In This Issue:

How To Determine When your Student Needs Occupational Therapy

&

How To Write an Assistive Technology Report

A child may need to be referred for Occupational Therapy if several of the following areas have been checked or if any of the above areas creates a functional delay or problem:

____has difficulty using 2 hands together or doesn’t use 2 hands together
____has difficulty with writing, coloring, cutting or pasting
____has illegible handwriting; tires easily while writing; poor pencil grasp; presses too light or too hard when coloring or writing
____trouble with spacing, sizing, formation or reversals during handwriting
____difficulty reading across a line or keeping place while reading or writing
____difficulty copying from board or books
____difficulty with dressing &/or fastener management (velcro closures, buckles, snaps, buttons, zippers) or shoe tying
____trouble with jumping, hopping, standing on one foot, skipping or galloping
____appears clumsy or uncoordinated
____poor sitting posture, slumps in chair, seems floppy when moving
____has trouble making or keeping same aged friends, may prefer to play with adults or younger children
____trouble with attention or focus; short attention span
____avoids physical activity; has trouble with or dislikes physical education or sports activities
____is overly active; has difficulty calming down or slowing down
____has trouble sleeping, getting to sleep or waking up from sleep; has irregular sleep patterns
____poor self-esteem; low levels of confidence or motivation; gives up easily
____has trouble with following multi-step directions to complete a task
____needs additional instruction or practice to learn new skills as compared to same aged children
____dislikes bathing or other grooming such as tooth-brushing, brushing hair, trimming nails &/or haircuts
____dislikes or is fearful of activities involving having feet off ground such as swinging or other playground equipment

____appears impulsive lacks regard for safety, boundaries or rules; may need additional adult supervision as compared to same aged peers

____bumps into things; difficulty judging his/her body position in space
____trouble with unexpected changes in routines, trouble shifting from one activity to the next
____messy eater; seems to not notice when hands or face are messy
____overly sensitive to having hands or face messy; does not tolerate being messy
____overly sensitive to tags or textures in clothing; wears clothing that is inappropriate to season or temperature; insists on wearing only certain clothing repeatedly

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Name: Billy Smith Teacher: Mrs. Stewart

Address: 42 Bryant Ave Phone: 456-9876

Date of Birth: 1/5/89 Referred by: MDT

Grade: 9th Date of Evaluation: March 2003

School: Harwood Middle School Date of Report: April 2003

Parent’s Names: Bill/Martha CA at time of Evaluation: 14-3

PURPOSE OF EVALUATION

The School District has requested an Assistive Technology Evaluation for John. This evaluation will focus on the use of technology to remediate, enhance and/or Provide John with options for improving his note taking skills.

BACKGROUND HISTORY

John is a 14 year old student who is in a ninth grade inclusion program at the local High School. He is classified as Learning Disabled with Attention Deficit Disorder. John has previously attended the Nassau Country Day School. His academic levels of performance have been described as average for Reading and Math and well below average for Writing.

PRESENT COMPUTER AVAILABILITY

John reported that he currently has six computers at home, five being Macintosh and one being a PC with Windows XP. John informed us the he uses the computer at home for downloading music from the internet and emailing friends on AOL. In school there are Gateway PC’s available for use in the computer lab and one also in his Guided Studies class.

EVALUATION OBSERVATIONS

John was evaluated in a closed room office situation for approximately one hour. He understood the purpose of our meeting and was very cooperative and willing to participate in all of the tasks asked of him. Several of his teachers were available to provide input with respect to his academic goals and objectives as well as their individual class writing requirements. During this functional assessment, informal measures were used to evaluate academic skills and his ability to use various assistive technology devices. The following is a summary of his performance:

Handwriting Skills: John who is right hand dominant and prefers printing to cursive writing, filled in a simple form which displayed sizing, spacing and spelling error was asked to perform several handwriting samples of near, far point and auditory copying was asked to copy a paragraph taken directly from his Earth Science textbook while on his desk, from the board, and as if it were being dictated in a class note taking situation.

