應用推介 : 香港的科技輔具應用 Apps

http://assistivelearning.org/en/ios-special-needs-apps-2/

閱讀推介 : Top 60 Recommended Apps for Autism

Children and adults with special learning needs are attracted to smart technology. Access is easy. When you touch the screen, something happens. That means tablets are easier to manage than typical desktop computers.

Using iPads for autism has captured attention

In spite of personal learning challenges, the strong visual presence and great sound quality make devices with the smart technology a perfect tool for individuals on the autism spectrum.

The range of apps goes from very simple (listening to music or playing with cause-effect activities) to high level. The variety of available apps can meet an infinite range of interests and needs.

Here’s the “magic”

There’s an app for that!

That’s not to say that all problems are “fixed” with an app. But iPads and apps can be used to teach skills and address many of the diverse issues affecting individuals with special learning needs.

Once I got my own iPad, I started to explore the app store. I have written articles and I talk about this topic in my workshops. People began to ask me questions that revealed a lot of confusion.

Here’s the most common question

I had a question at a conference. Dad wanted to know what apps I would recommend for his son on the autism spectrum.

It’s a great question, but it doesn’t have an easy answer. It’s a bit like asking a librarian “What book should I borrow.” The librarian needs a lot more information to help you find what will meet your needs.

That’s exactly the problem with all the apps in the App Store. There are more than a million apps there. How do you sort through a million apps to find the ones you want? That’s why I wrote this book.

CLICK HERE to see the book

Linda Hodgdon Linda Hodgdon, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, is a Speech Pathologist who has pioneered the development of using visual strategies for supporting communication. Her book, Visual Strategies for Improving Communication, is a best-seller in the field of autism because of its easy-to-implement strategies that create significant improvement in student participation and behavior.  As a Speech Pathologist, Linda has specialized in addressing the communication needs of students with Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, PDD, Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities, and other moderate to severe communication and behavior challenges. She has become well known for her practical information and innovative programming strategies that have produced excellent results in student learning.

應用推介 : 幾個關於學習障礙 - 讀寫障礙應用的 Mindmap，非常有趣。

幾個關於學習障礙 - 讀寫障礙應用的 Mindmap，非常有趣。

應用推介 : 一個為自閉症兒童開發的訓練軟件。

借用童話更「入腦」 中文拆字App教學遊戲免費下載助讀寫障礙童

香港文匯報訊（記者 鄭伊莎）本港有約8%、約2.5萬名小學生有讀寫障礙，患有讀寫障礙症的學童在書寫時，經常把文字左右倒轉、漏寫或多寫了筆劃。為協助這些學童有效地認 字，基督教女青年會設計了全港首個「HOPE中文拆字遊戲」手機應用程式（App），通過《三隻小豬》、《醜小鴨》等多個經典童話故事，以互動故事遊戲， 助小學生穩紮中文字形結構的基礎，相信可提升學童學習中文字的興趣。手機App近日已上載至IOS及Android，供用家免費下載。

政府資助43萬 惠2.5萬學童

有見不少基層家庭雖然意識到子女有讀寫困難，卻因難以負擔高昂的專業治療費用，無從入手正視問題，基督教女青年會最近遂推出「『Infinity．HOPE』讀寫障礙兒童支援服務計劃」，幫助基層學童提升學習能力。該會早前獲政府資訊科技總監辦公室撥款 42.8萬元資助，並將部分款項用作研發首個專為讀寫障礙學童而設的「HOPE中文拆字遊戲」手機App。

負責開發手機App的女青督導主任陳玉娟表示，研究指本港有約8%、約2.5萬名小學生有讀寫障礙， 雖然他們智力正常，但因先天缺陷，在處理中文字形結構時，習慣把部分文字部件、位置和結構混淆，因而無法學懂完整文字，導致在閱讀和書寫時出現困難。因 此，上述手機App針對問題，協助學童辨認文字，切合小一至小六的讀寫障礙學童的學習需要。

陳玉娟介紹指，拆字App以《三隻小豬》、《醜小鴨》、《國王的新衣》、《快樂王子》和《魯賓遜漂流 記》五個經典童話故事及小說為遊戲背景，當中的彩色動畫生動逼真。每個故事都有語音朗讀相關故事，並各設有四個遊戲關卡，串連故事情節。學童要在字詞出現 時，利用「中文拆字法」解開不同任務，才可順利晉級。

她表示，在遊戲過程中，學童需要利用視覺、聽覺、觸覺、肌肉運動感覺，辨認文字結構，有助提升他們對文字的記憶力、對文字的敏感度以及小肌肉的協調能力。她續指，即使沒有家長的指導，學童也可以通過App，自行做「拆字法」練習，預計可吸引近2,000人下載。

