In a recent UK poll, 65% of professionals reported that the need to work on the move is greater now than ever. A major contributing factor is globalisation and the trend toward a greater number of firms trading with partners and customers based overseas, which for some, means having to travel abroad.

With reports revealing 21% of domestic firms planning to expand operations overseas in the next two years, mobile working may well become an even more real and popular movement.

For employees with learning difficulties, new assistive technology solutions have lifted barriers to working remotely or away from the office. An online conversion solution from iansyst is currently being developed. Azzapt is an innovative new cloud-based service being developed under the ‘MyDocStore’ project and sets to make remote working highly achievable by supporting accessibility to assistive technologies on the move.

Many users of assistive technologies rely on particular combinations of text or need text to be read aloud. Up until now they have had to install preferences on each machine they use and have not been able to load their preferences onto mobile devices, which equates to limited access to these technologies while on the move.

The Azzapt service will take cloud syncing a step further, automatically converting the user’s documents or information into a format to suit their individual reading preferences, whether it be larger font, audio or talking books and by making it available on all types of devices including desktop computers, mobiles or tablets.

For people with dyslexia or mild visual impairments, Azzapt is set to restore independence, allowing employees with learning difficulties to work from any location.

Further information on MyDocStore can be found here: http://www.mydocstore.org.uk/

By campaigning to keep the role of ICT in education at the forefront of public consciousness the charity aims to help children achieve their full potential. 

The e-Learning Foundation Spring Conference is being held on Wednesday 23^rd May at Cavendish Conference Centre, London.

The theme will look at the effective use of technology and how it can be used to help close the attainment gap to enable every child to achieve their potential.

“It ain’t what you do; it’s the way that you do it…
…that’s what gets results”

The impressive line-up of speakers includes: Vanessa Pittard, Head of Technology Policy Unit at Department for Education, Lord Puttnam and Rory Cellan Jones (Technology Correspondent for the BBC).

Other speakers includes Abi James, Head of Product Innovation at iansyst Ltd, a leading assistive technology supplier, will be presenting her talk on ‘Are Tablets and Apps part of the SEN toolkit?’; as well as Heads from a number of schools that have proven success as a result of the integration of technology, including Neil Willis from the highly praised Longfield Academy.

During the morning of the conference there will be the option of attending breakout sessions to hear specific information aimed at Primary or Secondary schools.

This conference will cover issues highly relevant to:

• School senior management teams
• ICT advisors
• Local Authorities
• Educational suppliers

There will be an opportunity to visit the iansyst stand at the conference giving you the chance to speak to iansyst staff. They will be available to provide expert advice on assistive technology for education and can recommend different products that are available to reflect a variety of requirements, highlighting the ways in which assistive technologies can be used to assist on a day to day basis in the classroom for all pupils as well as for those with SEN.

Further information regarding the e-Learning Foundation Spring Conference 2012 can be found at: http://www.e-learningfoundation.com/spring12-overview

In 2009/10 the government spent £640m on special education needs for young people aged between 16 and 25 however the report has identified a large disparity between local authorities in the funding allocated to each student. Although the government centrally funds the programme, allocation is at the mercy of local authorities who prioritise the distribution of these funds, directing how and where the money is to be spent.

The Common Public Accounts Committee has raised concerns that too many young people are falling through the gaps upon leaving school.

The report also urges the government to implement greater transparency for special education funding and expenditure at both local and national levels; a more simple and accountable system with additional information for parents and tax payers; an overhaul of the statementing process and more effective processes by the Department of Education to identify local authorities with high numbers of youths not undertaking any forms of education, employment or training.

MPs have accused three quarters of local authorities of failing to provide parents with adequate information regarding the performance of schools and colleges on offer and expressed their concern that difficulties with understanding and navigating the system may deter people who could potentially miss out on the help they need. 

