New Providence Resident Uses Technology to Break Down Barriers

Randall Palmer, special education and computer specialist at The Children's Institute, was one of nine experts who spoke before parents and educators at the Westfield Parent-Teacher Council Special Education Committee annual Expo Wednesday evening at Edison Intermediate School. 

The New Providence resident presented 'We Have an App for That: The iPad/iPhone-Using Technology to Break Down Barriers' in which he recommended useful and meaningful apps to support individuals with special needs. Palmer said the beauty of the iPad is that there is "no barrier to entry."

"Even a toddler can use it," he said. 

One of the first apps he suggested was Clicker Docs, a writing support tool, which transforms the iPad into an assistive word processor by suggesting proper spelling and grammar. Palmer said it also integrates with Dropbox and soon will work with Google Drive. He said Clicker is well-known in the field of special education and he looks forward to seeing what other apps they will bring to market. Clicker Docs sells for approximately $20, he said.

Another helpful app Palmer recommended is Voice Dream, a text-to-speech app, which allows users to extract texts in a number of way including from PDF, ePub, Word, and Text files in Dropbox or on your device. Palmer said this has proven invaluable to students with dyslexia. 

Palmer also suggested parents and educators visit appshopper.com and create a wish list of apps they'd like to purchase. When those apps go on sale, which will most likely happen during April as it is Autism Awareness Month, users are notified via email.

Other apps Palmer demonstrated include Choiceworks, ChorePadHD, SharingTimer and for middle-schoolers, Sosh, developed by a pair of cognitive psychologists, which offers adolescents tools to "Relate, Relax, Regulate, Reason, Recognize."

With close to two decades of teaching experience, Palmer is a frequent speaker at local, state and national conferences. He has taught teens and young adults with autism to develop multimedia social stories using Garage Band software to digitize pictures and incorporate voiceover techniques.

The graduate of Nova Southeastern University and Rutgers University was the recipient of an award from the New Jersey School Board Association for Innovations in Special Education. Palmer will participate The Walk for a Lifetime in June. To sponsor him, click here.  

Anyone who missed Palmer's presentation but is interested in hearing him speak can stop by Words Book Store in Maplewood at 7 p.m. on April 4. Palmer also recommended visiting TCI's website www.tcischool.org/techtips for additional tech tips.

Special Ed Committee co-chairs Helene Bergman and Lisa Kops-Wendel said they were extremely appreciative of the speakers sharing their expertise pro bono.