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), Build-a-Sentence and Word Meanings. 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 -
Ninety-six new tasks have been added to "Reading and Spelling", in the "Consonant Sounds / Short consonant sounds" subsection targeting spelling options for the /t/ sound ("t" eg tan, bat, and "tt" eg butter), and the /d/ sound ("d" eg dot, lid, and "dd" eg ladder).
Both /t/ and /d/ are "short" consonant sounds - referred to as "plosives", that is, they are both produced by placing the tip of the tongue against the teeth ridge to hold air in the mouth and then releasing the sound with a small explosion of air. Hence the main articulators used for both sounds are the tongue tip and teeth ridge. The difference between the /t/ and /d/ sounds is that the /t/ sound is a quiet sound - no voice is used, while the /d/ sound is a louder sound because voice is used. Voice is produced by the voice box (larynx) in the neck. If you hold your hand on your larynx ("Adam's apple") and say /t/ followed by /d/, you will feel vibration for the /d/ sound but not the /t/ sound. When doing this activity you need to ensure you are articulating the /t/ sound accurately, ie, say /t/ not /tuh/.
The addition of these activities continues one of our current goals, which is to provide activities that may be useful when teaching letter-sound relationships of the consonant sounds of English. There are now activities in the "Consonant Sounds" section targeting the following sounds:
A range of tasks are used, which together, provide a variety of ways to reinforce both reading and spelling of target words. WordSound Buttons encourages the student to segment the word into sounds or syllables, WordSearch provides an opportunity to practice decoding and eventually automatic recognition of words, SmileyMan reinforces spelling, MemoryWords and ConnectWords are fun ways of encouraging formation of clear mental images of words to develop automatic recognition - sight words), and LookThenCover may be used to encourage the student to write the words and consolidate knowledge of spelling patterns.
As with all eLr tasks, the role of the instructor is to ensure that accurate decoding and reading has occurred, and to encourage vocabulary expansion (eg by talking about the meaning, and using the word in a range of sentences). For additional information about the development of these tasks, please refer to our February 2018 ELR-News which outlines the rationale and evidence base for the speech-to-print approach to teaching early reading and spelling skills was discussed.
Coviu (www.coviu.com) is a Sydney based company that has a particular interest in teletherapy in the healthcare environment. Over the past 12 months, ELR Software and Coviu have collaborated to enable eLr to be used as an "Add-on" within this teletherapy platform for speech pathology service delivery. eLr subscribers are now able to deliver eLr based teletherapy to remote clients entirely through a shared screen.
I (Toni) have been using eLr within Coviu over the past six months to deliver interactive sessions with clients who either live remotely, or, who prefer the convenience of a session that is delivered within their home environment. In addition to these teletherapy sessions being more convenient for families, it has often enabled both parents to be involved.
eLr also contains some screening tools, which have been useful for some children and are simple to deliver in the online environment. The screening tools are located in the "User Guides and Screening Tools" section. There are two such tools: one for articulation and the other for early literacy skills (eg knowledge of grapheme-phoneme relationships, blending sounds, and segmenting words).
Teletherapy is a new and emerging method of speech pathology service delivery. Feel free to contact us if you'd like to discuss or try out eLr and Coviu.
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.
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.
- Speech Pathology Australia 2019 National Conference:
Sunday 2nd - Wednesday 5th
We will have trade stand #50 at this conference. Contact us for further details
ELR Software offers regular, free eLr tutorials over the web. We can provide this sort of support to individuals, or to groups who would like to have an overview of eLr. We are also offering free Coviu sessions to allow clinicians to get a feel for teletherapy, and in particular the advantages of using eLr for Coviu. Please contact us for details.
You are receiving ELR-News because you are an eLr subscriber, or have expressed an interest in either eLr, Build-a-Sentence or Word Meanings. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail with details to news@elr.com.au
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