As a result, the government has vowed to implement a reform to address the way special education is funded and a system which focuses on fairness and greater transparency.  

iansyst is available to offer expert advice regarding specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, visual and hearing impairments and mental health difficulties. For further information, please contact iansyst Ltd on Tel: +44 (0)1223 420 101 or visit the website www.iansyst.co.uk

For the full article click here: Special education needs: MPs shocked by teens’ plight

Studies reveal that toddlers with a vocabulary of less than 50 words are at risk of experiencing developmental difficulties which can be identified from as young as the age of two. 

The study found that late talkers at the age of two continued to perform more poorly in language tests compared to other children by the age of 17 despite showing no signs of other developmental problems.

Fortunately, many late talking toddlers catch up with their peers, however continuing to use only 50 words or less by the age of three and above, could indicate a more serious underlying issue that may need to be addressed.  

Late talkers generally use the 50 most common words used by two year old toddlers. Parents can best identify these children by monitoring which words they use and if they are using the 50 most common words said by toddlers of that age.

Nan Bernstein Ratner, Professor of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the University of Maryland at College Park, said that early intervention with children who are late talkers does help. Deciphering those who are the late talkers and following them up may be very important in identifying children who, will later in life have difficulty learning to read. And we know that if we have children who cannot read, we have children who will not perform as well in society.

iansyst can provide customers with information and expert advice regarding specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, visual and hearing impairments and mental health difficulties. For further information, please contact iansyst Ltd on Tel: +44 (0)1223 420 101 or visit the website www.iansyst.co.uk

Click here to read the full article: Children who have few words aged two ‘risk future problems’

According to the latest survey from Robert Half UK, 38% of HR directors plan to offer remote working options during the first half of 2012. More than four in 10 people surveyed or 44% said that the prevalence of remote working has increased in the past three years, with 39% saying it has stayed the same.

In order to remain an employer of choice and continue operating in a competitive market, a greater proportion of companies have implemented this initiative to allow employees to work from locations other than their designated office. In response to this growing trend, the UK Government is planning to instigate remote working for a proportion of its staff this summer as pressure on public transport increases, particularly in the run up to the upcoming Olympic Games.

Implementing off-site programmes may prove to be a complicated task, however if successful, may result in great benefits. These include:

• Greater productivity
• Reduction in property and other costs
• Enhanced recruitment and retention
• Improved staff morale
• Reduced sick days
• Increased accommodation for the disabled
• Greener policies

For those with learning difficulties, remote working can be highly attainable via the development of new and innovative product solutions that support accessibility on the move. MyDocStore, an online file conversion solution from iansyst, demonstrates how people can use mobile and cloud based technology to access documents anywhere.

The MyDocStore concept takes cloud syncing a step further… taking the user’s documents and information and converting them automatically, to suit the user’s reading preferences – whether large font, audio or talking book; and to suit their platform – whether desktop computer, mobile or tablet, every time, automatically.

Traditionally users were limited in their ability to access these resources from a remote location as they were unable to load their preferences onto mobile devices. MyDocStore will revolutionise the concept of remote working through the use of cloud, desktop and mobile based file management making it quick and easy to transfer files between devices and convert them to the user’s preferred format.

Further information on MyDocStore can be found here: http://www.mydocstore.org.uk/

iansyst has just stressed how hugely beneficial this change could be to people with a reading impairment – not just visually impaired or dyslexic people but also those with mobility problems and general learning difficulties.

The Intellectual Property Offices (IPO)’s consultation on copyright (http://www.ipo.gov.uk/consult-2011-copyright ­– now closed) is proposing that the law be changed to allow a “private copying exception” that is “technology, format and platform neutral”. That is to say that private individuals would be allowed to copy any materials that they owned to any other format or device, as long as it is for their own use. So you would still not be allowed to put it on the web for others to use, or send it to all your friends.

This is terrific news for print-impaired people, because it would mean that they can “format shift” at will. They could, for example, take a document, scan it and adapt it to Large Print with blue type on a yellow background, if that is what they find more comfortable to read. Or they could take a PDF file from the web and convert it to an audio file to listen to on their iPhone as they commute to work.

