What is Word Prediction? This video explains in MUCH better than I can.

Have you ever tried to explain what Word Prediction technology is to someone who is not familiar with it?  I have done this more times than I can count with students, teachers, parents, and administrators, and it is never as easy as I think it should be.  That is why I was excited to find this nice video by the TextHelp company that explains quickly, simply, and visually what Word Prediction technology is, and what the potential benefits are for a variety of students, including the following groups:
-Students with Learning Disabilities
-ELL students
-Students with Physical Disabilities
-Poor Spellers

One note about the video:  It is made by a specific software company, and explains things based on the way their particular software works, but the basic concepts would apply to any reputable word prediction product out there.  

I am excited to include this short (less than 3 minutes) video in my AT toolbox to share with parents, students, teachers, and administrators in my never-ending quest to share the benefits of word prediction with as many people as I can.  I have posted a link to the video here.  I have also embedded the video into the blog below.  Please enjoy and feel free to share with anyone who would benefit from a simple explanation of the features and benefits of word prediction.  Here is a brief list of people you could share it with:
-Students
-Parents
-Fellow teachers
-Principals
-ELL teachers
-The Tier II or Literacy Coordinator
-The guy next to you at the gym (Ok, maybe not him, but you get the idea)

For more information about Word Prediction options available on a variety of platforms and for a variety of costs, click here.

Abilipad- My new favorite writing app

There are a lot of really great note-taking and word processing apps available for the iPad.  These apps are great, but they work best for students who are already proficient at writing.  What I feel has been missing from my iPad experience up to this point is a solid app that helps students with the complex and sometimes difficult task of written composition.  To my delight, I recently learned about a great writing app for the iPad called Abilipad. This app has a lot of great features that make it a very nice adaptive writing tool for struggling or emerging writers. Those features include:
-word prediction (does a nice job with creative spelling!)
-auditory feedback (can be set to read aloud each letter, word, sentence, or paragraph as you type. Will also read your entire passage back to you. )
-easy and intuitive file management system.
-(perhaps my favorite feature) the ability to create and download custom keyboards with letters, words, phrases, or pictures!

All of these features make the writing process accessible for all developing writers.  With the ability to make custom keyboards, complete with pre-made word, phrase, and picture buttons, you could even use this app with emerging scribblers.  Also, the developers of the app have created a way to download and share custom keyboards made by other users from the Abilipad online keyboard library.  I checked out the library, and found something for everyone, even OT's and SLP's!

The variety and quality of features available in this app really makes it a stellar writing tool for anyone working with struggling or emerging writers.  I would really encourage you to check it out on the App Store.  It costs $19.99. For a more detailed explanation of the app, and to see examples of how it has impacted student progress, check out this great blog post.

Word Prediction Options (I made you a list!)

After some recent discussions with different parents and teachers about word prediction software, I decided to compile a list of some common options that are available for PC/Mac/iPad/iPod/Android.  This list is by no means exhaustive and authoritative, but it lists many of the more common options available today.  I have tried to arrange them  in order by price from "Hey, it's FREE!" to "Holy cow, that's half my mortgage payment!"  I have also tried to include websites for each product so you can do more research on your own.  To see the list, please click this link.

I hope this helps when exploring options.  Please feel free to share this list with anyone who you think would benefit.