Making the AT Match for Reluctant Writers

The following AT programs could support reluctant writers but need to be effectively matched to the student to be optimally effective. It is amazing what technology is out there available to aid students' learning. It's like finding a treasure chest of AT tools!

Reluctant Writers:
1. Draft Builder Solo - good for idea generation
2. Fusion Keyboard - keyboard device; predictive typing; can save documents
3. Kidspiration & Inspiration - for mind mapping, brainstorming and pre-writing
           strategies; HRSB
4. Writing With Symbols - for significant cognitive delays; pictorial symbols; for
           non-readers and writers; not used effectively in schools.
5. Classroom Suite - pictorial symbols and text; text to speech; has a portal
           alpha-smart keyboard; for handwriting difficulties; HRSB
6. Clicker 5 - similar to above
7. *WriteOutLoud - great tool; for lower level mechanics - Recommended
8. *Co-Writer Solo - For students with upper content level skills and upper level
          mechanics skills, good receptive language skills; punctuation and capital
          letters are prompted; topic dictionaries - Recommended        
9. ClozePro - For weak handwriting

ClozePro

Clicker 5

WriteOutLoud

Classroom Suite

Kidspiration/Inspiration

Voice Recognition  - Speech to Text:

1. MyStudyBar - need to be skilled and articulate for optimal use; need to have
          high content and congitive ability to use effectively; saying 'um' and long
          pauses may cause disruptions in text; need to prepare and practice speech
          beforehand
2. Dragon Naturally Speaking - similar to above; can be frustrating for some
          students to use; requires editing, no predictive typing; caution - needs 3 GB
          of RAM to run

Dragon Naturally Speaking