With the evolution and progress of screen reader technology, it seems that they get more and more sophisticated all the time, Window Eyes from GW Micro is no exception.

“Window-Eyes gives total control over what you hear and how you hear it. Plus, with its enhanced Braille support that control is extended to what you feel as well. On top of all that, the power and stability of Window-Eyes means that most applications work right out of the box with no need for endless tinkering in order to get them to function properly.” – www.gwmicro.com/Window-Eyes

Window Eyes converts components of the Microsoft operating system and synthesizes it into speech so the user can have complete access and control over their information and computer. The idea is that modifications to the operating system will be minimal, because Window Eyes was designed with Microsoft in mind, the transition should be seamless with minimal configuration necessary.

Window-Eyes Feature List

Custom apps (and support for app development) provide users with the tools to enhance the accessibility and usability of third party applications, the operating system, and even Window-Eyes itself. GW Micro is also proud to offer App Central, a centralized app repository where both users and developers can gather to distribute and discuss Window-Eyes apps.
Support for Excel 2000/XP/2003/2007/2010 Support
Support for Word 2000/XP/2003/2007/2010
Revolutionary PowerPoint 2000/XP/2003/2007/2010 Support
Complete Access to Microsoft Outlook 2000/XP/2003/2007/2010 Calendar and Email
Easily Read and Access Email Headers (including Attachments) in Outlook and Outlook Express
Powerful Internet Support with Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox
Remote Access with Citrix Metaframe XP!
Tip of the Day
Powerful Set File Manager
Remote Access with Microsoft Terminal Services!
Multiple Keyboard Layouts
Remote Access with Microsoft Windows XP Remote Desktop!
Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced Menu Levels
Includes Microsoft Speech Software Synthesizer!
Includes DECtalk Access 32!
Includes Ten Eloquence Voices!
MSAA (Microsoft Active Accessibility) Support
Support for all video systems
Ability to read text under the mouse pointer as it moves
Switch Braille displays on the fly
Switch synthesizers on the fly
More Supported Braille Displays than the Competition
Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7
Mobile and Network Installation Options
Text, PDF, Windows Help, Daisy, HTML Documentation
Works with many applications “out of the box.” Little or no extra configuration required.
No Authorization Keys (applies to U.S, Canada, U.K., Australia, New Zealand)
First to support Adobe PDF, Macromedia Flash, and more
Unprecedented Stability and Performance

!Feature available at no extra cost.

Seriously, the list of apps goes on and on. The sheer number of options can be overwhelming, so here is a list of a few apps specifically meant to help children with autism.

While the apps are educational in theory, they are also a ton of fun and great for children with autism or are neurotypical. Fun for all!

Faces iMake – Lite $.99: Faces iMake is all about stimulating the right-brain and giving kids a fun and playful educational environment. The app encourages kids to solve problems creatively; to innovate; to see things from a different perspective; to create forms with the most unexpected combination of objects. Faces iMake piques the curiosity and helps develop your child’s mind.

iEarnedThat $1.99: Designed by a Pediatrician and parent, iEarnedThat is an amazingly simple motivational tool to help children develop desirable behaviors by working towards tangible goals. The app rewards the user for good behavior and actions by offering them puzzle pieces to put together. Turn any picture of a desired reward into a 3D interactive jigsaw puzzle of up to 60 pieces! Set the goal and have your child EARN their reward one puzzle piece at a time.

iWriteWords $2.99: Through playing a game, children learn how to write letters correctly. How do you play? Help Mr. Crab collect the numbered balls by dragging him with your finger – and drawing the letter at the same time.
Once all the letters in the word are drawn properly, a cute drawing appears. Slide the letters into the spinning hole and advance to the next level.