His far point copying sample displayed missing words 6 out of a text of 50. It appeared he would look up at the board and from memory, writes the words down thus making frequent gross spelling errors and word reversals. The individual timed results are attached; however, all of the samples were replete with sizing, spacing and spelling errors.

Keyboarding Skills John was given a Macintosh PowerBook G3 laptop computer to type selections with. John was then asked to type the original paragraph which took slightly longer than his near and far point copying samples.

He is a two handed typist whose keyboarding skills are in the “hunt and peck” method and although he is quick, he is not particularly accurate. John has revealed that he has not had formal keyboarding training and has just picked it up as he has used the computer. John was able to maneuver the desktop with minimal assistance and displayed basic text editing skills related to word processing such as deleting, inserting, moving and copying letters, words and phrases, spell check, saving and printing his work.

Write:OutLoud is an easy-to-use talking word processor that also has a talking spell checker. It greatly benefits students who need to listen as they write as well as for students who need to review their writing auditorially for reinforcement and proofing. John found typing letters, words or sentences with the speech function of this program on too distracting. John was instructed that this function can be shut off and used only upon completion of an entire document being typed so that it is read back all at once did express an interest in the audible spell check feature as well as having an entire document read back.

Co:Writer is a word prediction program that encourages students toward language development. Its knowledge of grammar and language rules helps students select the right words for their sentences and compositions. When any letter is typed, a suggestion list appears to help the writer select the correct word. The program does eventually help to predict the user’s most frequently used words and prompts the user with the appropriate grammar. John did not like the auditory feedback aspect of this program and because of its inherent nature of prediction it was too slow and presented too many distractions for him.

John was then asked to use an AlphaSmart 3000. This device is a portable word processor that students can take class notes with and later on transfer their notes to any word processing application on a Macintosh or PC computer. Johns was again able to navigate the keyboard and understand the concepts of using spell checker, creating individual files, one for English, one for Science etc., and then eventually transferring this information to his home or resource room computer.

Academic and Cognitive Skills: John’s current levels of functioning have been described as average academically with the exception of writing and in line with characteristic ADD identifiable behaviors. John showed us his notebooks and Ms. Benson, his Guided Studies teacher, described how she uses color coding and outlines to assist John in overcoming his organizational problems as well as clarifies his class work and homework assignments on a daily basis.

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY OBSERVATIONS

John demonstrated poor organizational skills and tends to rush through his handwriting of class notes, etc. at time using his own abbreviation system. During the evaluation process, “breaks” were given as John demonstrated difficulty focusing on the task at hand following an approximate 10 minute block of time. It was, however, easy to refocus him and bring him back to task. At this time he does not receive Occupational Therapy services.

SUMMARY

John is a student who has a classification of Learning Disabled and Attention Deficit Disorder and whose learning differences present obstacles to accessing his academic environment and achieving his academic goals. John requires the support he currently receives each day to reach these goals and objectives on a daily basis.

Compensatory Strategies:

q Simple outlines or templates provided by the teacher wherever possible.

q Encourage the use of organizational guides such as notebooks, appointment books and structured study guides to reinforce his current organizational skills.

q Provide more time for all written tasks.

q Allow the use of a tape recorder for individualized homework or class work assignments when appropriate.

q Use of a calculator will assist in mathematical and computational problems.

Recommended Technology

A keyboarding program such as Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is a structured typing tutorial program that would improve John’s keyboarding skills and is currently used at his school.
A portable word processor such as the AlphaSmart 3000 would allow John to type notes and keep them organized in electronic folders while eventually being able to be uploaded to a full-sized word processing program on either a Macintosh or PC computer. A list of these devices is attached with appropriate contact numbers. All are available on a loaner basis from each company for your individual assessment.
Write:Outloud could prove to be a useful tool for John in his writing as it would provide spelling and auditory reinforcement for him.
Follow up and reassessment should be part of an ongoing technology plan, if technology is determined to be a viable option for John by those able to assess and monitor his progress.

Jane Berman

Assistive Technology Specialist

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NASET’s “How To” Determine When your Student Needs Occupational Therapy CLICK HERE

NASET’s “How To” Write an Assistive Technology Report CLICK HERE