portable word processors

My son is in 5th grade and finds writing very difficult, always has. I remember he used to cry in first grade at having to copy from the board to his piece of paper. He is dyslexic and has a significant auditory processing delay and I would like to know if the alphasmart or anything could help him in class as I am sure he loses valuable learning when he has to concentrate on writing and getting it all done. I would appreciate any advice. Thank-You

My 4th grade daughter has an alphasmart on .loan to her through the school. She is also dyslexic with both visual and auditory processing deficits. She also uses a computer in her class. There are some really good softwares, i.e., cowriter, draftbuilder and Inspirations that she uses. Any and/all of these could be helpful to you son.

You need to request an AT eval through your school. They will evaluate to see if and what he needs.

what about a laptop? We are planning for our daughter to use one in middle school - she is currently in 4th grade.

Leah
We were looking for something less cumbersome than a laptop. He does use both a laptop and computer at home and we originally thought he would use a palm with a keyboard at school but am intrigued with the larger keyboard and screen size of these stand alone “word processor” machines. He really justs needs something to type with in class that can be used at his desk and then reworked if needed at home. Any writting that is much more than about three lines he needs to keyboard and if when given class time for doing up labs or essays he could do it directly on a word processor and not have to struggle to handwrite and then redo at home would be a great time saver and allow him to focus more on learning and not writting. Lisa.

My daughter currently carries (But doesn’t use :-) ) an Alphasmart. The laptop (of course we would have to buy it ourselves) is really no heavier and not much larger than the Alphasmart. Of course, she would have to take it somewhere to get it priinted, but we’re planning to begin this journey soon (either this year or next) so that we don’t have to begin a new challenge AND middle school at the same time.

I am not familiar with the palm and keyboard. Wouldn’t the keyboard be just as cumbersome as the entire laptop. Of, BTW, my daughter needs special software for auditory spelling so that will have to be placed on the laptop.

Leah
The brand new laptops may be lighter than my sons which is about 8 pounds, the smallest quickpad I saw was about one pound. The alpahsmart and quickpads are about the same dimensions, but much lighter and of course much cheaper than a laptop. With the palms you can get small foldable keyboards or I have seen rubber very light roll them up type boards which looked good also. We were looking for something to carry in a backpack already heavy and full of books. I agree that the alphasmart and quickpad still looked cumbersome compared to a palm with a foldable or rubber keyboard. We may still go that route. We may borrow a friends palm and try it out for a few days with a keyboard to see how it works for the tasks he needs it for. Lisa

If you could “test drive” a friend’s that would be awesome. - Let us know what and how you do so we can figure out which route we will take.

Laptops cost more and are more fragile but have some advantages (such as a bigger screen). The Dana version of the AlphaSmart is pretty sophisticated with lots of software options.

If you end up trying the palm and keyboard I would love to know how this works out. We have considered the option for our highschooler but it is very expensive and we would have to pay ourselves. A laptop is just not an option because our child is too clumsy and there would be a power issue (batteries don’t last long enough and outlets not available) and it is too big.

The backpack weight is a real issue here too. An alphasmart would not be helpful as it is too bulky to carry around the highschool which is HUUUUUUGE.

We’re supposed to be getting a Dana to “test drive” when it arrives at the AT office. We are pretty interested; however, our biggest concern is that it has no auditory spellcheck, which is needed at this time. I’m hoping it’s going to be a pretty good system.

As a mom and a sped teacher, I can tell you I love the PDA (Palm… I but the Handspring Visor, similaridea) I bought one for my disorganized son and equally disorganized husband. The keyboard folds out to standard size and is the size of a deck of cards when closed. i can testify to their durability as i accidentally washed my son’s PDA in his pants pocket. i Dried it out for 2 days and used a hairdryer for 2 minutes at a time ocasionally on low temp. it took a lickin’ but it kept on tickin’!!! I just replaced and upgraded his to the TREO . MUCH cheaper than a laptop. He comes home and downloads everything into Word and off he goes.

Karen,

Teachers don’t mind if he brings home his work and downloads it and then turns it in the next day - Or did I miss something?

Also, where do I go to research these palm items? And what exactly are they called? Maybe this is something we need to look into more closely. Have you ever been to any of the conventions that demonstrate these products? I understand there is such an animal, but haven’t even been to one. Also, can you load software on them as well - Sorry, I’m pretty ignorant of anything but laptops/computers.

My vote is for the pda and foldable keyboard. I’m an IT teacher and I do carry a laptop all day from class to class and it gets very, very heavy.
I have colleagues who swear by the Alphasmarts. They are inexpensive, rubberized, sturdy, run on AA batteries for a long, long time but their text window is tiny and that bothers me. I think for kids who have language problems being able to see only a few lines of text but never the big picture is not great.

I know one principal who has a cell in one pants pocket and his pda and keyboard in the other. He has downloaded all the student schedules onto the pda and so knows where to find any kid at any time. He routinely checks and responds to his email on his pda. He feels the pda has liberated him from his office. He is in communication and mobile and effective.

But I love Karen’s laundry story above…..

I am currently investigating possible solutions that various parents have described.
So far I think the Personal Data Assistant/PALM’s with foldable keyboards are a probable solution. I also am investigating a Laser PC6 that is like an Alpha-Smart, but has a bigger text window, and lots of extra features, such as a calendar, calculator, speaking word processor, Infra-red transmitter built-in, etc.etc. See the website www.perfectsolutions.com

Can you load software on the Laser PC6?
What about the foldable palm?

Have you looked at the Dana, a new alphasmart product? It has a larger display and runs on the Palm OS. After a lot of research, I bought my child a cheap laptop and it has worked out great. He uses it in school and for homework every night. We got around the problem of lugging around the extra weight (6 lbs) by also getting a wheeled backpack.

Andrea

Our school has a class set of alphasmarts to which all students are entitled to use. Most of our classrooms are equipped with computers, so it’s easy to download. As a regular English middle school teacher, I always allow students extra time to download during the day or at home.
P.S. Anyone know of any corporations willing to donate PDAs for education?
;-)

What is an auditory spellcheck?