Shape Builder $.99: Shape Builder educates & entertains your little one with easy to move shapes that snap into place on top of silhouette puzzles. Each puzzle has 5 to 10 pieces & after positioning all of the pieces, the real image is revealed along with a professional voice recording of the word spoken by Jill Dews, a licensed speech therapist that specializes in early child development. Shape Builder encourages cognitive thinking & fine motor skills plus exposes young minds to new music instruments, animals, produce, objects & the alphabet.

Whizzit 123 $.99: Two games in one! Whizzit 123 is a super-fun counting game that features great music, fun sound effects, lively animations, and cute graphics. Your children will love to count the toys, flowers, blocks, and other items because every touch causes a unique animation and a silly sound effect. They’ll enjoy setting into motion the spinning spirals, growing flowers, bouncing balls, and giggling monkeys while hearing the items counted aloud. Plus, an all-new balloon-popping mini-game challenges your little one to pop a specified number of floating balloons at the carnival.

Spring has sprung in Indiana and a lot of us have the fever to get out and enjoy some outdoor recreation. For many folks, they define a day of finding springtime serenity as “gone fishing”.  The desire to get out and go fishing may be a little more challenging for someone with a disability.  Fortunately, there is a non-profit organization that believes everyone should be able to enjoy one of life’s simple pleasures. Fishing Has No Boundaries, Inc. is a non-profit organization whose goal is to “open up the great outdoors for people with disabilities through the world of fishing”.

Their goal is to provide fishing opportunities for any person with a disability regardless of age, race, gender or disability. They do this by providing education, training and the use of adaptive angling equipment. They use a lot of different angling equipment such as pole holders, accessible boats and different kinds of electric reels even ones that may have a joystick or chin operating system to accommodate their fishermen.

For anglers with disabilities in NW Indiana and beyond who are interested in spending a weekend on or near the lake attempting to catch “the big one”, Fishing Has No Boundaries, Inc. plan to hold a Chapter Event on May 19^th & May 20^th; 2012 at Pearson’s Marina on Lake Freeman. Through the use of adaptive equipment, participants will be assisted in getting out on Lake Freeman for two relaxing days of fishing. No matter the size, or if you catch one at all, this event aims to provide a good time for all the volunteers, sponsors and participants.

If you are interested in finding out more about volunteer or participant opportunities contact:

Fishing Has No Boundaries, Inc.

Steve and Mary Linder

P.O. Box 325

Battle Ground, IN 47920

1-765-567-4021

smlinder2000@yahoo.com

Watch as one of Easter Seal’s occupational therapists, Karrie Veteto, shows us around the autism multisensory room.

Having trouble viewing the video? Click here!

Click here to visit our archived videos.

To view Closed Captioning, click on the “CC” in the lower right corner of the video.

Information from the INDATA Project is now available via podcast! Every Friday, the INDATA Project will release two podcasts featuring new assistive technology projects. The podcasts are available for viewing on the INDATA Project website and on iTunes. The “Assistive Technology Update” is a fast-paced weekly update for AT professionals and enthusiasts. The “Accessibility Minute” is designed for all listeners to provide assistive technology tips and tricks.

ATU050-Bob Heil Part 1, Happy Mother’s Day, iStimulaton,Doppler Sound Gestures, Comcast and Easter Seals Partnership, POLLCAT Project, Augmentative Communication for Autism, Driverless Cars in Nevada

AMO050-Accessible Playground.net

Placing your child in the hands of others can be tense for lots of reasons, especially if your child is on the autism spectrum. However, with a little advance preparation and discussion with camp counselors and supervisors, you will be able to drive away knowning your child will have a fun day filled with friends and activities.

Many times a general overview and briefing of your child’s needs with their counselors and caretakers makes all the difference. If you are clear about what he or she needs, it can give the staff the confidence they need to do the best job possible. Many times, projects and activities can be modified in order to accomodate a child’s abilities and increase their involvement at camp.

Here are some tips to making your child’s summer awesome at camp:

Routine

Explain to the counselor or supervisor that an explanation of the day’s events, when they will happen, where they will happen, etc. may serve to comfort the child and decrease stress.

