Volume 12, No. 4, Fall 2004	Previous Issues Subscribe to AT Messenger Download PDF Viewer
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The AT Bargain Basement

Marvin Williams, AT Specialist, Kent County ATRC

Hello friends, and welcome to the fall edition of the AT Bargain Basement. This is the column where I, your hard working AT Specialist, try to bring you those AT gems that are under $100 in price and, usually, are available at local stores. Since we are getting used to being back in school, I decided to focus this column on education-specific AT.

Educational AT does not always have to be an AlphaSmart or a Dana keyboard, although those are helpful pieces of AT. It doesn't have to be a Kurzweil text reader, but that is a nice software package to have as well. Often, we forget that low-tech pieces of AT can be very useful in the classroom and at home. So, I am going to focus on some of those inexpensive pieces that fall into this category.

My first item is the old fashioned highlighter pen. Highlighters come in more colors than the ever popular yellow. You can get highlighters in green, blue, pink, and purple. Other colors are available, but it may take some searching. Staples® has a six-pack of assorted colors of their own brand of highlighters for $1.95.

If highlighters are not your thing or if you are afraid that a student with a highlighter is just going to paint the pages of his/her books yellow or green, highlighter tape may be the way to go. Highlighter tape is colored tape that can be put over text to provide a color highlighting effect. Unlike regular transparent tape, highlighter tape is made to be lifted from the book and reapplied several times. The tape cannot be reapplied indefinitely, but it can be used several times. Highlighter tape comes in several colors and in varying widths. It is available from the Teaching Resource Center (www.trcabc.com) in assorted colors for prices ranging from $1.75 to $1.95 per roll. The tape is also available in a four-pack of sheets (7-3/4" x 9-3/4") for $6.50. The sheet-sized tape is great for highlighting large amounts of text or entire pages in books.

However, if you need to highlight or change the color of an entire worksheet or photo copy, you may want to use a colored sheet

sleeve. These are very helpful for individuals for whom a colored background is an issue. For some individuals with dyslexia, color filters can mean the difference between being able to read a document and not being able to read one. A colored sheet sleeve is an inexpensive way to add color to a document without having to reprint it on colored paper. The sleeves are also reusable, which is great because they can be used on multiple documents at a time. The colored sheet sleeves are available at Wal-Mart® and at office supply stores such as Staples, OfficeMax, and Office Depot.

Educational software is another great at-home and in-the-classroom learning tool. Although ordering software online and through a catalog provides the widest options for software, many great titles can be purchased locally. A number of educationally relevant software titles are available at CompUSA, Wal-Mart, Toys "R" Us, Best Buy, Circuit City, and, yes, even Staples. Selections including the popular Living Books® reading series by Riverdeep, Broderbund's Adventure Workshop™ series, and the JumpStart™ series by Knowledge Adventure® are all available at several of the previously mentioned stores for around $20-$40 per title. If a school is purchasing some of this software, it is a good idea to check with the software publisher first to see if they have an educational discount available for purchasing multiple copies of the same software. This may be a way to get the students the software they need without breaking the budget.

JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade 2003 by Knowledge Adventure

One educational AT device that is a very well-kept secret is the LeapFrog®. The LeapFrog has evolved consistently through the years into a nice elementary educational tool. The LeapPad®, Leapster™, and iQuest® provide inexpensive options for educational tools that can provide special help within a mainstream consumer product. The LeapPad is designed for kindergarten and elementary school users, the Leapster is for elementary and middle school users, and the iQuest is for middle and junior high school users. The big plus to the LeapPad hardware is that it has a lot of pre-made activities. Software is available to help students with everything from phonics to algebra in a fun and easily approachable format. The base units range in price from $12.99 to $99.99 and are available at Wal-Mart, Target, and Toys "R" Us, among other places. The activities range in price from $14.99 to $39.99 and are available at the above-mentioned locations.

iQuest by LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.

That does it for this installment of the AT Bargain Basement. Hopefully, some of the products mentioned here will help you or someone you know. If some of the items discussed here appeal to you, you should make it a point to come to the Inclusion Conference in November and see Judi Sweeney, creator of the LoTTIE Kit and founder of Onion Mountain Technology. The Kit is a collection of low- and mid-tech AT equipment designed for parents and educators to use with students who have special needs. The Kit includes items that were chosen to help students in reading, writing, math, and organizational skills and will assist educators in trying out low-tech, inexpensive AT items before purchasing expensive, high-tech devices.

Judi Sweeney has a great knowledge of low-cost and low-tech AT as well as how to implement it in the academic setting. I had the privilege of seeing her at Closing the Gap in 2003, and her presentation was wonderful. Check out her November presentation titled Technology and Brain-Based Learning if you can. As usual, if you have any questions, comments, or AT bargains you have come across, call, fax, e-mail, or write with your contribution. And remember, just because it is inexpensive doesn't mean it is cheap.