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Dragon Dictation Anywhere App for Voice-to-Text Recognition!

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Dragon Dictation Anywhere App for Voice-to-Text Recognition!

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Dragon Dictation is a free voice recognition app that helps those who may not be able to use their hands to type! With Dragon Dictation, you can simply speak your essay or notes into the mobile device and your words are brought to text within your device.

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ADDitude: A Website for Those with ADHD and Writing Tools Supports!

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ADDitude: A Website for Those with ADHD and Writing Tools Supports!

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This website is specifically designed as a blog that provides suggestions for students with ADHD who may need extra help with writing. This website has many different options for these students' needs, like WordQ and Co:Writer

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Many children with ADHD struggle with writing or spelling, making it hard to get their (creative/powerful/etc.) thoughts on paper. These high-tech solutions could help these kids use their words - and let their great ideas shine.

Assistive technology is designed to make hard, or seemingly impossible, tasks doable. For students with disabilities, writing can be the hardest task of all. Since difficulties in writing are wide-ranging - and technology is evolving - finding the right AT device to incorporate in your child's school accommodations can be an ordeal.

You should understand your child's challenges and match technology to his needs, says Joan Green, author of The Ultimate Guide to Assistive Technology in Special Education. A word-prediction program that requires a few keystrokes to generate word lists can help students with severe spelling problems, who do not benefit from spell-checkers. Graphic organizers, on the other hand, can be helpful to students who can't generate ideas and organize their thoughts.

Although Green encourages teachers to use online resources, she says that a digital pen, such as the Livescribe Pen, is a good investment for many students. "I use this with kids who can't take notes in class," she says. The Livescribe Pen captures the audio in the classroom, which can then be uploaded, and shared, online. Students can tap on the notes they took during class and hear the audio recorded at the moment they were writing. The pen is helpful for students who don't catch the main points during class.

WordQ is another tool that Green favors. In fact, she uses it herself. The software aids with typing and proofreading by providing such features as word prediction, highlighting, and auditory feedback. The program reads text aloud as the user types. "You're less likely to miss errors in your work if you hear your writing spoken aloud," says Green. "And if you get stuck on spelling, it provides help."

Debra Bauder, president of the Special Education Technology Interest Group of the International Society for Technology in Education, recommends a program called Inspiration, a graphic organizer to help students with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, aphasia, or who struggle with organizing their thoughts into written words. The software is meant to engage kids in the writing process through diagrams, outlines, graphics, video, and sound. Teachers can link the software to an interactive whiteboard to demonstrate it for the class.

Windows Vista has a word dictation function built into its program. If you want to take word prediction to the next level, Bauder suggests Co:Writer, developed by Don Johnston. It will help your student write papers that will catch the teacher's eye.

Excerpted from Education Week Teacher Professional Development Sourcebook (edweek.org). Reprinted with permission from Editorial Projects in Education.

Free Writing Tools on the Web
GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
Mindomo
This site allows students to create mind maps for a long-term project. To make ideas interesting, children can embed video and audio into the map and also collaborate with peers to flesh out ideas. Maps can be exported to Microsoft Word and Excel.
SPELLING SOFTWARE
VocabularySpellingCity
The site is meant to improve a child's spelling and vocabulary skills. Features include word games, such as crossword puzzles, HangMouse, and other activities that use the words entered by the user. Users can hear words read aloud to them, on their own or used in a sentence.
VISUAL DICTIONARIES
Shahi
This site uses images and graphics from Flickr, Google, and Yahoo to convey the meaning of words.

Visuwords
The site helps students understand a word's meaning by demonstrating its connections to other words through diagrams.

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The "Write" Assistive Tech Tools for Kids with ADHD

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Many children with ADHD struggle with writing or spelling, making it hard to get their (creative/powerful/etc.) thoughts on paper. These high-tech solutions could help these kids use their words - and let their great ideas shine. Assistive technology is designed to make hard, or seemingly impossible, tasks doable.

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Draft:Builder: Online Tool for Stepping Through the Writing Process!

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Draft:Builder: Online Tool for Stepping Through the Writing Process!

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Draft:Builder is a great way for students to brainstorm, organize, and perform their writing tasks! This is an online program that varies in pricing, but is helpful for students to see the steps of writing process and assists them through every step in detail.

