Assistive Technology Programs for Reading and Writing

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Assistive Technology Programs for Reading and
Writing

• Assistive Technology Resource Center (ATRC)
• Occupational Therapy Building, 3rd floor
• Sara Tuman
• Jody Pedriana

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Learning Objectives

• To have an understanding of the purpose of
  assistive technology and how it helps students
  with disabilities.
• To learn more about the ATRC including its
  functions, equipment, and programs.
• To gain knowledge more specifically on learning
  disabilities and how assistive technology such as
  reading and writing programs can provide the
  support needed for them to succeed at CSU and in
  the future.

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WYNN (What You Need Now!)

• Designed to help people with reading
  difficulties.
• User can manipulate text by adding, deleting, and
  making corrections to the scanned material.
• Key feature read aloud
• Four different menus on toolbar
• WYNN preserves user preferences.

WYNN 3.1
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Getting Started

• Select WYNN Wizard from the desktop (starfish)
  and follow prompts to sign in.

WYNN 3.1
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How WYNN is organized

• Four color-coded toolbars
• Blue File Management Toolbar
• Green Visual Presentation Toolbar
• Pink Study Tools Toolbar
• Yellow Writing Toolbar

WYNN 3.1
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Each Toolbar contains

• Read button
• Write button
• Exact View button
• Text View button
• Other Doc button
• Next button

WYNN 3.1
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Blue The File Management Toolbar

• Features
• Open
• Print
• Close
• Scan
• Save
• New

WYNN 3.1
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More Advanced Features of the Blue Toolbar

• Email Can have email account set up in WYNN to
  have email read aloud and write email with speech
  support.
• Web Focus offers Internet by simply clicking on
  icon. Has its own toolbar for navigating around
  the web, will read webpage aloud, and special
  masking feature that will help mask distracting
  clutter.

WYNN 3.1
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Green The Visual Presentation Toolbar

• Features
• Size
• Line Space
• Word Space
• Margins
• Font
• Background Color
• Masking
• Read By

WYNN 3.1
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Pink The Study Tools Toolbar

• Features
• Dictionary (basic and standard)
• Spell
• Syllables
• Highlight (three different color options)
• Lists (four different presentation options)
• Bookmark (four different type options)
• Written Note
• Voice Note

WYNN 3.1
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Yellow The Writing Toolbar

• Features
• Cut/Paste
• Style (bold, underline, italics)
• Find
• Go To
• Outline and Adjust Outline
• Word Prediction (helps suggest words and spelling
  to make writing easier)
• Speak List
• Spellcheck

WYNN 3.1
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Setting Changes

• Speech settings
• Voice
• Rate of Speech
• Pitch
• Inflection
• Language
• Visual settings
• Text font and color
• Background color
• Spotlight text and colors
• Side margins and spacing

WYNN 3.1
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Concluding WYNN

• Save your document
• Send it to MS Word (WYNN will preserve text,
  basic format, and presentation)
• Go to the Advanced Menu
• Choose Word

WYNN 3.1
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Text Help Read and Write Gold

• A literacy support program.
• Can be used in combination with programs such as
  MS Word or the internet.
• Aids people with learning disabilities and
  cognitive challenges with reading and writing
  tasks.

Read and Write Gold
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Getting Started

• Select the Read and Write icon on the desktop.
• A toolbar will be opened
• Choose the program to use in combination with the
  Read and Write toolbar.

Read and Write Gold
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Features of the programWriting Support

• Spellcheck Can use to spell check selected
  words, spell check as user types, and spell check
  selected words.
• Word Prediction Helps suggest words and spelling
  to make writing easier.

Read and Write Gold
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More Writing Support

• Dictionary Used to find words that have the same
  meaning or similar meaning to the ones that have
  been typed.
• Word Wizard Looks up a highlighted word and
  offers various meanings. Will also give you
  meanings in all parts of speech and context.

Read and Write Gold
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Homophone Support

• A unique feature in Read and Write
• Show icon Identifies all homophones or commonly
  confused sounding words by highlighting in blue.
• Sounds Like icon Used to analyze text and
  identify alternatives.
• Hide icon Return all blue text to black.

Read and Write Gold
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Math Support

• Calculator
• Standard
• Scientific
• Conversion
• Built in speech options

Read and Write Gold
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Speech Options

• Play Contains a drop down menu where user can
  alter the pitch, speed, volume, word pause, or
  voice. The user can also choose different
  characters and different ways to display the
  text.
• Rewind
• Pause
• Forward
• Stop

Read and Write Gold
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Speech Support

• Speech Maker Converts text to an audio file such
  as MP3, WMA, or WAV.
• Pronunciation Tutor Breaks a word down into
  syllables by visually and auditorily presenting
  it.
• Voice Recognition A simple speech input tool
  that aids people with typing challenges.

Read and Write Gold
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Internet Support

• Fact Finder Initiates a search on the internet
  for text you have highlighted in the document.
• Fact Folder Allows the user to capture text from
  any application, classify it, and attach
  pictures. Will also generate a bibliography and
  create a slideshow.

Read and Write Gold
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Other Options

• Scan Allows the user to scan handouts or other
  text into a document and can choose if scanning
  input is to be saved as a word document or html.
• Help Files A manual which can be read or spoken.
• Options General options of the program such as
  icon size, display, etc.

Read and Write Gold
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Ending Read and Write

• Click on the anchor and then click on the X.

Read and Write Gold
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Additional Information

• For more information on WYNN, go to
  http//www.freedomscientific.com
• For more information on Text Help Read and Write
  Gold, go to http//www.texthelp.com

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Assistive Technology (AT) programs on campus

• Assistive Technology Resource Center (ATRC)
• Academic Advancement Center
• AT rooms in the Morgan Library
• Resources for Disabled Students (RDS) testing
  rooms
• Intra-university labs (Durrell, E-cave)
• Weber Computer Lab
• Assigned Computer Lab

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Contact Information for the ATRC

• Director Marla Roll, MS, OTRE-mail
  mcroll_at_cahs.colostate.edu
• Phone [phone]
• Assistive Technology CoordinatorCath
  Stager-Kilcommons, CoordinatorE-mail
  cath.kilcommons_at_cahs.colostate.edu
• Phone [phone]
• Address 305 Occupational Therapy Building
• Department of Occupational Therapy
• Colorado State University
• Fort Collins, Colorado 80523
• Fax [phone]
• Website http//www.colostate.edu/Depts/ATRC/

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Contact Information for Resources for Disabled
Students (RDS)

• Website http//www.colostate.edu/Depts/RDS/
• Address
• 100 General Services Building
• Colorado State University
• Fort Collins, CO 80523
• Phone [phone]

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Thank you for your time!Enjoy the rest of the
day!