增認字興趣 擬加詞加故事

她又透露，早前團隊曾比較20名分別有使用和沒有使用App練習「拆字法」的學生有何學習差異。結果 發現，該10名使用App的學生，對於學習「拆字法」的興趣大為提高。她相信，通過具挑戰的互動遊戲，有助提升學生學習中文字的興趣，故建議家長盡早讓有 讀寫障礙的子女從小練習「拆字法」，藉此掌握文字結構。

她又指，如果應用程式受歡迎，將考慮申請資源增加故事遊戲的數目和中文詞語的數量，以及開發短句學習功能，進一步優化學習效能。

業界資訊 : 「協康會專注力失調/過度活躍症專題講座暨全港首個ADHD App發佈」

協康會專業教育及發展學會將舉辦「專注力失調/過度活躍症專題講座暨全港首個ADHD App發佈」，講座邀請到三位專家學者從醫療、腦神經科學及腦神經心理學的角度深入探討治療和訓練ADHD兒童的新策略，並即場介紹首個訓練ADHD學童執行功能的應用程式(App) 「加得小勇士」， 詳情可瀏覽附件單張及報名表格。

此軟件由教育心理學家翁偉傑先生及職業治療師黎婉儀博士共同研發，軟件設計的目的主要是想藉著多元化的活動來訓練學童的執行功能。執行功能是一種認知功能，能令人有效地處理日常生活中的訊息，此功能亦與學童的專注力、學習能力及計劃組織能力息息相關。軟件中不同的星球，就正針對了反應抑制能力及運作記憶能力這兩項執行功能的元素對玩家進行訓練。

訓練軟件中利用了有趣的故事情節、生動的畫面和完整的獎勵系統來提升學童使用此軟件的興

趣。期望藉著持續不斷的練習，學童的執行功能得以提升，從而有效地應付生活的需要。

日期：1/11/2014 (星期六)
時間：上午9:30 – 中午12:45 (上午9:00開始登記)
地點：香港社會服務聯會 (香港灣仔軒尼詩道15號溫莎公爵社會服務大廈1樓禮堂)
對象：醫生、心理學家、治療師、社工、老師、家長及其他有興趣人士
截止 ：22/10/2014 費用: $150 (15/10/2014 或之前優惠 $100)

下載附件單張及報名表格

香港耀能協會 - 流動應用程式「社交故事一按通」

「社交故事」廣泛應用於自閉症兒童的教育工作。香港耀能協會編寫及製作「社交故事一按通」流動應用程式，讓使用者透過不同的無線流動裝置，隨時隨地選擇及自製合適的故事，幫助自閉症兒童。

「社交故事一按通」特點︰

• 免費軟件
• 內置100個「社交故事」並備有中文繁簡字體及廣東話/普通話旁白選擇 
• 可編輯故事人物面貌，文字說明及自製旁白錄音
• 可記錄故事使用情況及效果評分

報名方法：按 此 登 記

資料來源：香港耀能協會

「匡智溝通易」溝通輔助應用程式發布

「匡智溝通易」溝通輔助應用程式

承蒙利銘澤黃瑤璧慈善基金慷慨支持，匡智會學校言語治療師小組製作了「匡智溝通易」應用程式，有關的發佈會於5月25日(星期六)假香港理工大學蔣震劇院舉行。

「匡智溝通易」可下載至iPad、iPad mini、iPhone 4(或更新型號)、iPod touch 4(或更新型號)上使用。

應用程式亦集語音輸出裝置與圖庫於一身，訓練者可以自行為學員建立個別化的溝通檔案，從多達1500幅圖卡的圖庫內選圖或自行拍照及錄音製作圖卡，務求令溝通程式更切合每位學員的個別需要。

訓練者為學員建立檔案後，可透過檔案分享功能，把檔案分享致家長或其他訓練者使用。檔案分享亦不受設置所限。

「匡智溝通易」內設有兩個遊戲：掃視遊戲及組句遊戲。目的提升學員的掃視能力及對句子結構的認識。

「匡智溝通易」亦設有簡體中文版本，方便內地訓練者及學員使用。

主要功能:
1. 自行建立多個學員溝通檔案
2. 內設兩個圖庫，合共超過1500幅圖卡
3. 檔案分享功能 : 可透過電郵發送學員溝通檔案
4. 兩個語言介面: 繁體中文及簡體中文
5. 五個自製圖卡或類別卡的方法:
- 自行拍照建立圖卡- 利用程式內置的相照功能，拍照後，可放大剪裁出需要部分
- 自行從設置相簿擷取相片建立圖卡
- 自行錄製圖卡的聲音
- 自行更改或加上圖卡標題
- 建立文字卡
6. 多種圖卡排列方法
- iPad/ iPad mini 版本共有六個排列方法
- iPhone/ iPod touch 版本共有五個排列方法
7. 兩個訓練遊戲:
- 掃視遊戲
- 組句遊戲

