SD#13: Key Assistive Technologies for Drafting an ISP

As I have previously mentioned, my “day job” is as an Assistive Technology Specialist. In this post, we will examine how our kids can use technology to be active participants in the ISP process.

While your child was in school, you probably got into the routine of how to prepare for your IEP meetings. Once you move to adult services, your child will have an ISP:  Individual Support Plan.  For participant-directed programming, this document will be your “official document,” summarizing the client, their strengths and weaknesses, current programming needs, and the goals and objectives for the upcoming year.  As with the IEP, the more you can prepare ahead of time, the better the meeting process will go.

If your person used assistive technology in school, just because they move into the adult world does not mean that their technology needs and usage will end.  Below are some tools and ways that people can use their assistive and mainstream technology to prepare their draft ISP.  This is by no means an exhaustive list…..but you can use this as a starting point.

1. Use of a PDF annotation program:  the original document is presented as a PDF.  See below for a blank copy.  Your person can use the following PDF annotation tools to fill in the document:
   1. Using Google Drive and Orbit Note:   Orbit Note, by Everway (formerly TextHelp), is a program that allows users to annotate within PDFs and use accessibility tools like speech-to-text and word prediction to write within the document.  You can also use the text-to-speech feature to have the document read aloud.  
   2. Using Google Drive and Kami: If your primary purpose of completing the document on the computer is to use keyboarding for handwriting legibility, using the program Kami is a good free option.  You can pay for the premium Kami subscription if you need speech-to-text and text-to-speech.
   3. Suppose you don’t have either of those programs, but you do have Read&Write for Google Chrome. In that case, you can open the PDF as a Google Doc, then use the Read&Write for Google Chrome toolbar to use your accessibility features.  
   4. Adobe Acrobat Accessibility Features:  If you have a paid Adobe Acrobat program, you can access the accessibility features.  Accessibility features in PDFs
   5. If you are an iPad user, here are two apps you could explore:
      1. Claro PDF Reader: similar to Orbit Note, this program allows you to use speech-to-text, keyboarding, and word prediction from the iPad to annotate within the document.  It also provides text-to-speech to have the text read aloud.
      2. Snap Type Pro2: users take a picture of the paper worksheet, and then they can type, use the word prediction on the iPad, or use speech-to-text to annotate.  This program does not have a text-to-speech feature.  
   6. Using Clicker to answer the questions:  while with Clicker, you are not uploading the original document, I have created a document template with the questions, and then the student can use their customized grid set to answer the questions.  
   7. If your person uses an AAC device, most systems will have a way for you to either save and export and/or print the text in the message window.  An example is with Touch Chat; you can use the Chat Editor to print pages.

Call to action: what assistive technology has your child used in the past that they can continue to use while creating their draft ISP?  Is there a different kind of technology that they could use?

Until next time,

Cheryl