Astech Training Software

Reviewed on MS Windows. Suitable for 98, NT, 2000, XP
(Also available for MAC OS computers)

Author: Gerry Kennedy
ICT Consultant in Education and Assistive Technology

Background

The Songs and Stories Mouse Skills No.1 software assists in the
development of access skills for students who have physical and/or learning disabilities. Lorraine Grundy is a New Zealand based Paediatric Occupational Therapist. She has designed and created a number of Switch and Mouse Training CDs, and the result is the ‘Astech Approach’. This is one of the nine training programs available. Consistent with all well designed software in this genre, it can be used with other assistive devices including mice, trackballs, joysticks, touch screens or alternative keyboards (e.g. IntelliKeys) that can perform mouse functions.

Users who present with a number of different needs can be challenging for staff, therapists and parents in sourcing appropriate software. Their access and learning needs must be met in a cohesive, complementary manner. The extensive work undertaken by the Astech team has proven that the functional use of assistive technology accrues benefit in both communication and control for students who have one or combined disabilities. The complex needs of users involving physical, sensory and cognitive impairments can be successfully accommodated and the Astech Approach caters directly to these users.

Twenty years experience in the field has culminated in delivery of these entertaining and captivating programs. They are vibrant and colourful, have excellent figure ground, contain delightful music and sound effects. The adult and child voices are clear and well paced. In addition, it is refreshing to hear the accents from New Zealand. The programs are interactive and they can be implemented with individual users or as a set for a total teaching/training system. Each module of the system is designed for a general age group and specific skill acquisition. The actions that the user needs to understand and then learn to master in his/her own time include:

• When to activate the device
• When not to activate it
• How to make choices using the device in a number of different contexts

Attainable goals can be realised if the team supporting the child/user undertakes the following:

• Identify a long term vision with an appropriate long term goal
  
• Identify the progression of skills necessary to achieve this goal
  
• Believe the child can attain these skills
  
• Make a commitment to teach the skills necessary.

The Software – How It Operates

The Mouse Skills No. 1 Junior CD may be operated from the CD, or run from your computer after the contents have been copied to an appropriate directory (e.g. C:Program FilesAstechMouse Skills). The entire contents will require about 120MB space on a hard disk. Note: Single copy versions must be used on only one computer and not used across an Intranet or network.

The title screen and introduction appear after launching the software. You may elect to watch and listen, or click to move to the Menu Screen. As you move your mouse about, a number of graphics (i.e. pictures) will animate as you explore the screen’s contents. There are five activities from which to choose.

• Step 1: Click the Mouse on the Green Page
• Step 2: Roll the mouse over the target
• Step 3: Click the mouse on the target
• Step 4: Click the mouse on 2 targets
• Step 5: Click the mouse on the named target

Another active area on this menu screen is the Mouse Training button. It leads you to a series of onscreen pages that provide important background to the software. The Astech Mouse Skills Series provides background to the purpose of the Mouse Skills package, and why the software was developed. The Mouse Skills Training System follows, and this guides you through the various activities and the rationale for each Step and how the program works.
The five steps are explained and the purpose of each is clearly stated for first time users or to those who are new to this software genre. It serves as a simple, yet effective, Help system.

The Software – What It Offers

Step 1: Click the Mouse on the Green Page

Humpty Dumpty: The song of Humpty Dumpty is played using a young girl’s voice, in stages. A green screen (with a dark blue border) is displayed. The user is prompted to ‘Click the Mouse”. This is clearly spoken in an adult female voice. When the left mouse button (or Trackball, IntelliKeys, or Touch Screen button, area or key) is pressed, the next stage of the song is heard. Animated graphics teamed with high interest sound effects are played. After successful completion of each stage of the song, the full Humpty Dumpty song it is played again in full, with amusing animation and sound effects. The software ignores extra mouse clicks during the animated or spoken sequences.

Little Chick Gets Lost: This story of the Little Chick is spoken in an adult female voice, as the narrator. As with Humpty Dumpty, the green screen indicates that the device must be pressed. Each scene has a black background for good visual differentiation with brightly coloured, simple, large graphics.

HINT: If you have users who are vision impaired, a large cursor and/or coloured cursor may assist some users. Change your cursor size in My Computer/Control Panels/Mouse or acquire one from sites such as www.tucows.com.

The entire program is error free and there is no time limit. The mouse cursor can be positioned anywhere on the screen. Be sure to set the screen size to 800 × 600 pixels (i.e. picture elements or ‘dots’) otherwise a large border appears. The cursor is ‘dead’ or inactive if placed in the coloured border. This is where errors can be made!

The other characters including the chick’s, frog’s, cow’s, sheep’s and snake’s voices are also spoken using an actor’s voice in the story. Graphics are simple in design and are large in size, thus catering to users who are vision impaired. The characters move (e.g. shrink and enlarge) as they talk, so the user knows who is currently speaking. The theme of animals in this story caters particularly to young children. Unlike some other training programs, it has content that maintains interest for a length of time.

You can opt to begin with the story first. Each song and story is broken up. This is a deliberate design feature as it follows the turning of a page in a story or songbook. Some users cannot read conventional books, so this software provides a way for them to interact with a story on their own terms. They learn to control a device and are rewarded with suitable and motivating content. You can stop the song or story at any time by clicking on the Home button (which is always positioned at the bottom left hand corner of the screen display).