如若需下載應用程式，請按此下載

活動回顧 : ICT for Autism - Developers Sharing / 自閉症 - 多元信息和通信技術開發分享會

在香港每 10,000 人中便有 10 名自閉症患者，而男性患上自閉症的機會比女性高 4-5 倍。自閉症的癥狀和程度因人而異，通常在三歲前出現。由於確實的成因未明，暫時沒有根治的辦法。因為近年應用信息和通信技術 ( ICT) 於幫助自閉症復康已經被確認，ICT 將幫助更多個人、家長或機構發展及應用於自閉症復康工作之中。 

內容：

1, 自閉症平板電腦訓練儀及Apps開發經驗、實物演示。
2. 虛擬現實訓練、及特殊學習需要兒童評估及訓練軟件等。
3. 擴増實境技術開發經驗、實物演示。
4. 專家諮詢支援系統，本土開發的技術，硬件和軟件要求。

分享機構 :
香港教育科技促進協會
廣州康欣計算機科技有限公司

合作機構 :
香港自閉症聯盟 
香港教育科技促進協會
香港教育學院特殊學習需要與融合教育中心

日期：2013年3月24日(星期日)  

時間：1400 – 1630  名額限20名
地點：旺角社區會堂會議室  (上海街557號旺角綜合大樓2樓，朗豪坊酒店傍)
對象：應用程序開發人員，計算機工程專業人員和系統集成商。

民政事務局 -  旺角社區會堂會議室
地址 : 旺角上海街557號旺角綜合大樓2樓
從旺角地鐵站C或E出口，朗豪坊L1, Mcdonald 左邊天橋過去

Reference :
賽馬會數碼共融中心   Assistive technology   Autism Education Trust

申  請

協康會推出「語你同行」iPad 應用程式

為幫助自閉症兒童表達所需融入社群，協康會言語治療部推出首個iPad 應用程式(App) ─ 「語你同行」溝通簿，內設常用詞彙圖片、造句功能、個人化圖片及詞彙庫、及真人發聲(廣東話及普通話)，兒童可隨時隨地透過圖片及發聲功能，直接表達所需，學習與人溝通。

「語你同行」應用程式App曾在協康會幼兒中心試行，家長都表示它容易操作，其豐富的圖片庫及造句功能直接誘發子女主動表達的意願，也增強與人溝通的信心。現供家長免費使用，可以透過iPad或電腦上安裝的Apple iTunes Store，以關鍵字「協康會」或「語你同行」搜尋、下載及安裝使用，亦可 按此查閱。

「語」你同行由協康會言語治療師編寫設計，屬便攜式輔助溝通工具*，用以幫助有語言發展障礙的兒童，包括自閉症兒童，提升語言、溝通及社交能力。「語」你同行的特點如下：
載有350幅常用詞彙圖卡，涵蓋人物、動作、食物、飲品、玩具、身體、情緒及感受、動植物、衣物、交通、活動、日常用品、家居、地方、文儀、特性、社交用語共17個類別。
提供即時發聲或按鈕發聲功能，可選擇單一圖片或用不同類別的詞彙組成句子。
自訂功能：
隨時增加新詞彙圖及相關發聲。
更改類別及圖片的排列次序。
顯示常用詞彙圖及控制圖片數量。
真人發聲，可選廣東話或普通話。
可選擇繁體中文或簡體中文。

*此應用程式的設計目標為兒童提供一種輔助溝通工具，並非讓兒童單獨玩的遊戲或自行學習的軟件。使用前請諮詢言語治療師。

Touch Pad gives voice to kids with autism

Sharia 經常站著不動在電視機前呆住，家人叫她的名字一遍又一遍，但她沒有回應，似乎不知道她周圍的世界。

家人起初以為她是聽覺受損，語言發育緩慢。後來，當Sharia滿兩歲時，被診斷患有自閉症。

Sharia接受了語言、職業和行為治療，對她有些幫助，但溝通能力仍然有很大的障礙。
Sharia沒有言語能力，無法溝通她的需要，常會用哭鬧來表達自己。

2010, 蘋果發布了iPad.
Sharia 開始使用iPad時，只是用它來看電影和玩遊戲。不久後，她的治療師訓練她使用iPad的一些APP應用軟件來幫助她造句，溝通她的需求，如“我要Dora卡通片”。

