Skip to main content

100 Powerful Learning Specialist and Educational Therapy Materials

This week I wanted to tell you about my online store, Good Sensory Learning. I’m Dr. Erica Warren, and I established this site so I could share all the materials that I have created over the last 20+ years as a learning specialist and educational therapist. When I first began my private practice, Learning to Learn, I had great difficulty finding fun and multisensory materials for my students that were effective and engaging. So back in 2005, I made it my mission to design and distribute high-end, remedial products as well as memorable, motivating lessons that bring delight to learning. If you would like to try a free sampling of my activities , CLICK HERE . How Are the Products Organized at Good Sensory Learning? You can download my Free Printable Catalog or you can browse the site using the grey “search all products” bar in the top right of any page with keywords such as dyslexia, working memory, and executive functioning. What’s more, drop down menus in the red banner allow you t

How to Use Dictation on Mac and Benefits for Dyslexia

Apple has been offering free accessibility tools with their personal computing devices for some time, but with each new operating system upgrade comes improvements and changes. This blog focuses on the dictation tool, as it is real game changer for students with dyslexia and other types of learning disabilities.
Mac Dictation Tool
What is Dictation?
Dictation is a tool that allows users to speak computer commands and also dictate text when creating documents, texts or emails. The computer “listens” to your words and follows your directives. Because the computer “hears” every utterance, it is important to speak clearly and mindfully so that your commands are not filled with ums and other unneeded articulations.

How Can One Access Dictation?
To begin the default is selecting the fn key twice (bottom left hand corner on most Mac keyboards), or you can enable the dictation keyword phrase and say “Computer, start dictating.” Here is how you can enable the keyword phrase.

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences
> click Accessibility
> click Dictation
> click “Enable the dictation keyword phrase”
A Few Key Pointers When Using Dictation:
- If you’re dictating text, pause a few seconds before saying the command (otherwise, it may be dictated as text).
- There is a comprehensive list of commands that are worth committing to memory or having handy on a printout when using this accessibility tool. To make it easy for you, I created a downloadable document with many of the common commands. I limited it to two pages, so that it could be printed on a single piece of paper (front and back).
- When dictation is enabled, you can also display a list of commands by simply saying, “ Show commands.” This will trigger a menu box of dictation commands that will appear on your screen (as seen in the image to the right). You can also conduct a specific search by saying, “How do I <action>?” For example, you can say “How do I select text?” to see commands related to highlighting text.
- When you’re done, say “Stop dictating” or press the dictation keyboard shortcut - (default is select fn key twice)

Voice to Text for Writing:
Dictation is a great way for users to capture the spoken word as text on the screen. One should note, however, that punctuation needs to be verbalized as well as other directives such as formatting, mathematical symbols, emoticons, currency and some symbols. Again, to make it easy for you, I created a downloadable document with many of the common commands.

Why is Dictation a Great Option for Individuals with Dyslexia?
Dictation is a great option for individuals with dyslexia, because they can focus on ideas and not be distracted by spelling or typing. There is a little bit of a learning curve, as one needs to get comfortable speaking clearly, verbalizing punctuation, pausing between ideas, and gaining proficiency with voice commands. I find that most students can learn it quite quickly.

Using Commands to Operate the Computer:
Sierra also offers enhanced dictation. When this feature is enabled, you can use spoken commands to perform tasks on the Mac. For instance, you can say commands to open an application (e.g., “open mail”), search the internet (e.g., “search global warming”), and ask Siri a question (e.g., “start Siri”). Other advanced tasks can also be enabled such as switching apps, navigating in windows, or searching using Spotlight. To top it off, you can even create your own commands.

Adjoining Video Blog:
I also offer an adjoining video blog on this topic. In addition, a quick demonstration, illustrates how easy it is to use this technology to quickly create text.

Again - If you would like my 2-page summary of the common Dictation Commands, CLICK HERE.
I hope you found this blog helpful. Please leave a comment and share it on social media.

Cheers, Dr. Erica Warren
Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator, and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials. She is also the director of Learning to Learn and Learning Specialist Courses.
· Blog: https://learningspecialistmaterials.blogspot.com/
· YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/warrenerica1
· Podcast: https://godyslexia.com/
· Store: http://www.Goodsensorylearning.com/ & www.dyslexiamaterials.com
· Courses: http://www.learningspecialistcourses.com/
· Newsletter Sign-up: https://app.convertkit.com/landing_pages/69400

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

88 Assistive Technology Tools for Struggling Learners

Making sense of the complex weave of assistive technology devices and applications for struggling learners can be a confusing and frustrating chore. This blog talks about 15 different types of assistive technology that can benefit struggling learners with links to my favorite tools. For a more comprehensive discussion of these technologies  CLICK HERE Comprehensive Technologies: Don Johnston Inc. - $. Kurzweil 3000 - $   TextHelp - $ ClaroRead - $ Planning, Time Management, and Organization: iStudies Pro - Free/$ - Remember the Milk - Free - RescueTime - $ Strict Workflow  - Free - Wunderlist - Free - Text to Speech: AnyBook Personal Reader - $ Audible.com - $ IntoWords - $ NaturalReaders - Free/$ Project Gutenberg & Librivox - Free Raz-Kids - $ Read & Write for Google Chrome - Free/$ Read OutLoud - $ Snap&Read Universal - $ Voice Dream Reader - Free/$ Voice Typing - Free Speech to Text: Co-writer Un

10 Free Ways to Improving Visual Tracking for Weak Readers

While reading, tracking across the page from one line to the next can be tricky when the text is small, but for students with dyslexia or weak reading skills, it can be a problem regardless of the font size.  So why is this the case?  Perhaps one of the problems is poor tracking skills. What Exactly is Tracking? Tracking is the ability for one's eyes to move smoothly across the page from one line of text to another. Tracking difficulties happen when eyes jump backward and forward and struggle to stay on a single line of text.  This results in problems such as word omissions, reversals, eye fatigue, losing your place while reading and most importantly it can impact normal reading development.   Can Tracking be Improved? Tracking can be improved by strengthening eye muscles as well as getting your eyes and brain to work cooperatively.  There are three eye movements that need to be developed:   Fixations: The ability to hold one's eyes steady without moving

Do I have dyslexia - Explaining Symptoms and Myths for Kids

What do you do when you learn that your child has dyslexia? Should you hide this diagnosis to protect them from labels and misunderstandings, or should you tell them? If you do decide to tell them, how do you do this? Can you help them to overcome any potential fears or misunderstandings? These are the questions that I will answer in this blog that includes kid-friendly graphics. What are the Benefits of Telling Your Child That He or She Has Dyslexia? Educating your child with dyslexia about the common signs and misconceptions can help them to: understand that they learn in a different way than other kids that don’t have dyslexia.  shed negative labels such as stupid, careless, unmotivated and lazy. correct any misunderstandings. identify with other successful people that have or had dyslexia. acquire the needed intervention and instruction in school. learn that many people with dyslexia have strengths that others do not have. Individuals with dyslexia are often: great