Scenario 4 – Direct control through touch

Touch screens

It is possible to control computer software by directly touching the screen. The equipment required for this is either a Touch Monitor, with built-in touch facility, or a window (Touch Screen) to attach to a standard computer monitor. An add-on window is cheaper but does not provide the robustness or reliability of response of a Touch Monitor. Whichever system is chosen, special driver software (provided with the device) is needed to calibrate the systems. It is possible to set the systems up to activate when touched or when the finger is withdrawn, depending on the needs of the user.

A range of point-and-click programs can be used with touch screens, going from simple cause-and-effect SwitchIt! and Touch Games, to more complex programs such as the Living Books. The great advantage of touch screens for pupils with severe learning difficulties is that things happen immediately; nothing comes between the child and what happens.

Example 4a – A pupil with severe learning difficulties using a touch screen

Problem

This pupil is in a school for pupils with severe learning difficulties. She likes music. When approached by helpers and teachers she tended to close her eyes and curl up. Offering a switch for her to press to turn on a cassette recorder was ignored or pushed away.

Solution

Leaving the pupil close to a computer with a Touch Monitor with the RAD Sounds CD for musical reward.

Choice and positioning of device

A Touch Monitor, set to respond when touched, was placed in front of the pupil at eye level.

Choice of software

RAD Sounds was used initially as it gave a musical response and had dancing figures, both of which evoked a positive response from the pupil. In time she enjoyed making the faces change on Smart Alex; she then worked her way through the Touch Games discs.

Introduction to the activity

Initially the pupil was positioned so that she could watch another pupil using the computer and the program. She was interested but responded badly when offered a turn. The next day the software was set up and the pupil wheeled up to the table. The helper touched the screen a few times and then left the pupil, to help someone else. In time, the pupil tried to push the monitor away and got the response from the program. No reaction was made by anyone in the room the first day this happened. The pupil continued to explore in a half-hearted way. In time the helper responded to the pupils actions and offered to load another program; this time Smart Alex. The pupil used this a little and made a fuss. The helper changed back to the RAD Sounds and the pupil seemed pleased.

In time the pupil used not only software written for the touch screen, but also software accessed by point-and-click such as Living Books and My World.

Key skills and equipment
The key skills for the above example are the ability to:

• set up a touch screen for appropriate access by an individual pupil.
• select relevant software to use with the touch screen

Key equipment

• a touch screen
• touch screen software

There is no doubt that this method of controlling the computer has its place for certain pupils and for certain activities. It is particularly appropriate for those who have learning difficulties but minimal physical difficulties. These pupils often respond well to the very direct input and immediacy of response. It is also appropriate for ‘cause-and-effect’ type activities, where precise accuracy of touch is not necessary.

Use of a touch screen should, however, be viewed with caution for pupils who have physical difficulties. Accuracy of touch requires good fine motor control, unless it is just to be used as a cause-and-effect instrument.

A question which is often raised about the use of touch screens is that a pupil uses them well for cause-and-effect activities, but then what? In order to move on to more cognitively demanding tasks, some other method of control must be found. Programs that use mouse control such as My World or on screen pointer controlled grids such as Clicker or Writing With Symbols 2000 can be useful here. There is an argument that time would have been better spent in finding an alternative control method from the start. The debate continues!

One idea to lead the pupil on can be to attach a switch to the edge of the monitor once they have established cause-and-effect with the touch screen and are developing hand-eye coordination. The pupil is then encouraged to press the switch, instead of the screen; the close proximity of the two assists the generalization process. It may then be possible slowly to move the switch away from the monitor.

Not all touch screens are attached to conventional computers; some speech output devices with dynamic displays (see Unit 3) have a touch screen as an alternative input method. Here the user has to be able to point accurately to a particular symbol if he / she is going to get the right message across.

Care must be taken to consider:

• the appropriate size of each symbol
• the space between symbols
• whether the device will be activated when a symbol is first touched or instead when the finger is removed from the device
• if the user tends to need to slide the fingers over the touch screen, they will need a delay before a selection takes place

Scenario 5 - Direct control through voice

Voice recognition systems

For a number of children with physical or specific learning difficulties, accessing the computer can be tiring or frustrating. For the highly literate and physically able pupil, voice recognition provides an interesting alternative to mouse and keyboard access. However, for some pupils with physical difficulties, the use of voice recognition is critical to their success or failure at school and beyond.

The system can be very useful for pupils who are literate and able to notice if the system misinterprets a word, have clear speech (although this is not necessarily vital, reproducible speech is necessary) and are not able to use a keyboard. The system is being used with some success with pupils who have dyslexia when it is used in combination with a system that will read back what has been written.