Sharia的父親Siddiqui和CNN分享他女兒的故事時表示：“iPad給了她從未有過的操控感，她知道她並不需要哭鬧，而可以觸摸iPad的APP來表達自己。”

Dr. Oliver Wendt，美國普渡大學語言和聽力科學系教授表示：“我覺得iPad為溝通輔助領域帶來革命性的改變。這是一個非常具有成本效益的解決方案。在此之前，我們只有些價格昂貴，體積龐大的器材，現在可以用一個iPad來取代。“


之前使用的器材可能花上9,000美元至15,000美元。
Martha Herbert，美國馬薩諸塞州總醫院在波士頓哈佛醫學院的一名兒科神經學家表示：“使用iPad自閉症APP可以讓自閉症患者繞過他們在溝通中有許多困難。“

總部設在新加坡的 Hearty SPIN （和諧心社會企業),不久前發布了全球首一專為輔助患有自閉症者與他人溝通所設計的中文APP應用軟件：圖片溝通輔助APP（Picure AAC app) 。這是iPad/iPhone iOS 平台全球首一的中文自閉症APP應用軟件。

圖片溝通輔助APP（英文版）已在全球多過15個國家使用，包括美國、加拿大、英國、捷克、 新加坡、澳大利亞等。

Hearty SPIN 和諧心企業的行政總裁KhengWah Koh 表示:”在給自閉症小孩自己使用iPad前，必須有系統化地訓練小孩如何以適當的APP來溝通自己的需求、 情緒及學習其他的技能。不要無控制地讓小孩把iPad當遊戲機。“

圖片溝通輔助APP能幫助語言障礙者建立實用的溝通技巧，有效地與他人溝通，並訓練及促進他們的語言發展。

Phoebe Tucker, 美國一名語言治療師表示:“Steve Jobs 創建的iPad 提供了孤獨症小孩言語能力。“

Sharia 的父親Siddiqui 說：“我經常告訴我的妻子iPad前的Sharia 和iPad後的Sharia 判若兩人。這是非常顯著的。”



(CNN) -- Sharia stood immobile in front of the television, transfixed by its images, unaware of the world around her. Her family called her name over and over again, but she did not respond. It was that moment when they knew something was wrong.

Initially, they thought it was a hearing problem. When they found nothing wrong, they decided to take 2-year-old Sharia to a specialist at an early detection center in 2009.

"Within five minutes of looking at Sharia, (the specialist) said that she has autism," said Sharia's father, Fawad Siddiqui. "A very clear case of it."

Siddiqui, 38, and his wife, Ayza Sheikh, were under the impression that Sharia was simply a late talker. Originally from Pakistan, the Siddiquis had no relatives to advise them on their first child.

Speech, occupational and behavior therapies helped some. But Sharia still struggled with communication.
Fans line up to buy new iPad
Facing challenge of college with autism
A family's struggle with autism

Then, in 2010, Apple's iPad was released.

Siddiqui, a Columbia, Maryland, resident who shared his daughter's story on iReport, said that before having the iPad, Sharia's only way of communicating was crying. She was non-verbal and had no way of expressing what she wanted or how she was feeling.

Apple's touchscreen gadget wasn't the first tablet computer and isn't the only one now. But it quickly emerged as the overwhelming market leader, introducing millions of people worldwide to the concept of a computer that dwells somewhere between a smartphone and a laptop and offers a large screen full of images and icons with which the user can interact with a single touch.

"What the iPad has done has given her a sense of control that she never had before," Siddiqui said. "She knows when you touch it, something is supposed to happen. She knows she doesn't need to cry, she needs to point."

At first, Sharia enjoyed watching movies and playing games. However, through therapy and at home, she was introduced to apps such as Proloquo2Go, First Words, ABCs and Me and Puzzle Me, to name a handful. She soon learned to put together short sentences like "I want Dora" to express what she wanted.

A communications revolution

Proloquo2Go was Sharia's first app and the first real augmented communication app, released first for iPhones in 2009.

AAC, or augmentative and alternative communication, is a series of interventions used to help children with severe communication disorders communicate. Many apps are designed based on this method of therapy.

David Niemeijer, founder and CEO of Amsterdam-based AssistiveWare, creator of Proloquo2Go, said that 90% of AAC users use an iPad for communication, and more than 25% use an iPhone or iPod Touch, according to the company's surveys. About half of them reported improved speech abilities.

A search for "autism apps" for the iPad in Apple's App Store brings 764 hits. About 142 were released this year.

Similarly, dozens of assistance and education autism apps have sprung up on tablets and other devices running Google's Android operating system.

