News

Here’s to 39 Years!

A graphic of a person celebrating throwing a tube of confetti, with text saying, "Here's to 39 years! June 19, 1984 - June 19, 2023"

Today Neil Squire is celebrating 39 years!

Since 1984, we have worked to empower nearly 75,000 Canadians with disabilities.

We’re so proud of our participants, staff, volunteers, and supporters, and of all of the work we’ve done together.

Thank you for being part of our journey.

Language Therapy 4-in-1

a teacher demonstrating a concept to her students using a gesture

Losing your ability to speak due to aphasia, stroke, or other brain injury can feel like being a prisoner in your own mind, especially when you’ve spent your entire pre-injury life with normal speech and language skills. Thankfully there are apps and other resources available to individuals suffering from speech and language-based injuries/disabilities.

Microsoft Accessibility Page

a man in a wheelchair types on a keyboard

Staying on top of accessibility updates, features, news, and resources is no easy task, even here at the AT Help Desk where we do our absolute best to cover everything we can, there’s just so much accessible content and information out there that it’s impossible to keep track of absolutely everything related to accessibility. Thankfully, most companies who deal with accessible devices do a great job of providing information and resources related to those products. That is especially true for Apple’s excellent accessibility page, which we have discussed in previous e-bulletins.

Today however, we are going to look at Apple’s chief competitor Microsoft, and we are going to see how their newly redesigned accessibility page stacks up against the competition. And with Windows products and Microsoft 365 being so widely used within the New Brunswick school system, this information will be useful to just about any parent, teacher, or student with accessibility needs.

MentalUp: A Learning and Gaming Platform for Kids

a young girl plays on a tablet

We all like to have choices in life, and kids are no different. In 2023, there’s certainly no shortage of games and gaming platforms to choose from, and apps like Roblox see millions of users and new games added every single day. So why can’t we apply the same approach the educational content? Wouldn’t it be great for students to choose from as wide a range of educational content as possible? The developers of the app that we are looking at today clearly thought so!

MentalUp is an app-based gaming and learning platform which features thousands of games, hundreds of fitness exercises, tests, and much more. When you first turn on the app, you’ll be prompted to enter some information regarding your child’s age and learning needs. Once you’ve completed the initial set up, then you’ll find yourself in the MentalUp “galaxy” where you can choose from a variety of activities. To choose between categories of activities, users navigate to different “planets”.

We Have Solutions! – Episode 15: CSUN and AT Training with Erin LeBlanc

"We Have Solutions!" logo

Today we are joined once again by digital literacy and assistive technology trainer Erin LeBlanc. We discussed her experiences at the CSUN assistive technology conference, the steps required to become accredited in AT, her experiences with her own CSUN course, and much more. If you’ve ever thought about pursuing a degree or certificate in AT, then you won’t want to miss this one.

Tips for Executing a Successful AT Plan

a teacher showing a student a tablet

When it comes to successfully adopting assistive technology (AT) there’s a lot more that goes into it besides simply choosing the right technology. Developing and executing a successful AT plan takes planning, patience, and lots of adjustments along the way. That’s why we’ve developed specific techniques to ensure that you, your child, or your student can get the absolute most out of their AT adoption experience.

Articulation Station

A speech therapist holds a letter in their hands while they conduct an online lesson with a laptop webcam.

For school-aged children (and even some adults) properly articulating sounds can be a real challenge. This is of course especially true for individuals with learning disabilities, or for those who struggle with auditory learning. For the most part, it’s always recommended to touch base with a certified Speech-Language Pathologist, but for individuals with minor speech related issues, there are apps available that are designed to teach and reinforce proper pronunciation/articulation.

Articulation Station is a speech practice app for iOS that allows you to explore and practice every sound used in the English language. The app is bright and colorful, very intuitively designed, and it offers a wide variety of articulation-based activities to choose from. The voices and articulations are high quality and very clear, making it easier for someone with auditory or hearing challenges to approach.

MathMaster: An AI Powered Math-Solver

a child using a tablet to study

When it comes to learning, whether it’s math, social studies, language arts, or any other subject matter, we know that learning that topic in school is almost always the best approach. And we also know that having that information delivered by a teacher is over and above the best way to deliver instruction, for a variety of reasons.

But what about when it’s after hours, and the teacher is not available to answer a specific question? Or if the student is tasked with independently solving an extensive equation that includes steps or concepts that they don’t yet fully understand. Maybe there’s one small concept holding them back, but they are too shy to interrupt a busy classroom to re-visit the concept with which they are struggling. Of course, for those who can afford it, tutoring is probably the best option, because as we stated earlier, human based instruction is always ideal. But not everyone has the time or money for tutoring. So, what other options are there?

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Solutions logo
400 – 3999 Henning Drive
Burnaby, BC V5C 6P9
604 473 9360 | 1 877 673 4636
solutions@neilsquire.ca
Refer today

 

Hearing Solutions logo
400 – 3999 Henning Drive
Burnaby, BC V5C 6P9
778 945 1215
hearingsolutions@neilsquire.ca
Refer today