ELR-News

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. Build-a-Sentence - our new Program
2. New eLr Materials
3. Other Independent Developers
4. Free Downloads
5. ELR 2006 Calendar

1. Build-a-Sentence - our new Program

   We will be launching a new computer program at the forthcoming Speech Pathology Australia national conference in Fremantle this May. It is called Build-A-Sentence and is being jointly developed by speech pathologists Virginia Long and Helen Goltzoff, and ELR Software.

   It is a simple, highly visual program, very easy to use, with interesting and colourful graphics of people, animals and objects. Spoken reinforcement of the words and sentences is also available. A games component has been included especially for young children to keep them interested and entertained while they practise naming and sentence building.

   Build-A-Sentence starts at a very basic level and teaches labelling using one word - "Boy", "running", "park" etc. It then moves on to simple two word combinations of subject-verb and verb-object such "Girl jumping", "Eating icecream" etc. This follows on to three word combinations and provides the building blocks for building simple grammatical sentences, such as "The man is walking to the shops", "The cat is eating a fish" etc.

   Build-A-Sentence may be used with children and adults and can be used successfully with most individuals and groups for example:-
   • - children with a mild/moderate developmental disability
   • - children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder
   • - children who have a learning/language disorder
   • - children with a hearing impairment
   • - teachers who want a simple to use computer program which can support students in the class
   • - adults who have aphasia
   • - individuals who require assistance in acquiring some basic literacy skills
   • - individuals from LOTE backgrounds (language other than English)

   We look forward to showing you this program if you are attending the conference. Otherwise we will be discussing it further in future newsletters, and will be placing more information on our website soon.

2. New eLr Materials

   There are 30 new tasks this month and 1 new model. The tasks are all in the "Using Language" section, "Problem solving and inferencing". This is the new section that was opened in the March edition of eLr. The aim of the subsection is to provide materials that help strengthen a range of skills, depending on the goals of therapy. These may include development of the ability to:
   • - use descriptive language
   • - use specific vocabulary to describe complex situations
   • - problem solve
   • - make inferences
   • - use flexible and divergent thinking
   • - describe opinions
   • - process and comprehend additional information and draw inferences about that
   • - tell a sequential story about the depicted scene, or an alternative scenario that has been described

   The model that was used last month is the SpinWord model. This model presents the activity within a game format, and so is primarily geared towards the paediatric population. In the SpinWord model, a scene is depicted on the screen with a simple game board surrounding the scene. At each turn, the client clicks the spinner button, then clicks the Quiz button and responds to the question before moving the marker around the game board. The role of the clinician or helper is to model or expand the client's response using strategies that are consistent with the goals of therapy. For example, if the goal is to improve the ability to respond with grammatically correct sentences, the clinician would model correct grammatical structures. If the goal is to increase use of specific vocabulary, modeling appropriate vocabulary or discussing alternative responses will expand the client's ability to use increasingly flexible language.

   This month we have developed a new model which is more appropriate for the older paediatric and adult populations. The model is called SceneQuizer. It allows for two different presentations of the same content that is presented in the SpinWord activities. The idea of this model is to present the activities using a "catchy" display (an animated "robotic machine" button), as well as allowing for a less complicated and more bland presentation (plain forward and back buttons). In the default setting the "problem scene" is displayed on the screen, and the client clicks the robot "Go" button to get each prompt or question. The clinician or helper provides support and models strategies as outlined above. The robot machine can be switched off for the less complicated presentation of the prompts.

   There are different levels of difficulty in this section.

   • a) Within each task there are two levels of questions. The easiest level requires the client to describe various aspects of the scene that is depicted, describe the problem, and generate a solution to the problem. Level two requires the client to generate divergent responses (eg two different reasons, two different words to describe etc), to give opinions, and to process details that are not visually depicted. For example, the prompt may describe added complications to the problem scene. If the client is reading, this will strengthen reading comprehension. If the client is not reading, the clinician or helper will read the added information, and this strengthens auditory comprehension and processing.

   • b) Within the subsection there are two levels of task difficulty - "Common" and "Less Common". The Common tasks refer to scenarios that occur more frequently and do not require as much knowledge of the world. The Less Common tasks depict scenes that require knowledge of the world (eg road traffic situations).

   We hope these activities are useful, and we'd love feedback about the questions and prompts that have been included so far. Also, if you have any ideas for other scenarios, pleas email us, and we will try to include them in later editions of eLr.

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 -

   • Innovative Communication Programming
   • News Talk CD
   • PELICAN TALK Speech Therapy Resources
   • Play & Learn/Sounds Song Marathon (Annie Arrow)

   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.

