "Each book defines the part of speech, discusses its parts and intricacies, and provides examples in a poetic, rhyming text.  Beautiful artwork graces the pages, bringing the ideas to life. Merry-Go-Round, A Book of Nouns begins by defining nouns."

NOUNS name a person, place or thing. . .a damsel, a forest, a dragon, a king.   These NOUNS are all COMMON, and they're very nice, but PROPER NOUNS are more precise.  King Arthur is this person.  This place is Camelot.  PROPER NOUNS are capitalized.  COMMON NOUNS are not.

So, while you're writing your own poetry, you might pick up a few of the language series books and learn more about being a word smith, perhaps painting your own poetry in richer hues.

Graphic courtesy of D. Garthwaite, Wildflowers at Land's End, San Francisco