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This information will help you decide if
TypeWell would be a good system for your child.
How can the TypeWell transcription system help my deaf/hard of hearing child?
Deaf and hard of
hearing students, especially those in mainstream classes, can miss a lot of the
information provided. Hearing aids can help, but their benefit is limited
by distance. FM systems can overcome the problem of distance, but only for
the one person using the microphone. It is difficult to pass the mic
from teacher to students and back again, and this is often forgotten in the flow
of class interaction.
A transcription system can put the ideas presented
by the teacher as well as other students right before the eyes of your
child. He or she can read from a computer screen what is being said, and
keep up with the what is happening. With a meaning-for-meaning
transcription system like TypeWell, a student can have much greater access to the
same information content that is available to other students in the class.
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Can the TypeWell system help other students in addition to those who have hearing difficulties?
The TypeWell Transcription system can potentially help any person who has difficulty achieving
full access to communication and notes. Students who have learning
difficulties can often benefit from the in class display because the information on
the computer screen stays in view for a minute or more, allowing time for reading
and processing information that otherwise might go by too quickly.
Students with learning problems often have difficulty taking their own
notes. The educational notes produced by a TypeWell
transcriber could be a learning boon for such students.
Students with visual impairments can
view the information on the computer screen in a large font. The notes can
also be put through a Braille writer or text reader to make them accessible to such students.
Students with severe physical
impairments cannot take their own notes. Many of these students could use and
learn from the notes produced by a TypeWell transcriber.
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What is Communication Access?
"Communication access"
refers to the information presented "as it happens" to the student on the computer screen. This information is a meaning-for-meaning transcription of what the
teacher and students are saying. The phrase
"communication access" comes from the laws (ADA,
IDEA, Section 504) that assure communcation access to persons with
disabilities. Many TypeWell transcribers capture what is said
nearly verbatim. The information captured is very detailed,
and includes teacher lecture, comments by other students, jokes,
off-point stories told by the teacher, etc.
The information left out in the meaning-for-meaning
transcript includes false starts, mispeaks and repetitions.
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How detailed are TypeWell printed notes?
One of the well-liked features of the TypeWell
system is the
educationally sound notes produced by the transcriber. While the
meaning of things said during class is presented in communication access
during class, the notes would be too long and overwhelming for many students
when all that information is presented in note form. Thus, TypeWell transcribers working with students in secondary school are taught
to edit the communication access file to remove educationally-irrelevant
information. This includes things like behavior control comments by the
teacher, directions given that are no longer needed (such as directions given
for an in-class test), redundant comments, etc. Some parents prefer that this kind of information be retained in the notes. Whether or not to retain this information is a topic you would be able to discuss with the transcriber's supervisor and your child's teacher. Remember, this
kind of information
is presented DURING class, as it happens. It is only removed later, in the
printed notes. The notes are also
organized in ways that promote learning, such as listing related items and
highlighting assignments and important points.
The complexity of the language and
content of edited class notes can be adjusted by the TypeWell transcriber to
meet the needs of the students served. Decisions about these levels are
made by the school supervisor and the served student, in conjunction with the parents when appropriate.
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In what kinds of classes is TypeWell an appropriate system?
Classes in which the teacher talks a lot, such as lecture classes,
are ideal for transcription services. Classes with a lot of
discussion are also good candidates IF the transcriber can sit
where he or she can easily hear students speaking, and IF the
students are encouraged to speak clearly and individually.
Math and science classes can be more of a challenge to a
transcriber, and often require additional techniques to capture
formulas (such as handwritten adjuncts to the typed notes).
Certain high level classes, such as post-secondary Law and
Medicine, often require verbatim access.
The TypeWell system is a meaning-for-meaning system.
This means the transcriber does not type every word that is said,
but rather condenses and rewords, while maintaining the full
meaning intended by the speaker. Many TypeWell transcribers DO
transcribe nearly verbatim what is said by teachers and students.
However, false starts, immediate repetitions, etc. are left out.
High level college classes, and some students, might be better
served by a word-for-word transcription service, such as that
provided by commercial stenographic services (i.e., CART). The
downside of transcriptions from stenographic services is their
sheer length and level of detail. A stenographic verbatim
captioning of an hour class can generate as many as 20 pages of
notes. All spoken information is included, regardless of its
educational relevance. Many students are overwhelmed by this much
paper and the sheer number of words to comb through. However, the
needs of individual students and schools differ.
You can read more about other communication access service systems at the Comparison page.
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What will my child have to do to benefit from TypeWell?
In order to benefit from the transcription
service, your child will have to check the computer screen during class to get
information he or she misses otherwise. Your child will also have to pick
up the notes in a timely fashion, keep the notes organized by class and date in a notebook,
and study the notes as needed.
Young students (e.g., elementary & middle
school; some junior high students) may need support from teachers
and parents to learn the skills to use transcription services
optimally. It may take several months or even a year
for a young student to develop the necessary learning strategies to make full
use of the support available from the TypeWell system. The best way to get
to that point is for everyone on the team -- resource teacher or itinerant
teacher, therapists, parents, the transcriber, the student -- to be consistent
in their guidance and expectations.
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What can I do to help my child benefit from TypeWell?
You can show your support for the student's use
of the system, especially the class notes. You can help your son or
daughter to use the notes in ways that foster good learning. Your local
facilitator can be a resource for you in strategies to accomplish this.
You can be in touch with the local facilitator about issues related to the
communication access or the notes. A collaborative team approach is the
most productive support strategy to develop.
Students do not automatically know how
to use the computer display during class to follow the lecture and discussion.
Likewise, students often need to learn how to use notes as effective learning
tools. They are helped to learn strategies for doing these things by the local
facilitator and/or one of their support teachers. Parents can
support these good learning strategies, in conjunction with the local
facilitator.
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How can my child's school begin using the TypeWell system?
If you think the TypeWell
system would help your child learn, you can either contact
us directly for more information, or talk to your child's teacher, who
can then contact us.
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What does the Law say about transcription services for students?
Laws in both the United States and Canada address the rights of individuals to have access to the communication around them. Two US laws that relate to the
provision of support services for students are the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). You can read about them in the
section entitled the Law.
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