ELR-News

July 2003

Newsletter of ELR Software Pty Ltd

ABN 67 090 738 702
http://www.elr.com.au
news@elr.com.au

ELR Software combines the skills of speech pathologists and software designers to create software for speech, language and literacy intervention. Our programs may be used within therapy, to increase efficiency in service delivery using the Internet and CD based materials, and to improve access to the Internet for people with special needs. We are also available as consultants to clinicians and research projects in the fields of literacy and accessibility issues associated with the Internet.

The aim of this newsletter is to inform you of developments and changes to our major products eLr (Extra Language Resources) and EIA (Enhancing Internet Access). We welcome the opportunity for feedback and questions, and will be pleased to consider including reader contributions and announcements.

This Newsletter (and previous editions) is available online at www.elr.com.au/news and an email version is sent monthly to members of our mailing list (See Subscribing/Unsubscribing).

In this issue -

  1. New Zealand trip - thanks to all
  2. New eLr Materials
  3. Word Meanings and Rude Readers
  4. Free Downloads
  5. ELR 2003 Calendar

  1. New Zealand trip - thanks to all

    We've had a very busy month, with a wonderful trip to New Zealand. First of all, a big thanks to all the clinicians who helped us in the planning stages, and during the two weeks we were there. There were many emails to arrange suitable venues etc, and the amazing thing was we turned up at the right time and correct address on all occasions!

    It was great to meet all the therapists, and to discuss the service delivery models which are being developed in New Zealand. It's always a challenge to meet the increasing demands on our profession. We hope eLr will assist in increasing the efficiency of providing materials and program to clients. It was also fun to discuss the vowel differences, to see if we can incorporate the different accent into the eLr tasks.

    While we were in New Zealand we tried to fit as much sight seeing as we could in the "time gaps", and we feel we made a pretty good effort. Most days we were able to start early, do a walk somewhere, and get to the workshop venue on time. Wherever we went we were astounded at the variety of land structures (geography in the making!), trees - beautiful beech forests, and the observation that your sheep wander around munching on lush green grass! From the bubbling mud and geysers, to the pancake rocks, Milford Sound and Mt Cook - we simply felt we could have spent heaps more time in your wonderful country.

  2. New and changed eLr Materials

    This month we started adding the long-promised, early sounds (/p b t d m n ng w h/) to the "Phonology" section, which has been renamed "Phonology - Skills and Early Sounds". Along with Auditory discrimination and Phonological processes, this section will also eventually include further materials focussing on verbal dyspraxia. For consistency, "Phonology - Sound by Sound" has also been renamed to "Phonology - Later Sounds".

    A total of 149 new tasks were added to the new Early sounds. The tasks relate to the /p b t d/ sounds, and follow a similar format to "Phonology - Later Sounds" (eg initial, medial, final position etc). We have used the PicCards, Slide Show, TicTacPic, MemoryPic, and MouthSounds models. There are a few gaps, and these will be filled next month - it wasn't possible to get all the subsections filled, due to our time out of the office!

    We've also added a help screen to the demonstration "Quick Practice" model. This is a single task which may be found under the Example Cases on the "Demonstration" page (see www.elr.com.au/demo.htm). This page is mainly intended for new users to get a quick preview of the style of eLr tasks, but it's also useful to quickly test a particular computer/browser configuration for eLr compatibility (no need for registration, login etc). "Quick Practice" uses many of the core programming eLr modules, so if it works on your system, you should have no problems running eLr.

  3. Word Meanings and Rude Readers

    Our 2 new programs, Word Meanings (Volume One) and Rude Readers (Volumes One and Two), were launched in May this year at the Speech Pathology Conference in Tasmania. Both of these programs received much positive feedback when we demonstrated them in New Zealand.

    The supporting websites for both programs are still being developed, but you can read further information, and download free-trial versions at www.elr.com.au/meanings and www.elr.com.au/readers. Comments and feedback about both will be much appreciated.

  4. Free Downloads

    ELR now has a number of free or evaluation files available for downloading directly from our website. Please see www.elr.com.au/downloads.htm for specific details. For other supporting materials and documents available for free download, please see www.elr.com.au/support.htm.


     
  5. ELR 2003 Calendar



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Copyright ©2003 ELR Software Pty Ltd

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