Motor Aspects for Writing
“The labor-intensive motor aspect of writing includes: holding the writing utensil; stabilizing the paper; visually guiding the hand; moving the writing utensil along the paper; visual recall of the letter; kinesthetic memory of letter formation; and word formation and writing and re-writing as part of the editing process.“ Also, being able to do the previous functions in a timely matter can be a struggle. Students with disabilities who have trouble with the motor aspects for writing have many options of assistive technology to improve the way they write.
Low-Tech Tools
Different kinds of pencils and pens to find what is best for each student, slant board, comfortable desk area, markers rather than pencils which are harder to write with, pencil grips, dry erase boards, paper with raised lines, paper with boxes to write in rather than small lines, word bank and a number assigned to the words for the fill in the blank so the student can stay on task by saving time writing a number, clipboard or tape to hold the paper, magnet letters/ magnet words/assortment of words written on index cards to form words or answers, enlarge text by making copies, rubber stamps, Wikki Stix which is a 3-D line that sticks in a straight line to help write, teacher made templates for better note taking.
Different kinds of pencils and pens to find what is best for each student, slant board, comfortable desk area, markers rather than pencils which are harder to write with, pencil grips, dry erase boards, paper with raised lines, paper with boxes to write in rather than small lines, word bank and a number assigned to the words for the fill in the blank so the student can stay on task by saving time writing a number, clipboard or tape to hold the paper, magnet letters/ magnet words/assortment of words written on index cards to form words or answers, enlarge text by making copies, rubber stamps, Wikki Stix which is a 3-D line that sticks in a straight line to help write, teacher made templates for better note taking.
Mid-Tech Tools
Label Maker Portable Talking Dictionary
Portable Word Processor:
“Dana™ by AlphaSmart®is an alternative, lightweight keyboard/computer that provides portable access to a full-featured word processor in addition to the organization tools of the Palm™ operating system. It is an electronic notebook that you can synchronize with a computer or send files directly to a printer. The organization tools include a
Data Book with calendar and alarms, an Address Book, and a To Do List for prioritizing tasks like assignments. TextPlus, a word prediction applet, and many other inexpensive software programs that run on the Dana are also available to help a student.”
“Dana™ by AlphaSmart®is an alternative, lightweight keyboard/computer that provides portable access to a full-featured word processor in addition to the organization tools of the Palm™ operating system. It is an electronic notebook that you can synchronize with a computer or send files directly to a printer. The organization tools include a
Data Book with calendar and alarms, an Address Book, and a To Do List for prioritizing tasks like assignments. TextPlus, a word prediction applet, and many other inexpensive software programs that run on the Dana are also available to help a student.”
High-Tech Tools
Adaptable Keyboards
Computer with accessibility features: word processing, word prediction, text to speech, and voice recognition software