alphasmart-what is it?

It’s a keyboard/small computer-like animal, but very helpful in some cases. Has 8 files I believe. You have save information, cut and paste, copy, etc. (I went to one of the workshops that they give teachers on it) You can use a cable to download the information and print it out on a printer in the classroom. It can do wonders for children who have writing (as in legibility) problems.

I too am interested in fknowing what alphasmart is and how it helps children with ADHD as well as learning disability.
Thanks

I am doing my masters project on AlphaSmarts and how they are used in the classroom. They are a small word processor with 8 files holding 12.5 single-spaced pages of information. It is very simple to attach them to a printer or your computer and get a hard copy of your work. It saves automatically so little ones don’t have to remember that step. The neat thing for children is that they are light, simple to use, and almost indestructable. For teachers, they are great, because they’re cheap enough to get a cartfull (30) so the “lab” can be moved right into the room.
Check out the AlphaSmart website.

Some of the disadvantages are that the screen is pretty small — just a few lines — and yes, it’s basically a word processor, that’s all, so it’s often used in conjunction with a computer. A reporter friend of mine depends on his for field work — it’s so much lighter and more durable than a laptop. Then he gets out his cable and wires those files into his IMAC and he’s ready to do all the fancy stuff.

I used AlphaSmarts for the first time when I was hired at my present schooldistrict. That was two years ago. Students really like using the word processing tool (1) because we only have 4 computers in our class, and (2) because typeset is so much easier to edit than handwriting. When the student is finished with the final editing (or before), the text is sent directly to the computer’s word processor via a cable connection. I have used the machine for students with handwriting issues, and it seems to work! I highly recommend the usage in classrooms as an efficient way to get student writing “published”.
Debbie

I have one for sale with the carrying case. My daughter has such ready access to computers at school and home, she doesn’t use it. I has the infrared feature, so you don’t even need the cable, just stand in front of the computer and it transfers to the word processing program. It also will go directly to the printer, if you have a newer printer. My old printer wouldn’t work with it., but my new Lexmark color, scanner, copier, printer does. It comes with the spell check, keyboarding, and some other programs—spelling and math games.

It’s a great little keyboard. I paid $300, and she only used it maybe 20 hours. It’s only a year and a half old. Make me an offer.
Cindy

I also like the Alpha pads for teaching keyboarding skills from a book rather than on-screen versions. (Cheaper-more portable).

Lots of kids aren’t learning how to copy-type because we’ve taken away the paper portion. It is an important skill.

My daughter is 22 and was just released one by the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilation as part of her college help. It has been a real LIFE SAFER! Since no one, and I mean no one can read her writing (dysgraphia) and her dyslexia is such a barrier to learning, taking notes in college has been a god-sent! It is wonderful and she has really become to depend on it.

It is certainly what people say, a small word processor, and it does have a small screen, however it downloads by way of a USB connection, a file that she would have typed, like notes from Sociology, or Intervention, or English. This way she can type what the teacher puts on the board instead of writing down and losing half of what is going on putting her effort into writing instead of listening. Then she can download to the teacher after class and she can review (teacher) with her to make sure she got the notes correct, or add something she missed; or come home and download notes for her study.

She can take it to the library and type information, she can sit outside and work typing papers or in the car. No electricity is needed as it uses batteries. It is wonderful, and she is just learning all the uses!

Check out their website http://www.alphasmart.com and check out their newest product the Dana. It has a bigger screen and has Palm OS software built in. I think it would be better for secondary and post secondary students.

Bette - your daughter doesn’t have any other problems besides the dysgraphia? My daugther, going into 4th grade, uses an AlphaSmart, but it doesn’t really meet her needs as she has very poor spelling and the cowriter applet on it is not auditory. She began using it for dysgraphia, but with SI OT her handwriting has improved to the point it’s very legible; however, she still can’t write and listen at the same time. I’ll look at the Dana and see what it is.

Oh, the dysgraphia is only one of the many learning problems she has. Unfortunately inclusion, special tutoring and all the other helps available now were not available when she was in elementry school. She is dyslexic as well as having difficulty in cognitive skills. The whole gamut! However, it helps her because when professors talk or write notes on the board, she doesn’t have to think about what the word is, or how to write it, or heavens to betsy, correctly write it down! Lots of steps are simplified! She can take notes.

The best part is that she can download her notes to WYNN, (What you need now) from Freedom Scientific. This is the best thing since sliced bread! It is a literacy program that reads ANY, and I mean that literally, anything printed out loud! It also helps with studing, changes font and background colors, edits, highlights, takes voice notes, types written notes, outlines, provides word prediction and has a built in dictionary. It is EASY TO USE, and can be prepare to use it immediately. Very user friendly.

