iPad Mini Giveaway from AMDi

AMDi is looking to expand our social media audience to help as many people in the special needs community that we can. We set a goal of 2,000 likes on our Facebook page. Every person that "likes" us on Facebook will be automatically entered into a drawing for an iAdapter^™Mini with an iPad^® mini!  As soon as we reach 2,000 likes, we will pick a winner!

Click to go to our Facebook Page

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Kids App for Core Words

The Minspeak E-Newsletter and Jeremy Legaspi (the-speechguy.com) have endorsed this app, and I do to! One-, two-, and three-word phrases are fun to produce with the cheerful graphics and actions built into Let's Make Friends - Play Toy, as it is called in the app store (others have called it "Pocket Playground" but that will get you nowhere in the app store). The FREE Lite version gives you two characters (and a bonus penguin) to play on 3 playground attractions. The full version adds 7 more ways to play.

Below are some examples of phrases you can "say" (in whatever way you do that) while playing the app - the characters are nonverbal themselves.

LINK to the-speechguy.com's review

AAC Tech Connect - DISCOUNTS!

In honor of Better Speech and Hearing month, Let us help you make the "Best Choice for the Best AAC Voice!" AAC TechConnect can help you with your augmentative communication (AAC) needs . . . and we have 2 resources to assist you  . . . 1) Sort through and find the best AAC App or AAC Device  with our online clinical tools  on S A LE    for 50% off ! 2)  Purchase one of ACES Evaluation Toolkits to assist you in your AAC evalutions for up to 10% off !   Get BOTH resources get started with effective and efficient AAC assessments! 1) Do you need help sorting thru AAC Apps and/or deciding on the right AAC Device?   Try our AAC Apps Assistant & AAC Device Assistant Bundle.  Choose what features you need in an App or Device and we sort through the options and give them to you in a side-by-side comparison!  For info, go tohttp://aactechconnect.com/?page_id=1945   HURRY and purchase now and you will enjoy the new upgrades coming .  . .    50% OFF ONLY THROUGH 6 / 30 / 2014 AAC Apps Assistant and AAC Device Assistant Bundle for only $30 / year for a single user* & $83 / year for up to 10 users* (* prices slightly higher if Purchase Order is used) Use code AADA50%off  . . . Click here for ordering info  AND  2) Do you need help with your AAC Evaluations so you can decide which communication tool / App / Device you may need?  Rollback pricing available! Go to www.aacTechConnect.com/ACESdiscount    Try our ACES Evaluation Toolkit! We have an ACES  Low-Lite Tech Toolkit that has 25 communication tools  needed for your evaluation  (5% off thru 6/30/2014. . . cost )  & the ACES High-Tech Toolkit that is a convertible laptop loaded with valuable resources to assist in your evaluations for dynamic display devices and Apps (10% off -  hurry limited availability . . . cost) &   get the ACES Evaluation Toolkit Bundle (10% off thru 6/30/2014) and all includes online training  & a notebook of materials activities & ideas Let us know how we can help! Contact information below . .  .

AAC TechConnect, Inc. 866.4u.AAC.RX (866.482.2279) info@aactechconnect.com www.aactechconnect.com

FREE Webinar on Clicker apps - TODAY! (and again in May...)

When

From: April 08, 2014

To: April 08, 2014

Description

Combining classic Clicker features with the latest classroom technology, our Clicker Apps give your students access to proven literacy support tools developed specifically for the iPad. Each app focuses on one key aspect of Clicker 6 and has a child-friendly, designed-for-touch interface appropriate for learners across the elementary age range.

During this free 1 hour web session, our Education Consultant will demonstrate:

• Clicker Sentences - Understanding sentences and how they work is animportant part of early literacy. If you are working with emergent writers, English language learners, or older children struggling to acquire basic literacy skills, Clicker Sentences will enable them to produce work they can be proud of while learning the key skills necessary for independent writing.

• Clicker Docs - Clicker Docs transforms the iPad into a portable elementary word processor! Watch your students’ skills and confidence grow as they use the range of writing support tools offered in the app to create accurate, flowing documents.

• Clicker Connect - A perfect ‘next step’ for Clicker Sentences users, Clicker Connect provides students with clusters of words, phrases, and/or pictures to help them build coherent text.

The webinar will take place from 3:30 – 4:30 pm Eastern (12:30-1:30 Pacific).

If you can't participate today, this webinar will be reprised on May 29th. 

MORE free Clicker webinars are available. CLICK HERE to read more...

Gateway Vocabs from TouchChat

A tale of two Gateways...

Over the last two years every last one of my Dynavox users have abandoned or rejected their Vs and Maestros for iPads. My boys all happen to have autism and use direct selection to access their devices (i.e., no scanning or eye gaze technology required) so that the transition in hardware was a no-brainer. Lighter, cooler, and more reliable - the iPads have been a huge hit with the guys.  

This change in system required that the boys move from their Gateway vocabularies to our school's modified TouchChat WordPower 42 vocabulary. But NO MORE! TouchChat now has Gateway vocabularies for sale (an add on of $149.99) in their Upgrade Store to ease the path for any future converts. "Gateway is a developmentally based set of core word vocabularies enabling efficient message formation by children-adults." Below is a side-by-side of the two Home pages. 

Dynavox Gateway 40                         TouchChat Gateway Child 40

While a transition to a TouchChat Gateway will present the user with new symbols (TouchChat uses SymbolStix, Dynavox uses a combination of PCS symbols and Dynasyms) the layout and navigation paths remain relatively unchanged.  My eyes are drawn to the TouchChat's distinct lack of a Talk pop-up (white) the My Tabs folder (red), "more" and the delete word button. That's no good?! Available vocabularies include: 

• Child 12, 20, 40, 66
• Teen 20, 30, 40
• Adult 66 

From the Vocabulary list page, the Menu button takes you to the Upgrade Store.

Read more about this new development and also the Pixon vocabularies also available from TouchChat, READ MORE HERE.

FREE webinar from Texthelp, Inc. (2/6/14)

Via Closing the Gap:

"Gone Google? Accessibility Tools for Struggling Readers and Writers"

SPONSORED WEBINAR By Texthelp, Inc.
Participate FREE OF CHARGE

Thursday, February 6, 2014
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Central Standard Time

Millions of students use Google Apps for Education to create, consume and collaborate on information every day. However, many of these students, including struggling readers and writers, students with learning disabilities and English Language Learners, do not have the supports they need when working within the Google Apps environment. Attendees at this webinar will learn how Texthelp’s cloud-based Google accessibility tools can help overcome this barrier by integrating support tools, such as text-to-speech, word prediction, text and picture dictionaries, study skills and more. These supports help to make common file types, such as Google Docs, PDF, ePub, KES and the Web, accessible through the Google Chrome Web browser on PCs, Macs and Chromebooks.

For those looking for a more traditional approach, the presenter will also discuss Texthelp’s desktop offering, Read&Write Gold, and the supports it provides for Chrome and Google Docs directly from the Read&Write Gold toolbar.

Both of these innovative solutions for Google allow students with reading difficulties to have access to the same content as others on a wide range of devices at home, school or anywhere they are needed. This webinar is a must for anyone using Google in their school/district/college.

JASON CARROLL, Product Marketing Manager  for North America, Texthelp, Inc.

$0.00Participants must first “order” this webinar and will then receive a follow-up email with registration and log-in details.

Participation in this FREE, sponsored webinar is limited to the first 100 log-ins.

Questions? Please contact Webinar Coordinator, Becky Hagen