The accessibility of online stores as a platform for apps has opened a new avenue for parents. Those with the know-how are able to create apps based on their child's specific needs.

Tricia Estrada of San Diego has developed apps for her son, Evan. The app and website Wonkido has a series of animations, each about four to five minutes in length, depicting various social skills such as "asking to play" and "going potty." By watching, kids acquire a database of episodes to draw from for future social situations, she said.

Estrada said the most appealing facet of the iPad is its mobility. Before, when Evan needed to learn a new concept in the middle of soccer practice or while at a restaurant, she had no way of showing him until the therapist gave him a card or bought a DVD weeks later. With the iPad or iPhone, it's immediate.

"I think (the iPad) is revolutionizing the augmentative communication field," said Dr. Oliver Wendt, assistant professor of speech, language and hearing sciences at Purdue University. "It's a very cost-effective system. Before, we had these expensive, bulky items, which now can be replaced with an iPad."

The equipment that was used previously could cost $9,000 to $15,000.

iPads are now available for as little as $399. A majority of the apps on the iPad are paid apps that cost 99 cents to $299.99. Some of these prices may seem rather expensive for regular iPad users, but autism communities are thrilled.

iReport: Steve Jobs helped my autistic son speak

Wendt, who specializes in technological aspects of AAC solutions, collaborated with Purdue student group Engineering Projects in Community Service to develop a free app called SPEAKall! based on a widespread autism intervention known as Picture Exchange Communication System.

Traditionally, in a low-technology approach, children would hand laminated picture cards to their therapist or caretaker in order tell them what they want.

The app has two visible parts on the screen: a top row and a bottom row. The top has pictures and symbols, and the bottom is a storyboarding strip where kids can drag and drop the pictures to create sentences. These pictures can include objects, feelings or anything relevant to the child.

"It is very important to put symbols on that are truly reinforcing for the child, symbols that match something the child really wants," Wendt said. The app allows parents to take pictures on the spot and add them to the existing bank of symbols.

The child is then able to create sentences using the images, such as "I want apple" or "I feel sad." At the end, they can push the "Speak All" icon to hear the sentence.

Removing "extra baggage"

Martha Herbert, a pediatric neurologist and neuroscientist at Massachusetts General Hospital of Harvard Medical School in Boston, said the iPad allows individuals to bypass many difficulties they have in communicating.

Herbert explains that apraxia or dyspraxia is what makes communication difficult. Apraxia means that although your brain can develop an intention of doing something, it is physically difficult to do it. You may want to speak but can't move your lips.

"These apps allow you to do a shortcut around the neuromotor problems getting in the way of communication," Herbert said.

Communication is not just limited to speech. In order to understand and respond to an individual, you have to be able to decode their body language, facial expressions and lip movement as well. Using the iPad takes away this "extra baggage," Herbert said.

"I think it's opening a whole interesting way to be creative about giving people assistance," she said. "You can measure somebody's stress level and somebody can feed it back into their app and tell you if they're about to fall apart or have a meltdown."

Khengwah Koh is managing partner with Hearty SPIN, a new startup in Singapore that also recently released an app for low-functioning individuals with autism called Picture AAC.

The app is available in English as well as Mandarin and is used in more than 15 countries.

While Koh thinks his app and the iPad are great tools for these individuals, he thinks they should be used only as a supplement to other kinds of learning and therapy.

"For a child, it shouldn't be just given to them as a babysitting tool," Koh said. "When the app is introduced to the child, first train them how to use (it). ... It's not a game. It's something to be introduced in a systematic way."

Phoebe Tucker, a speech language pathologist in Bridgeport, Connecticut, has developed a center for autism called the Montano Assistive Technology Center, a division of United Cerebral Palsy, to integrate various forms of technology for therapy.

The center uses iPads along with other therapies.

Although Apple did not create the iPad with the intention of helping children with autism, the company does try to build in features for people with disabilities.

"Steve Jobs did not realize he was giving a voice to the voiceless," Tucker said.

That voice is exactly what Siddiqui feels has been given to Sharia. She is now able to speak in broken sentences and is aware of the world around her. Her family sees small triumphs every day.

For the first time in three years, the Siddiquis are thinking of taking Sharia to Pakistan to see their extended family. Sharia was diagnosed shortly after their first visit, and the family there only recently came to know of her diagnosis after watching Siddiqui's iReport video of Sharia.

The trip depends on whether therapists say Sharia is ready for such a change in environment. But Siddiqui is confident and looking forward to the trip.

"I often tell my wife I think of it as Sharia before the iPad and Sharia after the iPad," Siddiqui said. "It was that significant."