I don’t think you will find as she gets older, that there is one adaptive equiptment that will meet all her needs. You might check with your school if they will help you get a grant for the program, as well as a computer. Become knowledgeable about the laws and become her advocate. I am serious! For years, I always felt that my daughter could do the work if given the right tools, however, no one suggested any tools. I wish I could start her over again.

Good luck!

PS. My daughter NEVER passed a college class - ALWAYS F’S OR INCOMPLETES. She attended 3 schools, finally after contacting Bureau of Vocational Rehab (a suggestion from someone on the ldonline forums), and 1 year later, she is on the dean’s list and has received 3 A’s and a B. Granted, there are accomodations, but she can learn now.

We have used them in my younger son’s Montessori 6-9 classroom numerous times in the past 2 years. The kids love them, and their output is tremendous. I went in once a week for a morning, and downloaded everyone’s stories and reports for the week onto the classroom PC’s. (we have 5 PC’s per classroom) Then I’d sit with the younger ones to do their edits, or pair a couple of the 3rd graders who wrote very well with the littler ones for first editting.

The work the kids did was amazing when they weren’t held back by the torture of re-writes by hand. And this included NT kids (most of them) as well as the LD or ADHD kids in the class.

Karen

We’ve been looking into the Dana too. Our NLD son is heading into middle school in the fall, and we had an assistive tech eval done in the spring to assess his needs. We were told that he would probably need a lap-top starting in middle school because the Alphasmart (which he has access to for the last couple of years) will probably be too limited to meet his needs.

We have a light-weight notebook computer that we can give him to use, but a notebook is a pretty fragile piece of equipment for a 12 year old with poor fine and gross motor skills to handle without breaking. If the Dana would do the job, it would be a lot sturdier, AND a lot less expensive to replace if it did get broken.

Karen

Betty,

What do you mean by a “grant for the program”? The school has told us that the middle school teachers “will look down on the use of a laptop” in the classroom. They want me to stick with the AlphaSmart, which is NOT meeting her needs. She cannot visually differentiate between messiest, meanness and meekness. If, however, she can hear the words, she knows which one to use - the cowriter on the AlphaSmart is only visual.

I have kept “assistive technology” on her IEP (b/c of the AlphaSmart) and she uses a stand alone in gifted resource. We have asked for a teacher who would be open to use of computer in the gen classroom for this year (4th grade). We are even willing to provide the laptop (as a last resort), but then they still don’t want to provide the software. Looks like it’s going to be a fight.

Have you heard of anyone who has met with success in getting the school to provide a laptop in the middle school environment without a lawsuit ?

Is your school district going to provide the laptop? Our school district says that the only ones who have laptops in our county are “physically impaired”.

Unfortunately at this time the Dana can not run the CoWriter Applet.
Laser P6 has auditory capabilities and has a phonetic spell check but no word predicition.

Well, I think you could fight that if you needed to. If a child needs a lap top to access their education, the school system, must, by law provide for that need, whether the disability is a physical on or not. They do not have the right to just say, “We won’t do it for your child because we’re not doing it for anyone else.”

OTOH, asyou probably already know, you have to choose your battles. The fact of the matter is that school systems have a limited amount of money that they need to use to the best advantage, helping as many kids as possible. We try to be reasonable and do our share when we can.

In our case, we really, really needed them to provide the keyboarding isntruction for our son. We felt that he needded direct instruction that we couldn’t provide, AND it needed to be done within the context of the school day so that it didn’t add more stress to his afternoons. (stress is a huge problem with NLD kids in general, and our son in particular. His processing speed goes down to nothing if he is pushed too hard)

My husband builds local area networks for small businesses, so we have access to computer equipment at a reasonable cost. We agreed that if they would provide the keyboard instruction, we would provide the lap top. If we couldn’t afford to do this piece oursekves, we would have had to fight for it at school. As it was, we could use it as a bargaining chip.

Karen

The problem is that she makes straight A’s currently (because of all the intervention we have provided privately) and needs the computer primarily for gifted resource. .I do think, however, that she will need it more as time goes on and assignments become more lengthy. She has global LD (both verbal and non-verbal) and significant process delays.

My concern is that they will say she doesn’t need it b/c of her good grades. She has to work really, really hard for the grades she makes and writing, especially, is a slow, laborious task.

