Typing program?

[CLBMom]

My ds10 has dysgraphia. I am at the point where I feel that focusing on typing would benefit him much more then continuing handwriting instruction that just brings us both to tears. Can anyone recommend a good program that they have found to be helpful in situations like this? Thanks for the help :)

[MomatHWTK]

These aren't typing programs, but they might help you:

Adaptive Technologies (information from Shelly):

1. For written language assignments, Co:Writer Solo Edition. It includes "flexible spelling and the capability to load topic dictionaries from the site or from, say, Wikipedia. So, if you're writing a paper on Italy, you can load from an online source a "dictionary" of terms/cities, etc., you might need. NB: This software is expensive. But I can already say that it has been worth every penny. Also, it will be appropriate for any postsecondary school my son should choose.

 

http://www.donjohnston.com

 

2. For math, we use the Efofex MathPack and SciencePack. This is free with a documented disability. This is to completely lift off any stress of handwriting for advanced math problems.

 

http://www.efofex.com

 

3. For printing/copying/completion of worksheets on the computer, PaperPort 12 is a direct answer to prayer. Worksheets ("homemade" or his Teaching Textbooks, e.g.) and tests can be scanned onto my son’s laptop, he types in the answers rather than write them by hand, and voila: beautiful product that shows what he really knows rather than (again) draining his batteries working on the mechanics of handwriting.

 

So far, he's used this with Teaching Textbooks and monkeying around with a grammar workbook. He wants to do Progeny Press' Lord of the Rings studies. This will be fantastic for that purpose.

 

http://www.nuance.com

 

4. The Inspiration graphic organizing software for any type of written work needing organization. I was so impressed with it when we had the free trial going that I ordered the 3-pack. I wish this thing had been around when I was in school! This is not solely geared for people with "needs". Laura Esquivel used it while writing Like Water for Chocolate.

 

http://www.inspiration.com

 

5. For adapted keyboarding (traditional touch-typing can be difficult to impossible for kids with dysgraphia, depending on its severity), Ultra-Key 5.0 Although Ultra-Key is made to teach touch-typing, we just ignore this and use an adapted keyboarding method.

 

http://www.bytesoflearning.com

 

 

 

 

[myboyluvsdinos]

These aren't typing programs, but they might help you:

Adaptive Technologies (information from Shelly):

1.For written language assignments, Co:Writer Solo Edition. It includes "flexible spelling and the capability to load topic dictionaries from the site or from, say, Wikipedia. So, if you're writing a paper on Italy, you can load from an online source a "dictionary" of terms/cities, etc., you might need. NB: This software is expensive. But I can already say that it has been worth every penny. Also, it will be appropriate for any postsecondary school my son should choose.

 

http://www.donjohnston.com

 

2. For math, we use the Efofex MathPack and SciencePack. This is free with a documented disability. This is to completely lift off any stress of handwriting for advanced math problems.

 

http://www.efofex.com

 

3. For printing/copying/completion of worksheets on the computer, PaperPort 12 is a direct answer to prayer. Worksheets ("homemade" or his Teaching Textbooks, e.g.) and tests can be scanned onto my son’s laptop, he types in the answers rather than write them by hand, and voila: beautiful product that shows what he really knows rather than (again) draining his batteries working on the mechanics of handwriting.

 

So far, he's used this with Teaching Textbooks and monkeying around with a grammar workbook. He wants to do Progeny Press' Lord of the Rings studies. This will be fantastic for that purpose.

 

http://www.nuance.com

 

4. The Inspiration graphic organizing software for any type of written work needing organization. I was so impressed with it when we had the free trial going that I ordered the 3-pack. I wish this thing had been around when I was in school! This is not solely geared for people with "needs". Laura Esquivel used it while writing Like Water for Chocolate.

 

http://www.inspiration.com

 

5. For adapted keyboarding (traditional touch-typing can be difficult to impossible for kids with dysgraphia, depending on its severity), Ultra-Key 5.0 Although Ultra-Key is made to teach touch-typing, we just ignore this and use an adapted keyboarding method.

 

http://www.bytesoflearning.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow! This is such a helpful list of resources -- thanks so much! My ds, age 12, really struggles with handwriting, and these will really help!

 

Carolyn

[proudmamma]

What do you mean by adapted keyboarding? I tried to teach my son typing and he just couldn't get it, so I am interested in "adapted" keyboarding.:bigear:

[MomatHWTK]

This set of information came from a friend of mine whose son is further down the "road" than my DS. I've not tried the adaptive keyboard yet.

 

Here's some information I found:

http://www.ldonline.org/article/5890 It looks like the child just combines traditional touch typing to the best of their ability with the hunt and peck to achieve the best results.

 

http://www.homeschooldiner.com/specials/special_needs/dysgraphia.html

 

http://www.bridges4kids.org/articles/2003/5-03/Walters5-03.html

 

http://www.qwerty.com/

Edited May 26, 2012 by MomatHWTK

[proudmamma]

Thank you, I will check all the links out and see what I can find :)

[PeterPan]

Regular typing wasn't working out well for my dd either. (not officially dysgraphic) She's now using the Dvorak keyboard layout and Mavis Beacon software with good success. It reorders the keys for efficiency, so most of the strokes are done on the home row. You look at her type, and her fingers barely seem to move. It's a simple toggle on a mac to go to the Dvorak keyboard layout. Dh thought I was crazy when I made the change with her, but I was pretty desperate. I felt like it was a long-term solution she could actually keep up with, as apparently most computers have that option. He was worried about what she'd do at a job or in college, that sort of thing. On our current computer (mac) what we do is set up user accounts and have her user account use the Dvorak keyboard layout and mine user QWERTY.

 

You can also change the keyboards on an ipad btw. She does her mindmapping there and uses the Pages software for typing. You can set the soft (screen) keyboard separately from the hard (wireless) keyboard settings, so I have the soft keyboard to QWERTY to keep it easy for me and the hard keyboard to Dvorak for when she types her papers.

 

There's minimal handwriting with TT, but we're using the 2.0. The stuff she does write she does on blank paper. Guess I ought to move her over to something else (grid paper, something) for algebra 1. It's just for scratch. All the rest is typing or in her head.

 

You can use apps on the ipad to write on pdfs. Really don't know if you can type on them, but I suppose you can. They're pdf editor apps, and there are several of them. I have a cheap on (Notability) but there are much better ones. You could do a little searching and see if you can find out. For us the ipad has so many little accumulated uses, it has been a great thing. We don't have wifi, so we're just USING it, not necessarily surfing, kwim? Checklists, planning, mindmapping, so much it can do. The mindmapping app we use is Popplet. Actually we're using Popplet Lite, the free version.

 

Just for something really different, there's a thing called Glogster that is interesting. It has a free side that is sort of a pagan free-for-all, and then they have a totally private education account you can register for. So you can register as a teacher, get a free account for yourself, then register your student for a free account that will be linked to yours to see and supervise. I'm not sure if I can actually see my dc's account with my free teacher account or only add to my own glogs. Anyways, if you've ever had visions of notebooking or blogging or scrapbooking and really felt like the hand part of it was getting in the way, it's a pretty fascinating thing. And if you go through the edu branch, it's *private*. That's a big deal to me, so I mention it.

 

I haven't actually figured out yet if you can print the glogs or what you can do with them. It's pretty fascinating though for the potential to bring together easily your output, images, etc. etc. and have it be attractive. Lots of potential.