My son has a problem with writing. We have a 504 meeting tomorrow. He is of high intelligence, reads well, so-so in math (writing realy slows him down in this area). The meeting is to cover mostly his difficutlties with writing and a bit of ADHD allowances.I have asked about AT and was told school does not provide. This school is helpful so far in sooo many other ways so am thinking of buying our own AT to provide him so as not to “push the envelope” and creat any sourness when all else is good.
We are needing someting he can type notes, homework, etc in BUT he can also do math in since this is his second biggest area for improvement and is very effected by his poor writing skills.
Something that would check but not correct his work would be very helpful as well. If we realy go all out something he can do research on and maybe even save his notes etc (instead of carring notebooks etc - just more for him to forget).
Is there anything like this? Where do we get it? About how much does it cost (a very big factor)? What is the Alpha Smart? Does it have math capabilities?
Thanks for any and all info.
Re: What type of AT?
Acorn,
I have a few ideas for you. First, there is a portable keyboard called the Calcuscribe that can be used for word processing and for typing out math. Second, there is a software program called Mathpad that can be used to type math equations. I haven’t personally used either of these with my child, but I did look into them a bit and they seem good. A low tech way to help with writing math is to have the child turn a regular sheet of loose leaf paper sideways and use the lines to keep columns straight. I like this better than graph paper because the child doesn’t have to try to write in an itty-bitty box. Of course, your child should never be asked to copy out math problems. Instead, the problems should already be written out for him so that all he will need to do is show his own work.
Andrea
Just wanted to be sure y’all understood that we need something he can do both math and writing assignments in. All the other things I mentioned would be nice extrase but are not needed.
Thanks
Acorn