The Family Center on Technology and Disability

Welcome to the FCTD resource review database. Hundreds of assistive and instructional technology resources have been identified, reviewed, and annotated for your reference. Direct links to each resource have been provided in most cases. You can target your search by entering a key word or phrase in the search box on the right side of the page, or you can scan through the resources below. The filters beneath the search box allow you to further customize your research by topic, disability, and material type. We are constantly adding new resources to our database, so we hope you’ll return regularly. If you have suggestions for additional resources, please contact us at fctd@aed.org.

This Time It's Personal

This article takes a new look at personalized learning, defining it as "a student-centered teaching and learning model that acknowledges and accommodates the range of abilities, prior experiences, needs, and interests of each student--with the goal of moving every student to a higher standard of achievement." Noting that that this is not at all a new theory, it suggests that its implementation might really be possible for the first time ...

Published: 2012 by Jennifer Demski , Reviewed: 1 day ago

Quiet Hands

This post on Julia Bascom's blog is a must-read for those who have anyone with autism in their life (teachers, parents, etc.). It is a piece of advocacy, not technology, that is very simple, yet extremely powerful. We tend to teach "normalcy" to people with disabilities, in order to make them have more acceptable behaviors and to integrate better into society. This posting, however, raises questions about what we are ...

Published: 2012 by Julia Bascom , Reviewed: January 05, 2012

Advice to School Districts: Want Your AT to Be Used? Build the Infrastructure ...

This edition of FCTD's Technology Voices newsletter features an interview with Lorianne Hoenninger, an independent assistive technology consultant from Long Island with a long history of integrating and supporting the successful use of assistive technology in mainstream and special education environments. Based on her own experience in special education, and building on the concepts of David Edyburn and Patti King-DeBaun, she has developed Accessible Learning Technology Alternatives, an organization providing ...

Published: 2011 by Thomas H. Allen , Reviewed: 1 day ago

Purple VRS

PURPLE is an organization that provides communication resources for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. They offer video relay services using videophones, as well as relay using TTY or captioned phones. Video Remote Interpreting is a service that allows any type of organization to download software and use a computer to link employees or customers to live interpreting. This can be used for medical and/or employment situations ranging from job interviews to ...

Published: 2011 by Purple Communications, Inc , Reviewed: January 06, 2012

AppHappy!

Maria Kowch, the author of this website, is the mother of two children with disabilities. She became a self proclaimed “iPad evangelist” after seeing the difference it made for her children. This site introduces readers to some new, very cool apps that may not be mentioned in other 'app' sites. Hands-free, motion-controlled apps and those controlled by eye gaze are beginning to emerge in iPad technology. Fuego's River Adventure by ...

Published: 2011 by Maria Kowch , Reviewed: January 27, 2012

Jen's Gems

This website is a result of the Many2one program at St. Stephens School in Australia which undertook an initiative to integrate technology into their classrooms with the notion that not everyone learns in the same way. Students in years 7 and 8 are encouraged to use IPads and this site supports their use by providing access to “must have apps.” The app categories include “literacy, numeracy, science, society and environment, ...

Published: 2011 by Many2One , Reviewed: January 05, 2012

Symbly

Symbly is a web-based visual support creator and editor for professionals and families working with individuals who are non-verbal and/or need visual communication support. The symbols are SymbolStix, Mulberry, and Noun Project Symbols as well as web searches. Because it is web-based, there is no loading of software and can be used wherever you go and then downloaded to a computer, iPhone or iPad. Users can create communication pages for ...

Published: 2011 by Symbly , Reviewed: January 19, 2012

Socrative

Socrative is a web-based student response system designed to work with any web-enabled device and any internet browser. Socrative offers classroom exercises, quizzes and games, plus reports and exit tickets. Although the Socrative application is still in beta development, users can submit a request to receive release notifications and account sign-up information. The Socrative blog, at http://www.socrative.com/garden, offers users ideas and tools to make the most of Socrative.

Published: 2011 by Socrative , Reviewed: January 19, 2012

iPad as Interactive Whiteboard: Parts1-4

This video series features a review of the software needed to create an interactive whiteboard with the iPad. In this portion of the series Dr. Tim Tyson demonstrates the use of Ink2Go and Air Display for whiteboard tasks. Dr. Tyson also updates the original series to include keyboard options with Mac Keyboard Viewer or Mobile Mouse, audio recording with QuickTime and audio input options from Bluetooth headsets or USB microphones. ...

Published: 2011 by Dr. Tim Tyson , Reviewed: January 25, 2012

4Teachers.org

Part of the ALTEC project at the University of Kansas, the 4Teachers website is dedicated to successful technology integration in the classroom and includes professional development options, classroom tools, technology integration guides, and a blog to discuss education technology topics and success stories. Most of the tools on the 4Teachers site are free and several are linked to popular ALTEC resources.

