The new QPointer range of software packages are the only programs available that allow for complete voice (or keyboard) control of a computer - enabling totally hands-free and mouseless operation of any application. The principle is "What You See Is What You Say". There is no need to remember complex voice commands and learn how to speak to different applications.

QPointer can be used to point at the following screen objects:

• Words - in documents, on buttons and icons, basically anywhere on the screen


• Graphics - on icons, links, toolbar elements, etc.


• Controls - scrollbar elements, minimize and maximize buttons, etc.

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If you just love Boardmaker, but never seem to have time to make great activities to use with your students, then our new Therapy Friends Theme Kits may be for you.

The Therapy Friends Kit Developers are Amanda Hartmann and Terri-Lee Hurd, Brisbane-based Speech-Language Pathologists who have been involved in special education for a combined 13 years. They have worked in preschool and school age settings with a wide range of ability levels. The constant requests for fun, reusable and ready-made activities prompted Amanda and Terri-Lee to launch their own company, "Therapy Friends", to develop materials which promote communication in classrooms and clinic settings.

The Kits are really easy to use ... just ...

• Print out activity materials using the Australian Version of Boardmaker for Windows Version 5


• Use the photo and instructions provided on the CD to make up all activity components


• View the video of suggested uses for the activity and start using the activity with your students!

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Mind Reading is a unique new program covering the entire spectrum of human emotions. Using the software you can explore over 400 emotions, seeing and hearing each one performed by six different people.

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge in the UK, has developed Mind Reading as a tool to assist individuals on the autistic spectrum to learn about emotions. He created the program with the idea that "There are some obvious advantages to studying emotions on a computer, for people with autism. Firstly, emotions in the real world happen very quickly and are transient. You can't replay them, however, the computer allows you to replay an emotion until you really understand it. People with autism can learn important emotional information without the added anxiety of real fast moving social interaction."

More information is available on the Spectronics website at www.spectronicsinoz.com/product.asp?product=14473.

A downloadable demo of the program is also available - click here to download. (Note: Shockwave Player is required to run this file.)

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If you are working with students who struggle with their reading, writing and study tasks, you should be aware of this new offering from Spectronics - Kurzweil 3000. The latest version of this program offers a whole suite of tools which support students with learning difficulties.

Feedback from our customers indicates that two Kurzweil 3000 features are particularly popular.

• The first is its ability to scan in printed books and worksheets with great accuracy - even when there are complex layouts and combinations of pictures and text. This is especially important when working with primary school materials.



• The second is its ability to "Fill-in-the-Blanks". This feature means that a student's worksheets can be scanned into the computer via a scanner, and Kurzweil 3000 then allows the student to simply press the Tab key on the keyboard to move from one answer field to the next. If needed, each question can be read aloud before the student completes their answer too.
  
  One Mum we met recently was ecstatic on learning about this feature alone. She told us it would save her hours of work each week, as she routinely spent her Mondays typing up her son's homework sheets for the week onto the computer, so that he could have them read aloud and complete them independently. Kurzweil 3000 meant that she could complete the same task in just 10 minutes!

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To be voted best Screen Magnifier five years in a row by The Screen Magnifiers Homepage, ZoomText must be doing something right! It is a great program for enlarging text and graphics on a computer screen so that users with low vision can independently navigate the web and all other computer documents. This newest version, just released, enlarges all screen elements smoothly - no ugly jaggies!

The Magnifier/Screen Reader Version of ZoomText also reads aloud all document and web-based text, menu bars and dialogue boxes etc. This offers support not only to computer users with low vision, but also those with learning difficulties who need that extra support for comprehension of text on-screen.

The new ZoomText has too many features to list here in our emailed update. It's definitely worth a visit to www.spectronicsinoz.com/browse.asp?cat=14515 to learn more.

We also have some demo CDs available. Again, just email Sueanne Hiscock at Spectronics or phone her on (07) 3808 6833 to request a ZoomText 8.0 information pack.

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The S.S.P.I.D.E.R. handbook (Symbol Systems and Peer Interaction Developing an Educational Resource) is a practical resource for people working in schools. It is concerned with helping to improve interaction between children using communication devices and their speaking peers. Katie Price (Speech Pathologist from Great Ormond Street Hospital) presented sessions at the recent AGOSCI Conference based around her research on use of communication devices by children. This book suggests strategies for improving the frequency and quality of use of these devices.

More info on the Spectronics website at www.spectronicsinoz.com/product.asp?product=14470

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We are so often asked this question at Spectronics ... "Which program is best for me? Boardmaker or Writing with Symbols 2000?" ... that we decided to post up a comparison of the features of each program. Both programs include symbols and allow you to make a host of printed resources supporting communication and early literacy with these symbols, so at times they do seem similar.

However, our comparison chart also details the ways in which they are quite different to each other. This may help you in making decisions about whether Boardmaker, Writing with Symbols 2000, or perhaps both are best for your needs.

You can download this comparison in zipped Microsoft Word Format or PDF Format or view it on-line at www.spectronicsinoz.com/library.asp?article=14568

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If you are familiar with the popular Clicker 4 program the following news might be of interest (with apologies for the length of this section of our emailed update)! Spectronics is currently working with Crick Software, the UK-based developers of Clicker 4, on an Australian/New Zealand version of Clicker due for release in the first half of 2004.

We have worked with people from both sides of "the ditch" over the past six months and have put together a list of suggested changes to the existing Clicker 4 images to better reflect our use of language. We have included some of the suggestions from the Australian version of Boardmaker and Writing with Symbols 2000 and have noted the NZ Boardmaker suggestions too. So the Crick Software artists are now hard at work drawing around 300 totally new images for OZ/NZ needs - to supplement the existing library of images within Clicker 4.

At this point, we really need to call for your help - so that we can have the OZ/NZ Clicker 4 ready for release by mid-2004.

What do we need help with?

1. Firstly, we need suggestions for sample grids to be included as "example" grids for the OZ/NZ Version ...
   
   We are looking for grids which will be relevant to the Australian curriculum and others which are useful within the NZ curriculum. If you are keen to submit grids for inclusion, it would help for you to have the list of all of the new graphics being drawn for the OZ/NZ Clicker 4 - so you could use these in your grids too if you wished. Just contact Heather Jones at Spectronics and she will send this list through to you.



2. And we also need OZ/NZ photos ...
   
   In Clicker 4, there is a collection of "Background Photos" - but given that many of them relate to English scenes and the Alps of Europe, they are not so great for writing in OZ/NZ schools. So, we have started gathering photos of Sydney Harbour, Parliament House in Canberra, surf beaches with lifesavers and flags, koalas, kangaroos and assorted other furry Australian critters to use as more relevant background photos and photos for use in Clicker grids.
   
   However we need more, to ensure that all states of Australia and areas of NZ are represented. We are also looking for photos of typical OZ/NZ activities. If you are able to send any photos for us to use, that would be great and will ensure that OZ/NZ writing is better scaffolded for students using Clicker. Any photos must be "royalty free" - so they need to be your own work, and have your clearance for us to use them. If people's faces are included in photos, this can cause problems unless a model release is signed.
   
   You might also want to design "Talking Books" in Clicker using local photos of scenes and students' routines. For example, one of the new sample grids we have developed is a simple talking book looking a trip to Sydney Harbour (complete with photos taken in and around the Harbour).

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