This week is SEND (Special Education Needs) awareness week for child mental health. By using adaptive technologies you can improve the lives of your child, teen or even yourself.
CPen Connect
The CPen Connect is a special kind of digital scanner pen that enables the user to scan text into their phone or computer using Bluetooth and OCR. (Optical Character Recognition)
The pen reads the words, which can be played back as audio, which is especially useful for dyslexic people where reading is not easy for them.
Additionally, the text can be translated easily into another language.
Another use is as a magnifier for poor vision, so you scan the text as if you were using a highlighter and your device can show that text in a much bigger screen or using a projector onto a wall.
Cpen Connect is available from scanningpens.co.uk for £120 (£100+VAT*)
* If you’re disabled or have a long-term illness, you will not be charged VAT on products designed or adapted for your own personal or domestic use.
Snap & Read
Snap & Read is a Google Chrome extension that enables the user to read text on any website, even in pictures.
Snap & Read allows words to be read aloud, interpreted into other languages and the highlighted texts can be levelled (replaced by similar words that have a clearer meaning) additionally, you can bring up a dictionary easily to look the meaning of words and translate text on the page easily.
Touchpoints
Touchpoints are a pair of devices that aim to soothe the brain to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system to help the body rest and digest.
The fight or flight system of the body relies on the sympathetic nervous system, which keeps us tense and anxious. It is proven that neurodiverse people have a more active fight or flight response system.
You wear one touchpoint on each wrist, and press the button on one then the other, and set the mode required between purple for anger and social anxiety, blue for sleep and meditation, yellow for negativity and anxiety.
Touchpoints retail for £129.99 +VAT.
Ghotit
Ghotit is a tool for dyslexia and dysgraphia sufferers giving them the power to listen to words to understand the meaning and select alternative words.
There is a version for the iPhone and iPad as well as Windows and Mac. Pricing depends on which features you require.
Thumbjam
Thumbjam is a musical instrument app for iPad and iPhone so anyone can make their own music easily.
There are 5 areas on the iPhone and 11 on the iPad as well as the ability to import and export both loops and MIDI.
The app costs just £8.99 and works on iOS 8 and above.