Published: 2011 by 4Teachers.org , Reviewed: 1 day ago

BuzzMath

Buzz Math is an online math program. It is intended for middle school students to practice math skills. Different areas of math can be accessed. Problems are presented and the student can find out if he answered each problem correctly. There is a help button to explain what the student did wrong if he answered incorrectly. Buzz Math can be used at school or at home. There is an online ...

Published: 2011 by BuzzMath , Reviewed: 1 day ago

AT Evaluation: No Shortcuts to Good Outcomes

This newsletter highlights an interview with Bryan Ayres, M.Ed., ATP, Special Educator, Director, Technology and Curriculum Access Center (TCC), Easter Seals Arkansas. He has many years experience in the special education field in Arkansas and is a strong advocate for ongoing individual evaluations. Mr. Ayres sees AT evaluation as a continuous, team-based process, in which AT specialists should participate actively. He makes the case that the most reasonable outcomes are ...

Published: 2011 by Family Center on Technology and Disability , Reviewed: January 27, 2012

Apps for Literacy Support

Australian assistive technology supplier Spectronics is known for providing useful, relevant information about a variety of products and a multitude of topics. They've done it again with Greg O'Conner's "Apps for Literacy Support" list. This list had been in development in the Spectronics blog for a while so providing a page specifically for these resources was valuable enough but Spectronics also provides O'Conner's reviews of these applications, and the reviews ...

Published: 2011 by Greg O'Connor , Reviewed: December 28, 2011

Helping the Blind and Visually Impaired

The website "Helping the Blind and Visually Impaired" at http://www.visuallyimpairedandtheblind.com was created by Christine Chaikin to help other web users with blindness or visual impairments find useful resources online. To encourage a sense of community, the site is screen reader-friendly and includes transcripts of interviews with notable individuals and categorized links to screen readers, employment resources, product vendors, and related publications and resource links. Helping the Blind and Visually Impaired ...

Published: 2011 by Christine Chaikin , Reviewed: December 06, 2011

KinderTown

KinderTown is a free application for iPhone and iPad and is designed to help parents find the best educational software for children ages 3-6 years. KinderTown is staffed by educators and parents and every app on the KinderTown lists is reviewed by educators, parents, and children. By focusing on preschool and kindergarten education apps for iPhone and iPad, KinderTown is able to narrow a wide field of education software down ...

Published: 2011 by KinderTown LLC , Reviewed: December 06, 2011

Apps for Autism

The iPad and other Tablets have become giants in the technology industry. Because of their popularity, we are seeing a rush to develop applications, or "apps" designed for virtually every function. This CBS 60 Minutes news report investigates the usage and success of communication apps for individuals with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. Although it gives great hope for those looking for tools to strengthen communication, the report does not delve ...

Published: 2011 by 60 Minutes , Reviewed: 4 days ago

IXL

IXL is a math website that provides practice activities for students from Pre-K through 8th grade, including basic Algebra. There are some aspects of the website that anyone can access, but to get the full functionality of thematic game boards, reinforcements and progress reports, there is a paid subscription. The skills are nicely organized by grade levels and skill areas. IXL aligns skills practice to most state standards, and references ...

Published: 2011 by IXL Learning , Reviewed: December 06, 2011

K-12 Using Assistive Technology for Math and Science

This short YouTube video presents a variety of assistive technology devices and/or software that can be useful for students who have difficulty with math and science. The video starts off recognizing that individuals learn in different ways. Students then talk about solutions that they use to help them with math and science. Examples for math include: computer-based talking calculators, screen readers, electronic dictionaries, and text-to-speech options that recognize mathematical language. ...

Published: 2011 by Ottawa Network for Education , Reviewed: December 06, 2011

YouTube Teachers

YouTube EDU is a website designed for teachers to create videos to support their teaching of difficult concepts in the classroom. Teachers sign up to participate and then they create a video and upload it. The videos can be viewed by students in that teacher's classroom, and also by students anywhere that has access to YouTube EDU. This is a great visual resource to accompany teaching, especially of math and ...

Published: 2011 by YouTube EDU , Reviewed: January 06, 2012

How to Teach with Technology

In this article, Edutopia presents a series of technology resources and lesson plan ideas for social studies, language and creative writing, math, and science topics. The popular classroom tools for writing were Skype (for both writing and social studies subjects), the Photo Story narrative builder, Garage Band to create songs for student autobiographies and audio-guided tours for art, Google Talk to build rough drafts, Voice Thread to respond to recitations, ...

Published: 2011 by Sara Bernard , Reviewed: December 06, 2011