   • Products: The current ELR Software - Product Brochure, in PDF format.
   • eLr-Offline: Compiled, "mirror" version of the eLr (Extra Language Resources) website which you may download and run on your own PC. Allows access to the eLr Directory and all tasks from locations where regular access to the Internet is not possible.
   • Word Meanings: Volume One. Trialware, Interactive Language Program designed to build understanding and recall of words by strengthening semantic processing, based on the therapy manual Building Language: Word Meanings by Robyn Dower and Jan Mackey's, Helios Art and Book Co, 1996.
   • Rude Readers: Volumes One to Five. Trialware, eBook type programs each containing 5 "Readers" intended primarily for children with speech, language and reading disorders. They are intended to stimulate humour and provide material targeting a range of language goals.
   • Rude Readers Library: A single "Table of Contents" program for all published volumes of Rude Readers containing brief descriptions and the full, cross-referenced Speech Pathology Targets for each published Reader.
   • eLr  Directory (Summary): Summary of eLr Directory in print-ready PDF format. Contains all the classification information but no listing of actual tasks and task numbers. (The full version is available only to eLr subscribers.)
   • EIA  Browser: A specialised Browser for Internet training and access for people with disabilities and other special needs.
   • EIA  Demonstration: Demonstration of EIA Browser, AAP and Web Tutorial modules to let you see, or show others, how the EIA Browser and its Plugin modules (the AAP and the Web Tutorial) "look and feel".
   • EIA  Flyer: MS Publisher format flyer and some original graphics. Prepared for an EIA "See me - Feel me- Touch me" promotion. May be freely used/modified as required.
   • Black  Window: Enhance visibility and reduce distractibility of other programs. Fills the screen with a black background which remains underneath other programs. Mininmize or close the program to restore normal Windows appearance.
   • APAR-C: Allows delivery of the APAR (Assessment of Phonological Awareness and Reading) from a computer using either a scan-switch (such as the Discover Switch), or conventional mouse/keyboard, or touchscreen. Also contains all the score sheets and stimulus cards.
   • APAR/PDF (zipped): APAR (Assessment of Phonological Awareness and Reading) in print-ready PDF format (zipped). Contains all the score sheets and stimulus cards.
   • WordCue  Trainer: Installs WordCue and the WordCue Trainer on your computer. WordCue provides assistance in reading words, links and phrases on web pages. By selecting a word or phrase which is difficult to read, a range of cues are provided directly within the MS Internet Explorer Browser
   • Literacy  Online: Mirror of Literacy Online web site. This is the full (except for external links) set of files (.htm/.js/.css/.gif/.jpg) that constitute the Literacy Online web site.
   
    

5. ELR 2006 Calendar

   • May 2006
     Western Australia Workshops With the assistance of various people an organizations in WA we have organised the following workshops. You may contact us directly for more information, but it will be best to contact the named contact person directly to verify your attentance and location directions if necessary.
   • WA - Nedlands, Wembley, Dianella & Geralton May 15th-19th, 2006

     • Nedlands: Mon 15th 2.00 - 4.00pm. The Conference Room, The Niche, Cnr Hospital Ave & Aberdare Rd. Contact: Yvette Theodorsen (08) 9381 0600
     • Wembley: Mon 15th 7.00 - 9.00pm. Telethon Speech and Hearing Centre, 36 Dodd St. Contact: Lynne Middleton (08) 9295 3836
     • Dianella: Wed 17th 2.30 - 3.30pm. NE Language Development Centre 18 View St. Contact: Nicole Chambers (08) 9275 5511
     • Geralton: Fri 19th 1.00 - 3.00pm. Suite 18, Geralton Shopping Centre 6-8 Chapman Rd. Contact: Kathryn Fitzgerald (08) 9964 8834

     Speech Pathology Australia National Conference
   • WA - Freemantle May 21st - 25th, 2006

     We will have a commercial stand (table 44) during the conference with eLr, Rude Readers, Word Meanings, Build-a-Sentence and EIA on show. Hope to see you there.

   • July 2006
     Victoria - Melbourne July 2006

     • Burwood East: Tue 4th 4.00 - 5.30pm. Department of Ed and Training, Eastern Metro Region
       Level2, 29 Lakeside Drive. Contact: Mary de Graaf (03) 9881 0200

   • Additional 2006 workshops
     This year we are holding workshops at locations within Australia that suit your needs and schedules. So if you would like a workshop for your clinicians, staff, or families, please contact us. We are not charging for the workshops, so to make our trip worthwhile, we would need:
     1. to have a venue provided - it is difficult to know the best locations in all areas.
     2. to be able to also hold a general workshop for other clinicians, parents or school staff in your area. It may suit you to have a specific workshop for your staff, so that you are able to "get the most out of" eLr. We would then like to hold a second workshop for any others who may be interested.
     3. to have assistance from you to publicize the workshop. As with the locations, it is quite difficult to know how the different services are organized in the various locations around Australia. We hope that you may be able to use your existing networks to let people know about the workshops.

     For non-Australian clients, please contact us so that we can also plan ways to demonstrate how eLr can assist in your service delivery.

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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