Occupational Therapists working in the school system are often referred for handwriting assessments and intervention. Currently, two of my fellow classmates and I am working on a handwriting program under the guidance of a faculty member. As a result, I am interested in what AT devices can assist with handwriting intervention. This article demonstrated how assisstive technology can offer alternatives to handwriting for those who struggle with written expression.
Article Summary
In my search, I came across an article titled, "AT Review for Dysgraphia" by Julie Corrigan. Julie is a mother of a child with dysgraphia and through her persistence and advocation, Julie was able to educate herself on her child's diagnosis as well as accommodate his disability of written expression using assistive technology. Dysgraphia is learning disability that is characterized by difficulty in writing. This diagnosis has both a physical aspect, including fine motor difficulties, and a cognitive aspect, including difficulty conveying thoughts onto paper. These children usually have very expressive speech, but simply can not express themselves in writing. As Corrigan (2007) explained, dysgraphia can be addressed in three different ways including:
- Accommodate or reduce the impact that handwriting has on learning or expressing knowledge, without significantly changing the process or product
- Modify or change the assignments of expectations to meet the student's individual needs for learning
- Remediate or provide instruction and opportunity for improving handwriting
Accommodating a child with dysgraphia may include simple changes like allowing the child to orally answer questions, changing the pencil grip and work surface, or using other AT devices and software programs.
Assisstive Technology Recommendations
In the article Corrigan(2007) recommends several AT devices and software programs that she found effective when working with her child. Alphasmart and The Writer are laptop-like keyboards that offer a small screen and are lightweight. The Co-Writer is word prediction a program that can be used in combination with Alphasmart Neo. With all the different lap-top like options, there are different software programs that can be loaded on them in order to customize it to the individual's particular needs. The software programs that Corrigan particularly recommends are Naturally Speaking software, which converts speech into text, Kurzweil 3000, which scans forms into the computer compatible text--like tests or quizzes, and CoWriter, the word prediction software.