Could she make C’s without the laptop? Probably. However, she is gifted and C’s are not a true picture of her abilities. She has an IEP with pullout OT, and 15 min consult, w/ extended time for book reports, long writing assignments and standardized testing. (to be honest I don’t know if she gets extended time for classroom tests - if so, I’m not aware of it) We provided our own keyboarding last Summer. My husband builds computers, but not laptops. We have offered to provide a personal computer for her use in class but realize that won’t work in middle school with changing classes. To our knowledge there is only one other child in gifted classrooms with a laptop in our area. Honestly, it was hard enough just to get her listed as dual exceptionalities - I can imagine the work it’s going to be to request real technology. We even offered to provide the laptop at our own expense and they would provide the software but they balked at that. They keep pushing the AlphaSmart, but without auditory spellcheck it is basically useless to her.

Hindie,

We’ve looked at the PC6 - with the $$ and the comparasion, we’d probably go with a lightweight Sony laptop. We don’t need the co-writer really, she knows what she’d like to say, just can’t spell anything. She uses draft builder and Kidspiration/Inspiration as well so those are the kinds of things we would want. Also, Texthelps Read and Write looks very good - Sue said she wouldn’t outgrow it - but its about $600 just for the software - OUCH.

I don’t know exactly what software would be appropriate for your daughter, but I did check into the software recommended for my son during his assistive tech eval. Some comes standard with most PC’s… it is amazing what Word can do if you know how to use it! The other program that was recommended was “Draft Builder”, which I’ve seen recommended here as well. That is about $150, so it’s not outrageously expensive.

Have you checked to see what your daughter’s software would actually cost you? Under the circumstance you present, I can understand why you want her to have this, but I can also understand their resistance. If you can afford to handle it yourself, you might be “earning points” for another day. Our situation is similar, though we are not talking about a gifted program for my NLD son… he needs this to do well in a mainstream classroom.

I’d rather bear the expense of my son’s computer and software ourselves, and get the school to spend their money on training teachers to support the use of assistive technology in the classroom. This will not only benefit my son, but many others as well. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable way to expect the school system to spend its money.

Karen

Karen

You’re right - when you put it in those terms I have to agree that the training for teachers is and should be paramount. Sometimes it gets old when you see your child’s college $$$ being spent on technology and software and tutoring and private OT (the list goes on and on) when others are getting it “free” through the school. I’m amazed at how some parents think the schools OWE them everything. I’m with you, I’m a reasonable most of the time :) person and am willing to negotiate.

Also, I see resistance with SOME teachers to learn the technology. I think they should possibly train all new and incoming teachers at the get-go so they will be knowledgeable - including general education teachers. To be honest, my daughter already knows more about the software than the teachers - including the ESE teacher.

We are currently using draftbuilder at home. The assistive technology person for our district gave us a copy at our last IEP meeting. My daughter uses it and you can download the instruction manual off of their website.

The texthelp/read and write software is approximately $600; however, it’s probably not really needed until high school or college. I guess we could buy the laptop now and hold off on the really great software until she really needs it. Who knows, by then the schools may have it. I have to admit, I have gotten some software from them and they also mentioned WriteOutloud at her first IEP meeting when she couldn’t read. Currently she doesn’t need it and I want her to learn to read as much as possible - in other words walking the fine line between “support” and “crutch”.

Thanks for your input - it really helps think things through to have another person to bounce things off of.

I wrote your name as “author” on the last e-mail I did of 7/7 - I guess I hadn’t had enough coffee yet. Please look at it. Thanks - let me know if you get it.

Hi Leah,

I figured it was you.

>> Also, I see resistance with SOME teachers to learn the technology. I think they should possibly train all new and incoming teachers at the get-go so they will be knowledgeable - including general education teachers. <<

I think this is of paramount importance. My son has twice recently been marked down for handwriting issues, even though access to a computer is written into his IEP. When I’ve asked if he was encouarged to produce his final product on the computer to work around his handwriting issues, the teachers have acted like they never even thought about it. Now, in fairness, his grades were not heavily affected. But it’s unfair to hold a known disability against him, when he is not given a chance to use reasonable accomodations.

More importantly, it is their responsibility to help him LEARN to look for ways to work around his disability. If an alternative isn’t suggested to him, he won’t think of it himself. Problem solving is NOT a strong suit for NLD children! If it becomes routine for him to reach for a computer for written output tasks, he will start using it without reminders, just as he (finally) usually remembers to brush his teeth.

>>The texthelp/read and write software is approximately $600; however, it’s probably not really needed until high school or college. I guess we could buy the laptop now and hold off on the really great software until she really needs it. Who knows, by then the schools may have it. <<

That’s one good point the other is that software is constantly (and quickly) evolving. It might be that there is something substantially better, and possibly also cheaper, by the time she REALLY needs it.