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See how Draft:Builder 6 works in under 5 minutes! Learn more about Draft:Builder 6 here: http://donjohnston.com/draftbuilder

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High-Tech Tool for Writing: Livescribe 3 Smartpen!

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High-Tech Tool for Writing: Livescribe 3 Smartpen!

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Explore in this video how the Livescribe 3 Smartpen assists your writing from a notepad straight to your mobile device. After writing notes or drawing pictures on the notepad, students can retrieve these drawings or notes on their mobile devices and reflect on what they did that day for the future.

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Introducing the new Livescribe 3 smartpen (US)

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The Livescribe 3 smartpen Watch your notes appear instantly on your tablet or smartphone with the Livescribe 3 smartpen. Paired with the Livescribe+ mobile app, notes become more useful when they are organized, tagged, searchable and converted to text.

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Ginger: A Proofreading Software for Writers!

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Ginger: A Proofreading Software for Writers!

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This software is beneficial for early writers who may have trouble editing their writing. This is downloadable onto a mobile device. Some features of this software are auto-correction and different keyboards for visual representations.

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Powerful and effortless desktop & mobile solutions for improving your writing and productivity. Ginger Software is your personalized editor - everywhere you go.

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Keyguards for Typing when Writing on the Computer!

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Keyguards for Typing when Writing on the Computer!

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This website explains the use of Keyguards on computer keyboards for writing online! Keyguards are helpful for students so that they hit the proper key and even "rest their hands" during typing.

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Find out about keyguards and why we use them

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Write About This: App on Mobile Device for Beginning Story Ideas!

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Write About This: App on Mobile Device for Beginning Story Ideas!

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This app is $3.99 on the App Store and provides exciting story prompts, a lot of images, and different voices to use for creating their story.

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Ulysses: App on Mobile Device for Writing Organization!

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Ulysses: App on Mobile Device for Writing Organization!

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This App, $4.99, helps with organization of ideas for writing. Your organized ideas can be accessed on mobile devices in various places.

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This is a cheap way for students with difficulty keeping their hands focused. The weight assists the hand with staying on the paper while writing.

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pencil weight tremoring  writing tool pencil grip weighted pencil holder fidgeting

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PencilWeight | Pencil Weights | Wrting Tools | Weighted Holders | Slant Board

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All your favorite occupational writing tools: pencil weights, pencil grips, slant board for writing, fidgets, triangular pencils, crayon rocks, tactile paper,

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See how this mid-tech tool can help students write down easily and operates digitally!

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http://www.mastermindtoys.com/Boogie-Board-LCD-Writing-Tablet-Blue.aspx http://www.mastermindtoys.com/Boogie-Board-LCD-Writing-Tablet-Black.aspx http://www.mastermindtoys.com/Boogie-Board-LCD-Writing-Tablet-Red.aspx Play, learn, draw, write and create with your paperless Boogie Board LCD Writing Tablet! You can use the included stainless steel stylus, any other suitable instrument or even your finger on this super-light and thin, blue 8.5" Boogie Board.

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Low-Tech Tool: Finger Spacer for Writing!

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Low-Tech Tool: Finger Spacer for Writing!

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This is an easy way for students to see how to space their paragraphs. This tool can be used when learning the structure of writing an essay.

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Finger Spacer Writing Tools | Pencil Grips | Writing Slant Boards |Therapy Shoppe

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All the best occupational therapy handwriting help tools at great prices! Pencil grips, writing slant boards, fidgets, sensory diet tools, much more!

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This is a cute and fun writing tool for beginner writers. This will teach students how to hold a pencil properly even before they put the pencil to paper!

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revolutionary writing tool facilitates proper grasp separates 2 sides of the hand finger indentations naturally promote functional tripod grasp pencil grasp custom fit writing rascals pencil grip writing tool for helping children use good grasps handwriting activities left right handed

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Writing Rascal | Hand Writing Tools | Pencil Grips | Special Needs Toys

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Your OT's favorite one-stop-shop for sensory and writing tools: pencil grips, slant boards, ball chairs, wiggle seats, chewy tubes, fidgets, focus tools, more!