Hi Leah,
You are the first other parent I have met here who has a son with developmental coordination disorder! My son is 14 now. Unfortunately for him, his typing coordination is as slow as his handwriting.
You can get some pretty decent new computers starting around 600 dollars. Perhaps you can find a good used laptop on www.craigslist.org.
I guess I forgot to mention that he does use an alphasmart at school. Can they get me one for home, too? Leah
In our area, the AlphaSmart can be checked out to the student to be used at home (at least for homework assignments). Tony has had an AlphaSmart available to him for about 2 months now. Although since it is not written into his IEP, it is hit or miss as to whether or not he uses it. He has gone a week at a time without bringing it home for homework, and when I reviewed his portfolio of work recently at school, I saw no evidence that it is used in class at all. I will have to address that issue at our upcoming meeting.
Mary
How old is Tony? Leah
Tomy is 12 and in the 6th grade. I have asked for the last 3 years; his teacher in elementary school felt like we needed to "push" him to work on this writing so she kept holding out. To an extent, I agreed with her because I felt like he needs to master that (written output) as well.
His middle school teacher was more receptive to letting him try the AlphaSmart. However, she is also giving him very abbreviated assignments in class... mostly single "fill in the blank" worksheets, etc. His homework assignments are very routine as well... spelling words only. Monday is ABC order, Tuesday is definitions, Wednesday is sentences, and Thursday is 10 times each. Very rote kind of work. When he does not bring the AlphaSmart home, the definitions and sentences can be time consuming (because of his struggle with writing combined with the thought process involved), but the ABC order and 10 times each seem to go pretty smoothly.
The AlphaSmart can be quite helpful, when the teacher is willing to work with you on the quality of assignments. We are just not THERE yet.
Mary
I have a 6 year old son that I have faught the school to get a Alphasmart. Ot teacher wanted him to continue struggling to write.We went to the CES meeting and I again ushed for this .Christopher can not tie, he can not button, he has problems dressing. He has sever speach articulation issues. They wanted him to speak into a recorder then use the alpha smart to type what he said.My point to them was how do we know christopher can understand himself when he hears it back 15 min. Then it was the OT teacher that said. Well I want him to use all 5 fingers on each hand if he is to get one. I replied he has ot issues as you know Im all for keeping him writing at different points but again I want him to have this whether he can use all fingers or just one.....
Needless to say I am still having issues with the school , however at home he uses this computer just fine. one finger at a time and the mouse it just took him longer to get it under control.
Ask for an assistive technology assessment. They are the best qualified to make that judgement.You should ask, in writing, for an Assistive Technology evaluation from an expert in assistive technology. If your child needs an AlphaSmart to access a free appropriate education, the District is required to provide one that is in good working order, fully insured and also provide help for him in learning to use it.I need some resources on how I can find an appropriate computer for my son, 8, 2nd grade, mild PDD, Developmental Coordination Disorder.
I'm not sure what I'm looking for. He has so-so handwriting and it's laborious for him. He uses an alphasmart at school. I'm wondering if the Alphasmart Neo http://www.alphasmart.com is enough for him, or if I should get something with game capacity. He'd really like to play computer games and the laptop we have doesn't have a mouse (I know I could get one), and the keyboard is not that easy to use. I've also heard that a joystick can help kids with developmental coordination disorder, so I'd like to include that. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'd need to stay within the 0 range. Thanks.