>> Currently she doesn’t need it and I want her to learn to read as much as possible - in other words walking the fine line between “support” and “crutch”. <<

That sounds like the most important reason of all not to start using it now. Not only might it be a crutch for her, but you don’t want the school to think for a minute that they can back off on working on teaching her to read just because she has access to the content in another format!

Karen

Actually, the school isn’t doing anything re: teaching her to read. It’s all being done privately. In 2nd grade we left school early 2x/wk. to go to Lindamood Bell tutoring (the school really frowned on that but admitted they couldn’t stop me). She goes to LMB now 2x/wkly from 4-5 p.m. Progress is outstanding. The school has put her in gifted resource (after my demands), given 30 min/wkly of OT and provided AT. And, of course, taken FULL credit for her progress! Oh well, I try not to care as long as they are cooperative with the things she needs.

I guess we’ll be shopping for a laptop soon. We’re looking at the Sony Viajo -so something like that. Know anything about it? I want a really lightweight one b/c she will have to carry it all day. Also, there is a lightweight Dell. Both in the range of $1600-$1800. My concern is that I will spend this money and then b/c of embarrassment in middle school she will not want to carry it. That’s another reason I am considering getting it now so it will seem “normal” to her to have it.

Thanks for all your help.

My son will “inherit” my Toshiba Portege. This is an incredibly small, light-weight machine. (about 3 pounds including the battery) The down-side is that internally, it has ONLY a hard drive. It has both CD and floppy drives, but they are peripherals that need to be docked with the machine when you use them. Not a big deal, beacuse he won’t need them all the time anyway, but probably not ideal. I also worry a little because it is a little on the delicate side just because it is so light weight.

The big advantage is that we own it. We figure if/when it gets broken, then we’ll worry about a replacement.

I’m concerned about our son’s acceptance of using the computer in middle school (which starts this year for us) I think his accetance of it and success with it will be HIGHLY dependent on how it is presented to him and the other students by the school staff. I know that they do a lot more work on the computer starting in 6th grade as part of the general curriculuum. There are 20-odd kids to a class, and 5 computers in the room. So adding another computer (his) should take some pressure off the other computers. It SHOULD be viewed as a positive thing.

I have not yet had time to talk to his teachers, (one of the is still a “TBA”) but the Student Services Coordinator for the building met with us at the end of the school year, and we talked about the need for training for the teachers, and she seemed quite receptive. Now we’ll just keep our fingers crossed that she will follow through.

Karen

Sounds like you’ve got a pretty good school system. Is it public and only 22 kids? Our standard classes here in Florida (Jax) have about 35-37.

The Sony Viajo (or whatever its called) is 2.9, I believe. I hope that includes the battery. I guess we’ll look into getting it soon.

I’m concerned b/c my AT specialist told me the teachers weren’t going to be very receptive to a laptop in the classroom. I figure if I get it in 4th grade, we’ll be able to say - what do you mean, she’s been using it in public school for 2 years!. Elementary seems much more receptive to these types of things. I just dread the older grades.

Yes, it is the public school system. They won’t put more than 25 kids in a class, and most are a little less. Lower Elementary they try to keep between 18-21.

We are finding the exact opposite in terms of acceptance. The middle school here seems much more technology oriented… I suppose because it’s developmentally more appropriate for more kids at that age. If my son had worked on a lap top in elementary school, he would have been the only one in the school, and I KNOW the teachers wouldn’t have had the skills to support him in its use.

OTOH, there are Alphasmarts in every classroom in our elementary school, and many children use them regularly. They are more developmentally appropriate for most elementary school students. I do have one friend with a special needs child who really did better on a computer than an Alphasmart. He worked on a PC in the classroom, and did his homework on one at home. Most kids don’t really need a lap top before middle school because they aren’t moving from classroom to classroom. So a PC works fine, and is less likely to be damaged with a child moving it around.

Karen

I agree but my concern is that the AT specialist told me the middle school teachers WONT be open to the laptop, so if I get one now I can say she’s been on it for this long, we’re not going backwards.

You are very fortunate. We have 29 kids in a classroom in Kindergarten where I’m at in Florida. 30 ish in 1st and 2nd.

I just got bad news in the my OT just told me she thinks my daughter may need language tutoring b/c she is having a lot of word retrieval problems. Geez, I better go plant that money tree….

Hi Betty,

pardon the direct question, but I’m just curious whether yur daughter would be receptive to a computer tutorial program that would help her develope her handwriting skills?

Bill