FairProspects Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Ds's workload is just at that leveling up point to middle school level work and everywhere he goes there are worksheets to complete. They are coming home from outside classes, a lot of the review books I have are workbooks, or even the graphic organizers are hard copies. It is SO much writing all together and there is no way ds can keep up. Not with the concepts, because those are at the right level or even easy, but he is old enough to get embarrassed about my scribing or handwriting on the worksheets and he wants to be able to work independently. How can I get these into some kind of form where he can do the work himself? Can I scan them in and get something to write on them? Is there a good PDF writer (not the annoying one that comes with Adobe)? What about in class work? How did others with dysgraphics handle it when the worksheets/writing demands really leveled up in late elementary/early middle school? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Just starting to reach that point so I am interested too.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 DS started taking a NEO Alphasmart to school by 5th grade. We flirted with it in 4th but became serious by 5th. We purchased a printer that worked with the unit, took it to the school, and DS printed to it. The teacher that is giving the worksheets needs to be flexible and work with you. Notability is a PDF writer that you could use with the iPad and stylus. Venn diagrams and mindmapping can be used with the iPad as well. Your child will need access to the school's network, a Dropbox or Google account, and an email addy. Son had a teacher that allowed him to use her desktop. You could use a keyboard with the iPad. Unfortunately, iPad's are not durable. Overall, you need to speak with the teachers and determine what they will and will not do for your student. ETA: As a 9th grader, DS types his work and lugs 3-ring binders with a stapler and hole punch wherever he goes. One teacher uses his laptop to show videos and PPTs in class. Things get better and my son grows older. He is no longer embarassed about carrying a word processor to class. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'm also thinking about the Landmark organizers. They are awesome and I really want to incorporate them into our daily work, but as of yet they are only available in hard copies and not digital PDFs. I was hoping to avoid having to re-create them all myself to use the concepts since they are already sold in books. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Which organizers? Are you talking the ones in the appendix of Writing to Talking Strategies? Can you scan them and save them in a PDF format? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Which organizers? Are you talking the ones in the appendix of Writing to Talking Strategies? Can you scan them and save them in a PDF format? Maybe? I don't currently know how to do that but I can ask dh. I'm planning on implementing the organizers from the study skills book. I also have the writing books, but I haven't completely read and sorted through those yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddavies Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 My dysgraphic high schooler usually types his answers directly into PDFs. He's only taking one outside class at the moment, and his teacher has been e-mailing him a PDF version of all in-class handouts and worksheets. In the past, when he's had paper copies, he's scanned them and saved them as PDFs. He uses a Mac, and doesn't seem to have had any trouble writing in the PDF files. I believe he uses Adobe, but I can ask him for specifics if they might help. Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding your question - I tend to be about 5 years behind when it comes to technology! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 My son used Notibility a lot and I scribed everything. Since we homeschool, I didn't have to deal with extra worksheets that I felt were extraneous. We did much of the work orally. He continued to do "writing" practice daily - lots of copywork (helped teach him a lot of grammar naturally). He was very slow to learn to type. Last year (9th grade) he did vision therapy for both convergence insufficiency and dysgraphia (he a very poor perspective of where things are in space which made consistent writing very difficult). It was amazing what VT did for his writing. For the first time in his life he picked up a pen and started writing on his own. This year he's doing almost all his writing, though slowly. It is very hard to do a essay or anything that requires a chunk of writing. He's tried graphic organizers and dictation programs without much success. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City Mouse Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Check for teacher's guides that comes in electronic format. The ones I have on CD include PDF copies of the workbook pages where that answers can be typed directly onto the PDF without printing it out. There is an iPad app called Tools 4 Students that has blank graphic organizers that can be complete directly on the iPad. I'm not good with printing directly from the iPad, so we would email the completed organizers to my yahoo account and the print from the desktop. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 My dysgraphic high schooler usually types his answers directly into PDFs. He's only taking one outside class at the moment, and his teacher has been e-mailing him a PDF version of all in-class handouts and worksheets. In the past, when he's had paper copies, he's scanned them and saved them as PDFs. He uses a Mac, and doesn't seem to have had any trouble writing in the PDF files. I believe he uses Adobe, but I can ask him for specifics if they might help. Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding your question - I tend to be about 5 years behind when it comes to technology! It would be great if you could ask your son what he is using to type into the PDFs. I'm trying to figure all that out right now. I can usually get a PDF of most of the work for ds's class but then I'm not really sure what to have him do with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Check out Adobe Pro. I have been told that you can use it to make PDF forms that are fillable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemota Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 We've used Rune PDF on our Mac when we've had pdf's that didn't "play nice" with Adobe (because they had been some other format before being turned into a pdf maybe?). It's not perfect, but it does allow you to select an area and start typing in it and will save it for you. It does not line up your text with any lines on the pdf the way Adobe does, so it can look messy with a fill-in-the-blank type worksheet. But for something like a mind map, or a blank space, it works well. DD did VT over last spring/ summer and has been doing more writing on her own as well. We will be attempting to learn cursive again later this year for simple in-class writing (Spanish, Religious Ed.), but lengthy paragraphs and essays require a computer so she can type. We also use Typ-O which is an inexpensive but efficient word prediction software. While it doesn't help with her Spanish homework, it's great for essay/ short answer writing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ddavies Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 It would be great if you could ask your son what he is using to type into the PDFs. I'm trying to figure all that out right now. I can usually get a PDF of most of the work for ds's class but then I'm not really sure what to have him do with it. Alrighty. He says he can open the PDF in Preview (which came on his MacBook & my iMac), and then write directly in the PDF using the "Annotate" tool. Or, he can open it in Adobe Reader XI, then write using the "Comment" feature. This feature wasn't available in some earlier versions of Adobe, so maybe you just need to upgrade to this one? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Alrighty. He says he can open the PDF in Preview (which came on his MacBook & my iMac), and then write directly in the PDF using the "Annotate" tool. Or, he can open it in Adobe Reader XI, then write using the "Comment" feature. This feature wasn't available in some earlier versions of Adobe, so maybe you just need to upgrade to this one? This is how we do it here. Also, ds didn't fill in worksheets when he was in ps, but rather had an alphasmart (from 2nd grade on) and just typed the number and his answer and turned in the list of answers to go with the worksheets. There is no reason that writing must be done on the worksheet itself instead of on a keyboard with answers properly numbered to match the worksheet. Ds does fill in pdfs using preview and annotate. He also uses notability on the iPad to take notes and be able to record. I have never required him to hand write more than a sentence. He has had no trouble getting similar accommodations from ps, college board, ACT board, etc. We haven't been able to meet with the college disability services office yet, but expect to keep similar accommodations there. He always carries a laptop or iPad and keyboard wherever he goes. He is completely comfortable doing this and it is critical to learn those skills for kids that will never be able to keep up with the physical act of writing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 This is how we do it here. Also, ds didn't fill in worksheets when he was in ps, but rather had an alphasmart (from 2nd grade on) and just typed the number and his answer and turned in the list of answers to go with the worksheets. There is no reason that writing must be done on the worksheet itself instead of on a keyboard with answers properly numbered to match the worksheet. Ds does fill in pdfs using preview and annotate. He also uses notability on the iPad to take notes and be able to record. I have never required him to hand write more than a sentence. He has had no trouble getting similar accommodations from ps, college board, ACT board, etc. We haven't been able to meet with the college disability services office yet, but expect to keep similar accommodations there. He always carries a laptop or iPad and keyboard wherever he goes. He is completely comfortable doing this and it is critical to learn those skills for kids that will never be able to keep up with the physical act of writing. How does that work with the recording? Does he attach a microphone to the iPad? Does he record entire lectures? Recording seems like it would use up a ton of memory. Which iPad does he use? Lastly, what laptop does he carry? DS will need a new one next year, so make my purchasing decisions. