Just+Special+Education

Below, you will find resources that may be of use with your __**Special Needs Students**__:
= GENERAL TOOLS =
 * **[|Do2learn] ** provides thousands of free pages with social skills and behavioral regulation activities and guidance, learning songs and games, communication cards, academic material, and transition guides for employment and life skills.
 * [|EdResourcesOhio.org] - is a site sponsored by the ODE Office for Exceptional Children.
 * **[|National Association of Special Education Teachers]**: NASET’s website offers all kinds of resources, references and tools for special education teachers.
 * [|Special Education Resources for General Educators] - This website was designed to provide general classroom educators with quick access to information and professional development about addressing the needs of students who have disabilities and special education


 * Apps **
 * [|Apps for Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities] - These apps could be helpful for any student. Thank you Missy Glindemeyer for finding this one.
 * [|Autism Apps] Free. for the iPhone or iPad. Autism Apps is a comprehensive list of apps that are being used with and by people diagnosed with Autism, Down syndrome and other special needs. The apps are broken down into paid, free, iPad, iPhone, price and rating.
 * [|Guide to Special Needs and Educational Apps]- This detailed app guide is for special needs families, speech therapists, occupational therapists, social workers and teachers! It breaks down apps by skill set so you can easily find and buy apps that most benefit your child. The educational apps listed would be helpful for any student - not just those with special needs.
 * **[|See.Touch.Learn]**, a picture learning card system from Brain Parade. This app was designed specifically for students with autism and other special needs.

= COMMUNICATION TOOLS =
 * MakeBeliefsComix** is a simple comic strip that is not so simple! It's a therapy tool to help the deaf and autistic communicate. It is also a resource to encourage writing skills and to practice vocabulary or storytelling skills.

= ORGANIZATION TOOLS = (Also see the Organization Tools page)

= READING TOOLS - = Do you have students with vision impairments or learning disabilities who have difficulty with printed materials? Check out these resources!

AudioBooks and Digital Books (For more audio book resources, see our Book Lovers page)

 * **__ [|Bookshare] __**: Students with print disabilities can access thousands of books, magazines and other texts electronically. It is available to students who are unable to read standard print materials due to physical limitations. Students can download the materials in electronic format to be read in Braille, large print, or synthetic speech. Students must meet certain requirements and be registered through the school to become a member. Once you are a member, you can start downloading books. **NOTE: The high school is a member!**
 * One drawback of Bookshare has been that the voice is computerized and somewhat hard to understand. The following apps can be used with BookShare to make the voices easier to understand:
 * [|Go Read] (Android) is a FREE accessible eBook reader for Android phones and tablets. Download, listen, and enjoy all your favorite Bookshare books… wherever you want.
 * [|Capti Narrator] (iOS) - Use Capti to listen to everything you want to read. You can listen to any content from the Web, GoogleDrive, Dropbox, or BookShare.


 * [|Cincinnati Public Library] -
 * a great resource for audio books. All you need is a library card number. If the book you are looking for is not in the catalog, contact a librarian. They may be able to order it from another library in Ohio.
 * Digital audio books can also be downloaded to your smartphone, computer, or MP3 player 24/7 via these links from the public library:
 * Connect to OverDrive
 * Connect to OneClick Digital
 * Connect to Hoopla Audiobooks
 * Support:[| New User Guides, FAQs, compatible devices, etc.]


 * **Other resources for students with print disabilities:**
 * [|Audio Internet Reading Service of Los Angeles (AIRS)] - provides audio recordings of news, information, and entertainment to the print-impaired community. Programs include sections from daily newspapers and magazines, vision research news, theater reviews, consumer product information, and more.
 * [|iBlink Radio] is a free app on platforms including Mac, Android, Kindle Fire and iOS providing access to global radio stations, podcasts and local and national reading services of special interest to the blind and vision-impaired.
 * [|National Library Service] - Through a national network of cooperating libraries, NLS administers a free library program of braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States by postage-free mail.
 * [|Speak the Speech] - Audio performances of the following Shakespearean plays are available online: The Tempest, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, The Winter’s Tale, Antony and Cleopatra, Cymbeline, Merry Wives of Windsor, King John, and King Richard II. You can also read along with several of the plays.

__** Text to Speech Tools (also see Web Accessibility below) **__ __ **INFOHIO** __ Many [|INFOhio] resources have "read to me" or "listen" options - including EBSCO and World Book resources.

__ **SCREEN READERS** __
 * [|Narrator] Windows comes with a basic screen reader called Narrator, which reads text on the screen aloud and describes some events (such as an error message appearing) that happen while you're using the computer.
 * **[|NonVisual Desktop Access]**: NVDA is a free, open source screen reader that uses text-to-speech and Braille.

Other text to speech tools:
 * **Natural Reader-** Text to Speech software with natural sounding voices. This easy to use software can convert any written text such as MS Word, Webpage, PDF files, and Emails into spoken words. NaturalReader can also convert any written text into audio files such as MP3 or WAV for your CD player or iPod.
 * **[|Vozme]** lets you turn your text into speech. You can choose a male or a female voice and you create mp3 files and listen to them anywhere you are.

= WEB/COMPUTER AND OTHER MEDIA ACCESSIBILITY = (Also see Text To Speech above.) = =
 * [|Apple] - accessibility features work the same way across Apple products and apps. Go to "settings", then "general", then select "accessibility".
 * [|Windows] - You can adjust your computer settings for vision, hearing, and mobility and use speech recognition to control your computer with voice commands. **Click the "Start" button in the lower left corner and select "Control Panel". Then select "Ease of Access".**
 * **Google****has special products to help students with disabilities-** Learn about all of Google's accessibility products and features, or filter by different categories.
 * The purpose of the [|Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP)] library is to provide free-loan captioned and described educational media to benefit K–12 students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind. Teachers/interpreters and other professionals, who work with these students qualify to borrow DCMP media through the mail or online.

= RESOURCES FOR SPECIFIC DISABILITIES = = = = DYSLEXIA = = ESL (Also see, Just Foreign Language - Learning Tools) = = HEARING IMPAIRMENTS = = LEARNING DISABILITIES = = VISION IMPAIRMENTS =
 * ** [|DyslexiaHelp] is designed to help you understand and learn about dyslexia and language disability. **
 * **[|Dyslexia Resources Page] -** The Ohio Department of Education has a new webpage for Dyslexia resources.
 * ** ESL Flashcards **
 * ** The International Children's Digital Library is a collection of books online that can be downloaded and read on your computer. It has ** more than 10,000 books in at least 100 languages that are freely available to children, teachers, librarians, and parents via the Internet.
 * [|ManyThings.org] - designed for people studying English as a Second Language (ESL), but has resources that could also be helpful for English speakers who are struggling with reading or communication skills. Resources include: listen and read along videos and MP3s, quizzes, word games and puzzles, proverbs, slang expressions, bilingual sentence pairs and other computer assisted language learning activities.
 * Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab - Improve listening comprehension skills with these recordings of real-world English conversations!
 * [|The Deaf Resource Library] is a virtual library -- an online collection of reference material and links intended to educate and inform people about Deaf cultures; as well as deaf and hard of hearing related topics.
 * **Differentiated Learning for Students with Disabilities**-
 * See TEXT TO SPEECH above ** - Also see Audio Tools on the Web 2.0 Tools page