PLUK News feed

Online Keyboarding Sites, Reviews, and Resources

1. http://www.superkids.com/a23b/pages/reviews/typing - This site offers a good review of many typing programs appropriate for a range of school-age children, including a review of my personal favorite: Adventrues in Typing with Timon and Pumbaa, Disney, approximately $10.00, usually available on-line.

2. http://typing-for-kids-software-revie.toptenreviews.com/ - This site also offers a good review of ten popular typing programs for children.

3. http://files.uberdownloads.com/apps/tuxtyping/index.php - This site provides a free download of a typing tutor program that is very visually attractive and engaging, particularly for younger children.

4. http://alison.com/courses/Touch-Typing-Training - This site provides a free online course that is engaging and appropriate for older students.

5. http://www.kidsdomain.com/brain/computer/type.html - This site provides an entertaining introductory program for letter location and introductory keyboarding skills.

6. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/ - This site offers levels of typing instruction, visuals are attractive, audio is entertaining (imagine a Scottish goat as the instructor) and it offers both visual and auditory reinforcement. Great site!

Eleanore's Project Institute for Families and Professionals - Missoula - October 2nd

Eleanore’s Project is pleased to announce our first Institute for Families and Professionals on October 2, 2009 at the Holiday Inn downtown in Missoula. The subject is “Transportation Safety for Wheelchair Riders and Children with Disabilities” and we are thrilled to have one of the foremost national experts on this subject as our speaker.

Download EPI Institute Registration Form 2009

USF Engineers Roll Out Off-Road Wheelchair Device

Link: Off-Road Device  For more than eight years, Michael Foradori's world was limited to the places he could go on his motorized wheelchair. That world was mostly paved. And it included few of the Mississippi forests where he has spent countless hours hunting and fishing. On Monday, all that changed. Foradori, 23, became the first customer to buy and cruise around in a Mobili T Rover, a rolling wheelchair platform designed to take him off-road, over uneven ground, through mud and across creeks. "I'm going to head off through the woods, and they're going to have to find me about four hours later," Foradori said as he powered the rover across a grassy field at the University of South Florida. The rover was designed and built at Rehab Ideas, a company that USF spun off to license and market inventions designed by engineering students and faculty members. The rover looks a bit like a dune buggy, with a roll bar and large rugged tires, and is designed to work with any self-powered wheelchair.

Website Promotes Accessible Technology For Everyone

Link: AccessibleTech.org  Advances in technology are changing the nature of business, from job performance and work productivity to commercial interactions such as buying, selling and advertising. Smart companies understand that many of their customers and employees have evident and hidden sensory, learning, and physical impairments. And these numbers will grow as our population ages. Just as street curb-cuts, originally designed for people using wheelchairs, have been embraced by all pedestrians, information technology (IT) that is designed to be accessible to individuals with disabilities, also provides improved access and usability for all individuals.

The purpose of AccessibleTech.org is to build a partnership between the disability and business communities and to promote full and unrestricted participation in society for persons with disabilities through the promotion of technology that is accessible to all. National Hotline: 800-949-4232

Free Software For Children Who Can't Use a Mouse

Link: Free Software  My name is Sara. I have 2 boys who both showed an interest in the computer, but didn't know how to use the mouse or keyboard. Since there was nothing on the market to meet their needs, I developed a series of educational computer software programs that they could operate on their own by simply pressing the spacebar. I am making these programs available at no charge to any parent or teacher who thinks they may be able to use them.

The programs are based on high interest subjects, such as nursery rhymes, holidays, and birthday themes. The software keeps children engaged and actively learning. And for children with limited language skills, my programs can help give meaning to words and concepts. Holidays, birthdays, going to the doctor, dentist, or getting a haircut, are all broken down into sequential steps to thoroughly explain the event.

This educational software is made for children 18 months to 4 years of age (or higher for children struggling with language delays due to autism or other causes).

Bias Against Blind Book Lovers

Link: Blind Book Lovers I love to read. My wife is also an avid reader. But my wife and I are blind, and we have many blind friends. And although many of us read everything we can get our hands on, we can't get our hands on very much to read. There are services for us, of course. Government entities and nonprofit organizations convert books into Braille, audio, or digital form for our use. But only 5 percent of all books published undergo such a conversion. Nowadays, a solution to the problem of reading material is tantalizingly within our reach: the e-book. When Amazon released its new Kindle 2 e-book reader earlier this year, it announced that the device now includes text-to-speech software and can read e-books aloud. Our hope quickly turned to despair, however - and then to anger. The Authors Guild doesn't want the Kindle 2 to be able to read books aloud. They say this new capability violates authors' copyrights.

Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman to Speak at National Press Club, Washington D.C. on Bookshare Partnerships with Universities and Publishers

Link: Benetech CEO Announcement Mr. Fruchterman will announce multiple partnerships with U.S. colleges, universities and publishers to build collection of digital accessible books and textbooks in support of individuals and K-12 and post-secondary students with qualified print disabilities.

Website Provides Services and Support for Persons with Brain Injury

Link: The Brain Spot This site was developed as part of a grant project titled, "Services and Support for Persons with Brain Injury" implemented by the Department of Recreation Leisure Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is designed to be accessible for persons who have varying abilities for processing written and visual content. The Brain Spot includes a discussion board, email, e-cards, games, community resources, individual profile web pages, support group links, and a listing of other websites that may be of related interest.

Switch-Adapted Digital Camera

Link: Digital Camera "I want people with special needs to be able to do everything an able-bodied person can do, at least those things within my sphere of influence. Switch-Adapted Digital Camera - it's just what it sounds like, along with the accessories that I've found to be useful! Bear in mind that I do not just go out and buy a camera and adapt it. I go through many cameras, all their features, their quality, their picture quality, durability, and how well I can adapt them. It takes several months for this process. I put time, money, and energy into finding just the right item for the job, and adapting it strongly. I've packaged it with the accessories that people wanted."

Every Move Counts assistive technology website

Link: EMC3 Every Move Counts represents the completion of a 33-month Innovative Research Grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health and funded through the National Institutes for the Neurologically and Communicatively Disordered.