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geodob Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 The software for this, is called OCR (Optical Character Recognition). It is often on the CD's that come with printers. But if you have MS Office, then that has OCR software. If you click on Office, and then Office Tools? You'll see Document Imaging, which will scan it and then open it with Word. Then with Document Scanning, it will scan and convert it into a PDF file. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 The software for this, is called OCR (Optical Character Recognition). It is often on the CD's that come with printers. But if you have MS Office, then that has OCR software. If you click on Office, and then Office Tools? You'll see Document Imaging, which will scan it and then open it with Word. Then with Document Scanning, it will scan and convert it into a PDF file. Dude, just get a scanner app for your iphone or whatever phone or tablet you have. You take the pic in the app and it turns it into a pdf, bam. No hassle, easy peasy, works great. I use Turboscan, but there are probably plenty. I'm guessing I found it free. Works for me. Btw, when you do that in the app, it lets you put things into folders and label right away, have page numbers, email or throw to your Dropbox, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 How does that work with the recording? Does he attach a microphone to the iPad? Does he record entire lectures? Recording seems like it would use up a ton of memory. Which iPad does he use? Lastly, what laptop does he carry? DS will need a new one next year, so make my purchasing decisions. :D Heather, all computers (or at least all macs, but probably pcs too) are going to come with built-in microphone because people skype. My dh, for his grad classes, uses an app on his phone to record lectures then handwrites or types on the laptop (I'm not sure which right now) his notes. The interesting thing with the apps now for the iPad and laptops is that the apps SYNC the recording and the notes. Some of them are pretty super fab. If you do the synced notes through an app on the ipad, you'd have your choice of writing on the screen or using a bluetooth keyboard. My dd uses a bluetooth keyboard with her ipad, and you can buy a cover on ebay for around $15 that comes with a bluetooth keyboard. I got one for my SIL (present from MIL) and it's really, really impressive for the money. If he's taking a ton of notes and the feel really matters, he might like the regular mac keyboard better. I would need to look at my SIL's keyboard again, but ran in my mind the keys were a little smaller than normal. If you're thinking laptop, see if there's an app for it that's going to do the synced recording of the notes and audio. The mic is there, so it's just a question of apps. I KNOW we have the apps for the ipads. The question is for the macs. Honestly I've just never looked. I should do that for my man, hmm... Clean or research apps, tough choice. :D Anyways, if you know there will be an app for the laptop to do the synced notes and audio, then you might go to Macrumors and see what the timeline is for the new 12" macbook air. That's going to be the glory machine. Get as much SSD space as you can afford. Well, I said Air, but the air is not your machine for gaming or running photoshop, CAD, that kind of thing, something insanely processor heavy. You want that, you have to go to the macbook pro, which is beastier both in brains and bulk. But to me, just for going to class and typing notes and not having a ton to carry (or lose, or get stolen) that Macbook Air is where I'd be at. And see what's going to be the new 12", because that may be a fab size. Just as an aside, if he's going to take important notes that way, MAKE SURE they're saving to the cloud or dropbox or something as well. You don't want anything to go wrong, mercy. But I guess I'm freaky like that. That's our one frustration with the ipad. If you have a file on there and it's not backed up to the cloud and something goes wrong when you connect/update/whatever, you can lose stuff. To me, and this is just me, I as a student would feel much more comfortable with something that is physically saving to a SSD and isn't so stinking whimsical the way the ipad is. My dd lost files on her ipad one year. Maybe it shouldn't have happened and maybe she should have backed up better. And now, with dropbox and the iCloud, it's easier to keep backed up and not lose stuff. I'm just saying make sure you have a game plan for that, so that if it's stolen, dropped in a pond, crushed, whatever, he still has his notes. Lecture over. