One of the exciting things about working in the field of assistive technology,
is finding something off the shelf, which can be used for a multitude of purposes.
When this happens, emails and phone calls fly between people working in the
field, telling others about the new find that is out there. The recordable photo
albums being offered for sale at places like Radio Shack and Brookstones are
such items.
A few weeks ago, someone asked me for infomation on small recordable devices
that she could record tests such as a spelling test, which her students could
activate the messages at their own pace to allow them more independence and
less teacher time. She wanted something that could record up to twenty messages
as that is how many items the spelling tests typically had on them. At the time
she asked I didn’t know of anything that would exactly meet her needs,
and I suggested the StepPad ($39) from Attainment as well as the Talking Photo
Album ($40 to $50) from Brookstone. Both of these could be adapted for the purpose
of giving tests. The StepPad allows you to easily play back messages in the
sequence that they were programmed.
The Talking Photo Album records up ten messages and holds 20 pages of photographs.
The Talking Photo Album is easy to program. The buttons are small, and you have
to be able to match the number with the number on the page to hear the appropriate
recorded message. It would be harder to adapt due to the amount of buttons (numbers
1 through 10) involved. It takes AAA batteries and has a locking mechanism on
the side to prevent messages accidentally being recorded over. This can be unlocked
to record new messages. There is no specific item number listed on the box or
the photo album, though the number above the bar code is 232645.
The questions of how to easily and quickly adapt spelling tests using low technology
was on my mind the next time I went in Radio Shack. There I saw another programmable
smaller, photo album the Voice Recording Photo Album for $29.99. You can program
up to 20 nine second messages and it holds 42 photos (3x5 or 4x6). you play
the messages back sequentially and you can re-record to make new messages. You
hit one button to play the message, and another button to advance to the next
message. It would be easier to adapt for someone with fine motor difficulties
as there are only two buttons involved in playing the messages. These buttons
are larger than the ones on the photo album from Brookstone. To advance it to
the next message you do have to push the button which oddly is the button with
arrows facing to the left and arrows facing to the right to decrease or go to
messages for previous pages. On the down side, having two buttons to push makes
it more difficult to adapt for those that have physical disabilities and might
be harder to learn how to use for people with significant cognitive disabilities.
The positive is it allows the user to repeatedly hear a message rather than
having to go through all the messages to get back to the one they want to hear
again. The photo album take AAA batteries. It has a button on the side which
allows you to lock what is recorded. This can be unlocked to record new recordings.
It’s order number is 63-1108.
Both of the photo albums are black and sleek looking, for older individuals
who don’t want to have anything that is not age appropriate. The Brookstone
Photo Album because of it’s size looks like a portfolio. This photo album
has pages that are stiff and relatively easy to turn and has space on the right
hand side of the page to adapt with page turners. The Radio Shack album has
pages like the typical “brag books” and are not as stiff, they do
not have room on the side to permanently adapt with page turners which extend
out the right side of the pages. Adaptations, such as page fluffers which do
not extend beyond the book could be used. For some individuals it would be appropriate
to adapt the numbers on the pages of each phto album so visually they are easier
to see and they stand out from the background. With the Brookstone Talking Photo
Album you could color code each number with the number button to push on the
bottom of the photo album.
Once I started thinking of these photo albums several other uses came to mind.
I especially like having equipment which meets a variety of needs in the classroom.
I thought it would be good for individuals to use in reading a story. The Brookstone
Photo Album has twenty pages and the Radio Shack Photo Album has 40 pages for
placing pictures in a story, and in fact I have used it this way for younger
individuals as well as adults living in groups homes, who enjoy reading activities.
This allows them to independently have read to them, as many times as they need,
stories they enjoy. It is easy to adapt either photo album with stories for
older individuals by using sports magazines, the newspaper, other magazines
of interest and cut out the key pictures and have text adapted for the individuals
reading and interest level. When I am typing this text I do it on a talking
word processor, so if they have access to the computer, they can also have the
computer read the text to them (though typically a computer is not available
in the group homes I go to).
Not only could the photo albums be used to read text to children, but how about
allowing a child to record their story in the albums, so that his/her stories
could be read to others. This might be especially motivating for individuals
who have difficulty with the writing process. It could be used for other purposes
when an individual may use a scribe, such as recording answers to a test on
the pages. However, for this purpose something like a small personal recorder
might be easier. A variety of personal recorders are available at any store
that deals with small electronics. At Radio Shack, for $99 there is a portable
recorder which allows you to record up to 90 minutes of messages. It has a skip
search function so you don't have to go back through all the messages to hear
a specific one. It is very portable and the order number is 14-1193. These personal
recorders can also be used for recording homework assignments, steps in an activity,
be used to take messages or notes when writing is difficult, and a variety of
other purposes.
The photo albums could be used for a schedule system for someone with Augmentative
Alternative Communication needs or for a simple vocal output communication device
with one message listed on each page. These albums could also be used to sequence
the steps in jobs for individuals who needed pictures, picture communication
symbols or actual photographs of the sequence, which could be placed in each
page, with the verbal cues for the steps provided on the recordings. There are
probably numerous other ways that these photo albums could be adapted to meet
the multiple needs of children. Please let me know of any other ideas you come
up with.
When out shopping keep your eyes open for anything which allows you to do the
programming, and is small and portable (meaning it takes batteries and does
not need to be plugged into the wall). Most of these items can be adapted in
some way to increase the independence of children and adults with special needs.