Achieving success with users with special needs requires more than installing software and putting on a headset. There must be planning, training and extensive support.

Things to consider before embarking on the use of such a system are:

• Can someone support the user intensively in the initial period while the training is taking place? This will be for a number of sessions.
• How well developed are the pupil’s literacy skills? It is important that the pupil can identify a misunderstanding on the behalf of the system either through reading or hearing the mistake.
• What sort of microphone do you have? The quality and positioning of this can be crucial to success.
• Has this pupil been using amanuenses? Are they comfortable about dictating in public, or would they find it easier to use the system for homework?
• Would they be better advised to use a discrete word-at-a-time system or a continuous speech recognition system? The answer to this is not always clear. For pupils with speech difficulties the discrete word-at-a-time system works better.
• Is the pupil’s vision good enough to read the small prompt text or will they need auditory feedback? They might need auditory feedback for other reasons, such as a pupil with dyslexia needing auditory support to check what they have written.
• What computer will be used to run this system? Does it have adequate processor speed, RAM and a suitable sound card?

Example 5a – A fifteen-year-old with dyspraxia and specific learning difficulties, using voice recognition

Problem

This pupil was bright and articulate, and had dyspraxia and specific learning difficulties. His handwriting was slow and untidy; because of his specific learning difficulties he would often lose the thread of his written work, resulting in poor language structure and spelling. At the age of eleven, he was provided with a portable writing aid. The use of a keyboard eliminated the problem of letter formation, but unfortunately the aid did nothing to address his other difficulties. An assessment by an Educational Psychologist indicated that it was the pupil’s lack of fine motor control, combined with his specific difficulties in coding, sequencing and digit span, which made his writing so poor. The assessment also revealed that the pupil’s IQ was well into the superior range.

Solution

Having been assessed for a range of supportive software, it was decided that for writing, voice recognition was the most useful as it capitalized on his strengths i.e. spoken language and reading ability.

Choice and positioning of device

The pupil needed a laptop computer with an ‘active noise cancellation’ microphone headset. Using the headset enabled the microphone to be positioned optimally, approximately 3 cm to the front to one side of the mouth so as not to catch the breath.

Choice of software

In this instance the pupil was able to use continuous speech software with a standard word processor.

Introduction to the activity

The pupil needed a couple of sessions to train the software. As he was both mature enough and able to use a keyboard himself he could type in any corrections needed. The pupil found that he was soon able to produce written work with no misspellings and excellent language structure. He was at last able to show what he could achieve, through the use of appropriate technology.

Key skills and equipment

The key skills for the above example are the ability to:

• identify most appropriate type of voice recognition software and set it up
• correct placement of microphone

The key equipment is:

• voice recognition software
• microphone headset

If Voice Recognition is of particular interest, please refer to Appendix 4 – Further Reading.

Scenario 6 – Control through switches

If a pupil is unable to achieve control of technology by any of the methods already discussed, they are likely to be able to achieve some control through the use of switches. The subject of switch access to technology is the subject of another of the training units and so will not be covered in depth here. Suffice to say that there is much that a pupil who needs to use switches can achieve, given the opportunities.

If this area is of interest, you should study Unit 8 – The development of switching skills.

Switches can be used in different ways:

• To establish cause and effect: attaching the switch to simple environmental controls such as battery operated toys, food mixers, hairdryers, fans, etc. can help a user appreciate that pressing a switch has an impact on them.
• To make simple choices: in this instance the pupil has access to two switches, each one attached to a different activity (e.g. music or toy car) or different messages on two simple communication devices such as One Step Communicators .
• To make selections from a wider range of choices (letters or symbols in a Clicker grid): in this instance an understanding of scanning is essential. When starting to use scanning it is helpful to set up the program for use with two switches. The pupil can then control the scan himself with one switch, and make a selection by pressing the second switch. Once the pupil understands the concept of scanning, and if they have adequate physical control, they might be able to use just one switch with a computer-generated scan.
• To control powered mobility: there are some pupils who cannot use a joystick, but who may be able to control a powered wheelchair if adapted to work with switches.
• To access communication in the form of a voice output communication device: these range from BIGmack to DynaVox or Lightwriter, depending on the ability of the pupil.

There is a wide range of switches the pupil could use. As important as the choice of switch is the siting and mounting of the switch. For switch use to be meaningful, the switch has to be placed so that only voluntary movements of the pupil access it.

Using a switch to produce written output is a slow process. It often involves considerable physical effort on the pupil’s behalf and makes cognitive demands on the pupil as well as requiring concentration. It is a good idea to try out whatever you are asking a pupil to do. If you expect them to write a page of work, have a go yourself; you might be surprised how tiring it is, physically and mentally.

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