ELR-News

April 2007

Newsletter of ELR Software Pty Ltd

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

ELR Software produces a range of computer programs designed by speech pathologists for speech, language & literacy intervention. Our programs may be used interactively within therapy sessions, to increase efficiency in service delivery, 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), Rude Readers, Word Meanings 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) as well as a "print-ready" PDF version of the current edition is available online at www.elr.com.au/news. An email version is also sent monthly to members of our mailing list (See Subscribing/Unsubscribing).

In this issue -

  1. New eLr Materials
  2. eLr Workshops in Canada and the UK in 2007
  3. Other Independent Developers
  4. Free Downloads
  5. ELR 2007 Calendar

  1. New eLr Materials

    A total of 41 new picture based tasks have been added this month. There are 13 new sequences in "Using Language - Sequencing - Re-ordering - Common" section. We've had a lot of positive feedback about these sequences and many people asked to have both male and female sequences in the common daily routines. So there are now both boy and girl sequences about getting dressed, putting on shoes, having a bath, brushing teeth, going to bed, and going to kindergarten.

    We have also had feedback about the need for more "pronouns" tasks in eLr, so in this edition we've added 28 new tasks to the "Sentence Processing - Parts of a Sentence - Pronouns" section. These new tasks use the Drag Central model, and provide activities that enable you to introduce target sentences that suit your needs.

    In the Drag Central model there is a central scene which, for most of the new tasks is a male or female holding a box, basket or a bucket, and on either side of the screen are "draggable" objects. The client is encouraged to drag items into the box, basket etc, and say or listen to sentences that contain the appropriate pronoun, eg "He has a train", "The train is his", "I'll give the train to him", "This is the boy's train". Some of these tasks contain 2 or more people so it's also possible to introduce sentences such as "Their book is on the table". The open ended nature of these tasks means that they can be used for comprehension and expression of pronouns. The client can listen to your instruction, or you can encourage them to give you the instructions.

    We've also included in this expanded pronouns section some of the boy/girl sequences described above as they provide contextual practice at using pronouns. When commenting about a sequence, the client should be encouraged to use the pronoun, eg "He is putting on his sweater. Now he is putting on his shoes", and so on.

  2. eLr Workshops in Canada and the UK in 2007

    During April and May, we will be in Canada and the UK. While in Canada we are presenting our software to a group of speech pathologists in Northern Ontario, and attending the Canadian Association of Speech Language Pathologist Conference in Moncton, New Brunswick (25th -27th April). In the UK there'll be about 8 or 9 workshops between 1st May and 18th May (see ELR 2007 Calendar below). Feel free to email us if you'd like more details. There may be a slight delay in our response time for support while we are away, but we will receive all phone calls, faxes and emails as usual.

  3. Other Independent Developers

    As an occasional feature of this Newsletter, we include simple, unpaid announcements of products developed by other small, independent developers, who, like ourselves, are practising clinicians who have put their ideas and experience into resource materials for general distribution. Links and brief information about these sites may be found at www.elr.com.au/links/developers.htm. To date we have listed -

    If you would like your materials listed on this page (at no charge), please contact us.

  4. Free Downloads

    ELR 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 2007 Calendar



Subscribing/Unsubscribing to this Newsletter

You are receiving ELR-News because you are an eLr subscriber, or have expressed an interest in either eLr, Rude Readers, Word Meanings or EIA. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail with details to news@elr.com.au

Copyright ©2007 ELR Software Pty Ltd

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VIC 3875, Australia
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+61 3 5156 8309
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