Assessing Student's Needs for Assistive Technology (ASNAT)

Chapter 3 – Assistive Technology for Writing
Worksheets can be made accessible with some simple techniques. First try enlarging the
worksheet on a copy machine so that the child does not need to make as small or precise a
mark as the other students. Taping the worksheet to the desk or placing it on a clipboard may
also make it easier for the student to write on. Magnets can also be used by students to
indicate choices on worksheets mounted beneath plastic on a cookie sheet. Things like
masking tape, Velcro , Dycem ® , gripping stuff, or non slip rubber mats from Rubbermaid to
hold things in place can go a long way to help make materials more accessible.
♦ Writing Guides
A variety of plastic writing guides are available from independent living aids catalogs.
Writing guides are pieces of plastic with cut out areas allowing for writing within cutout
lines. They come in various sizes for writing checks, signatures, letters and envelopes.
(Available from various vendors including Independent Living Aids, Inc. and Onion
Mountain Technology, Inc.)
♦ Make Guides with Wikki Stix
Wikki Stix (Wikki Stix) are colorful, flexible sticks about 8” long. They are tacky to touch
and are bendable to mold, draw, trace and use to create 3D stand-up figures. They stick to
any surface and peel off without a trace. You can place them on the bottom or top line as a
guide. Children can form letters with Wikki Stix or use them as letter guides when writing.
Wikki Stix are available from school supply catalogs.
♦ Use of Prewritten Words/Phrases
It is extremely important to provide students with the opportunity to produce written
language even though they may not have the motor skills to adequately do so in the
traditional method using a pencil and paper. One way to do this is to provide words already
written that can be placed in sentences and paragraphs. This can be done with low tech tools.
One example is using adhesive backed magnetic labels or strips. Words can be printed on
paper or card stock and stuck to magnetic material. The student can then arrange them on a
metal surface (e.g. a cookie sheet with an edge). It requires only a swiping motion to move
the words into the desired arrangement. Magnetic Poetry ® is a commercial product offering
preprinted words in various sizes. This would require better motor skills, but still allows the
student to produce written sentences without the struggle of handwriting.
In addition, there are software programs that facilitate writing with words and phrases before
the student is ready to spell individual words or to keyboard. IntelliKeys ® and Overlay Maker
offer endless possibilities to create writing templates containing words and phrases. They
allow the student to create written language by selecting and sequencing whole words. The I
Can Write series which is available at the IntelliShare Activity Exchange site on the
IntelliTools website, reinforces letters, basic vocabulary, and syntax. It can be customized
with your own letters and words. This allows a student to retell a story, sequence events,
create their own story, etc.
Assessing Students’ Needs for Assistive Technology (2004) 80