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-air/ Here's what I was talking about. This is what you want if you want something thin like a composition book. Not the most powerful thing out there, but totally appropriate for what it's intended for. (notes, papers, light videos, etc.) And here's the roundup for the macbook pro. http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-pro/ The pro is thicker, heavier, and a beast with what it can do. You can find them on ebay, believe it or not. If he wants one machine to do everything (photoshop, 20 windows open at once, etc.), that would be it. Maxed out if $$ possible, of course. And answering the question about apps that you can put on a macbook air or macbook pro to take notes and sync audio, I'll just start listing some I find... It will let you see screenshots of how they work too. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audionote-notepad-voice-recorder/id406393290?mt=12 Wow, I totally forgot about OneNote!! Can OneNote record and sync audio?? I don't think it can, but that would be the ULTIMATE, wow. Ok, I'm back. Microsoft Word has a "notebook layout view" that records audio and syncs while you type. This looks fabulous for students, honestly. It has the tabs like OneNote, records and syncs the audio. This is looking like a definite buy in my book. Like I'm gonna buy it and teach dd to use it. I just watched his video. The way he explained the tabs doesn't seem right. You'd use those for subjects and want new pages within that for each day. That would be cool because then you could go back and subject head, whatever. I'm assuming you can do that, since you can in OneNote (have multiple pages within each subject tab). And the other thing that is cool is that ability to do text/typing AND scribble/hand input. So you could be typing, use your stylus, and then go back to typing. So you'd want a trackpad or set-up that gave you room to do that if you were going to be writing math problems. Don't know, just thinking. Hmph, the price. Got used to Apple, which gives their software away for free. Microsoft charges half an arm and three legs to get Word. I'll keep looking, but it appears to be bundled. I just assumed I could buy what I wanted for a sane price. Oh well, move on. There are other fish in the sea. Or use OneNote on the mac and don't worry about the audio. If he needs the audio, use another app, plunk out for the $140 microsoft bundle, or go with (gag) a pc. Dorkballs. OneNote for *pc* will record audio, but not OneNote for mac??? Scuzzballs they are. I'll keep looking. Thinking about this some more. If you use the *web* version of OneNote, your system (pc/mac) doesn't matter, meaning you should have all the features, right? You can actually access ALL the software, if you do it on the web. So if you liked the Word notebook version better, could theoretically do that via the web. And since every class will have wifi at this point, it's not a problem to plan on it. Don't know, just thinking. I'm gonna have to check it out. That's insane to expect people to pay $140 just to get the audio recording added. Nope, turns out the web versions of both OneNote and Word are stripped. I had forgotten about Circus Ponies notebook app for mac. Not quite as pretty as Microsoft's and no cloud drive (bah), but a much better price over the longhaul. Seems to me if our kids need it, the Microsoft one is still better. But maybe there's a free trial for it? Definitely not interested in the $100 a year subscription thing, mercy. The $70 a year is for one computer and one tablet, $100 for multiple. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/notebooks-write-documents/id862961526?mt=12 This is Notebooks 7 and it has mac and ipad versions. No Cloud (since microsoft's cloud is paid for by them) but it does dropbox. It organizes a bit differently from the other two, but the reviews seem good. Ok, looks like Growly Notes is the poor man's OneNote. http://www.growlybird.com/notes/ It has a new edition out for mac, will have a new ipad version coming out (so they'll sync?), and is $5 in the mac app store. Much better than $70-100 a year. Of course if you get the computer through a college bookstore or college program and they throw in the microsoft office suite.... Maybe apple does that? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 OhE? How did I miss your responses? Thank-you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 What do you suggest for a kid who is dysgraphic and has such spartial/visual/motor issues that typing into pdfs is an issue? Does any such magical beast exist? We are midway through testing and while ds can read the worksheet, comprehend it, and answer it verbally...the motor output sucks. We knew that, but now we have neuropsych testing agreeing with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 I don't precisely understand what you are looking for. Have you seen this website? http://www.cap.mil/WSM/Solutions/ProductDisability.aspx?DisabilityID=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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