NOTE: The three songs and three stories are the same ones on Songs and Stories Press No.1. These were initially designed for the Astech Switch Training Series. The only difference is the cue for pressing the device is “Press the Mouse”, rather than “Press the Switch”.

Step 2: Roll the mouse over the target

The song is the popular “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”. In this activity the user practises moving the cursor over a set target area. The instruction is voiced as “Go to the Target“. Users can practise moving and controlling the mouse (or assistive device). Slow, deliberate movements can be practised, with skills such as holding the mouse or device, pushing and pulling movements as well as attending and coordinating skills all being involved and learnt. The targets are large and made very obvious. Over correction and random movements can be quickly checked and assessed. It’s a great opportunity to evaluate performance.

Colour contrast in this step is excellent. Dubious comments and suggestion to throw teachers overboard will cause some giggles and general mirth! There are sound effects and the voices are clear and the lyrics fun! As consistent in this package, the graphics are simple in design yet they are uncluttered and easy to recognize and distinguish.

The ‘Cheese on the Breeze’ story follows. Again, you can opt to hear the story first. The auditory cue or prompt here is “Go to target“. Squeak is the main character in the story, and Squeak likes cheese! The position of the character moves each time, so that the user must control the cursor movement so as to target the designated area correctly. When it is correctly targeted, the graphic animates. The story then continues. Music combined with sound effects will aid in help maintaining the user’s interest. It will especially help users who need constant positive affirmation and direction.

Step 3: Click the mouse on the target

The two previous skills are tested in Step 3. Clicking and targeting are used to accomplish tasks. The target animates when the cursor rolls over the area with background colour changing. The target graphic continues to animate until the device is clicked or pressed. If the user moves the cursor off the target area, it reverts to a still graphic and the background changes back to the starting colour. Colours change each time a target is animated.

Characters from the song and story serve as targets. A verbal cue of “Click target“ is heard. Old McDonald’s farm is the song with a child singing the lyrics. Other children join in the chorus. A duck in New Zealand makes a distinctive “quack” sound, I’ve discovered!

The story of “Hurry Up Teddy” is the continuing story of Teddy Bear. An adult female re-tells the story of Teddy. He is quite a lazy Teddy and does not like to be woken. The songs in the story are engaging and will be useful in Music Therapy sessions.

Step 4: Click the mouse on 2 targets

This is similar to Step 3 except that there are two targets per screen (or page). The verbal cue is either “Click target“ or “Click target and target“.

When you successfully click on the targets, they disappear one at a time, after you move the cursor to each one and then click. Once again, there is no time limit. Users can take as long as they wish or need. The user can click either target in any order. People working with the user can use appropriate prompts, language and gestures to help direct the user.

Humpty is revisited with the user now has to click on two target areas. The story and song are the same but the skills required have been made more complex. The Little Chick Gets Lost represents the story in this Step.

Step 5: Click the mouse on the named target

Old McDonald had a Farm is used in Step 5 as the song with Cheese on the Breeze as the story, with Pip and Squeak. In Step 5, the user must locate the correct target and click on it. All the previous skills learnt in Steps 1-4 are combined. Users must listen to the song or story and choose the correct target from a choice of two graphics. The directions are voiced, so that children with hearing impairments may need some direction and support.

If the target chosen is incorrect, a response is voiced, as “No, click the target“. The word “No” appears and replaces the wrong choice. The area animates, continually cycling and the original graphic disappears. The other target area waits to be targeted and clicked. When the correct choice is made successfully, the story or song continues.

If the correct target is chosen and the cursor is moved over that area, the target area changes colour. The cursor changes to a finger and the target graphic moves. When clicked, the story or song continues. The child or user needs to listen and discriminate. If a user has been exposed to the previous steps, he or she will know the characters and be able to visually recognize them.

Additional Information: Astech Software

Astech is a New Zealand base company and specializes in assistive device training, cause and effect titles thus providing a comprehensive range of software for beginning technology users. Lorraine Grundy, a practising Occupational Therapist, has designed the software in consultation with other practitioners.
The Astech range of delightful programs provides entertaining and motivating activities for children. They may also cater to some adults with intellectual or physical disabilities, depending upon each individual’s cognition, preferences, likes and abilities.

The individual programs are part of a comprehensive Astech Switch Training Approach. On each CD, there is an Astech Switch Training Information section that guides the teacher, aide, therapist, carer, trainer or parent through the steps involved.

The programs can be purchased for MS Windows or Mac OS or as hybrid CDs (that will operate on either platform). On MS Windows, you will require at least a Pentium (or AMD equivalent) 200MHz processor with 64 MB of RAM. A faster processor with more RAM would be advisable. If the computer specifications are not followed, the synchronized sound and animations may not work satisfactorily. A CD or DVD drive is needed to either run the software from the CD or install the contents into a directory/folder on your hard drive. The display settings should be set to 16 Bit colour in 800 × 600 mode for optimum results.

A sound card is definitely required (with external or internal speakers) or you can use the programs with a headphone. If two users wish to work alongside each other (i.e. two children, an aide or carer with a student/client) then a headphone ‘splitter’ may be required. A switch adapted mouse, IntelliKeys with or without a switch, or a switch box will enable switch access.