Visual Schedules

Presenting the day’s activities through picture may help the child know what to expect throughout the day and give them peace of mind about what the day holds. These schedules are simple to make, parents can even do them and bring them to camp. For instance, take pictures of the sites of activities and attach them to the board with velcro. This way the photos can be removed from the board when the camper completes the activity.

Set Limits

Suggest to the counselor that letting your child know specifics of activities, like how many macaroni noodles to glue or how many campfire songs to sing, may reduce anxiety.

Give Training

If your camper uses a communication system or device, be sure the counselors understand how to use the device thoroughly. Augmentative communication devices can be challenging for anyone who does not understand them. If they are essential to your camper, explain the basics so that the counselor has an idea of how to operate and use the system effectively.

For more tips and tricks on how to make summer camp better for everyone involved, check out this website.

Summer is just around the corner and many parents are wondering what activites their child, who is on the autism spectrum, can do. Well the answer might be easier than you think, they can do just about anything.

If a child on the spectrum is in a traditional school setting, why shouldn’t he or she be given the same opportunities and chances to be included with those same peers and friends during the summer at the same camps or activity programs?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), “gives civil rights protection to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and federal government services, and telecommunications.”

Essentially this means, public accomodations including places like day cares, hotels, movie theaters, recreation centers, etc. all must comply with this law.

Kim Davis, a research associate at Indiana University in Bloomington, had this to say about the inclusion of chidlren with disabilities:

“The requirements that apply to child-care centers can be applied to recreation programs or camps since they are considered “public accommodations.” Below are the basic requirements of Title III related to public accommodations. (Centers in this article refers to all public accommodations, including camps and recreation programs.)

•Centers cannot exclude children with disabilities unless their presence would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others or require a fundamental alteration of the program.
•Centers have to make reasonable modifications to their policies and practices to integrate children, parents, and guardians with disabilities into their programs unless doing so would constitute a fundamental alteration.
•Centers must provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services needed for effective communication with children or adults with disabilities when doing so would not constitute an undue burden.
•Centers must generally make their facilities accessible to persons with disabilities. Existing facilities are subject to the readily achievable standard for barrier removal, while newly constructed facilities and any altered portions of existing facilities must be fully accessible.” – Davis

Visit our blog tomorrow to see Part II for tips on how to make sure your child has a smooth transition into the world of summer camps and day care.

From a technology stand point here at the INDATA Project, we’ve had a busy few months.

With over 45 podcasts and over 600 blogs, we’ve been pushing out content like it’s our job. Because it is. We love giving you the tools and resources you need to make the most of your life with assistive technology.

Here is where you come in.

In order to keep serving you, our readers, consumers, AT users and fans, to the best of our ability, we need to know a little bit about you and how you came to know INDATA.

Please click the link below to complete a short survey, to give us a better idea of how you know us and who you are and what information you would like us to provide.

Take the survey here!

Wade Wingler, director of assistive technology here at INDATA, talks about Assistive Technology Radio including two podcasts Accessibility Minute and Assistive Technology that air weekly.

Having trouble viewing the video? Click here!

Click here to visit our archived videos.

To view Closed Captioning, click on the “CC” in the lower right corner of the video.

Information from the INDATA Project is now available via podcast! Every Friday, the INDATA Project will release two podcasts featuring new assistive technology projects. The podcasts are available for viewing on the INDATA Project website and on iTunes. The “Assistive Technology Update” is a fast-paced weekly update for AT professionals and enthusiasts. The “Accessibility Minute” is designed for all listeners to provide assistive technology tips and tricks.

ATU049: Joe Steinkamp (Serotalk), Listener Survey, May is Better Hearing and Speech Month, SoundingBoard app, Windows 8 accessibility, AD/HD in Your Classroom, Tapi Drinking Fountain, Closing the Gap Pre-conference workshops

AM049 – Travelling with a disability (TSA resources)