Until now disabled people have had to rely on an exception to the Copyright Act, made for visually impaired people. But this exception has not applied, for example, to people with dyslexia, who have been left in many cases to break the law if they want to adapt something so that they can read it.

Whilst welcoming the proposal, iansyst believe that the private copying exception should allow you to format shift anything to which you have legal access, not just anything that you own. You might equally well want to convert a journal article that you were reading on an on-line library, or a company report that you had found on a public web site.

You can read iansyst’s full response to the consultation, which was written from the point of view of our MyDocStore project. MyDocStore allows people automatically to format shift to more accessible formats on different devices with as little bother as possible. It is a classic case for needing new copyright legislation to remove any question of illegality for people using a service that most people will welcome and think fair use. The British Assistive Technology Association has also endorsed iansyst’s response in this email which summarises in simpler terms the complex and technical arguments in the full response.  The British Dyslexia Association has also written in similar terms.

Poor communication, assumptions about quality of life and a dangerous lack of understanding by healthcare professionals are just a few concerns raised around standards of care and treatment received by patients with learning disabilities. 

A recent inquiry by Mencap into the deaths of 74 mentally disabled patients over the last decade has propelled the NHS into the spot light with claims of institutional discrimination at the hands of their staff. These allegations have held the NHS responsible for the deaths as a direct result of neglect, undertrained care professionals and indifference.

In response, Mencap has  launched a ”Getting it right” campaign which aims to support local campaigners, health professionals, GP surgeries, hospitals and health care authorities to work together to make improvements.

As part of the campaign Mencap has worked with healthcare professionals and Royal Colleges to develop the ‘Getting it right’ charter. The charter outlines the nine key activities that all healthcare professionals should do to ensure that there is equal access to health.

David Congdon, Mencap’s Head of Campaigns and policy commented that too many parts of the health service still do not understand how to treat people with a learning disability and there is an appalling catalogue of neglect and indignity. As a result of institutional discrimination in the NHS, people with a learning disability are dying when their lives could be saved.

Care services minister Paul Burstow responded by saying that the Department of Health has extended the contract for a confidential inquiry into avoidable deaths of people with a learning disability, as well as funding a health observatory on improving healthcare for people with a learning disability.

Further information about the “Getting it right” charter and campaign can be accessed via the Mencap website, here: http://www.mencap.org.uk/.

iansyst can provide customers with information and expert advice regarding specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, visual and hearing impairments and mental health difficulties. For further information, please contact iansyst Ltd on Tel: +44 (0)1223 420 101 or visit the website www.iansyst.co.uk

To address this growing concern, The Daily Telegraph has launched a campaign, ‘Make Britain Count’ to highlight the scale of the country’s mathematical crisis and provide parents with the tools to help boost their children’s numeracy skills.

A condition associated with poor numeracy skills is dyscalculia. Dyscalculia is a neurological condition which impairs a person’s ability to use and process numbers. It affects approximately 1.8 million people in the UK in a variety of subtle and extreme ways.  These include difficulties with simple maths tasks, trouble with navigation, inability to estimate time or distance or comprehending financial information.

Although first diagnosed in 1974, there is still relatively little known about dyscalculia. As dyscalculia is a hidden disability it is vital for HR and management to understand the condition and recognise the signs in order to implement strategies that will ensure the organisation gets the best out of each employee.

Signs of dyscalculia in otherwise diligent workers may include:

• Difficulty with written numbers as challenges lie in the ability to read and write digits
• Task avoidance involving maths
•  Difficulties organising shifts, managing budgets or timings. 

However, equipped with the right knowledge, this condition can be well managed in the workplace via simple strategies involving:

• Staff and manager training on the subject of ‘hidden disabilities’ and how to work with affected employees
• Avoiding or minimising number based tasks assigned to employees
• Allocating extra time to perform duties
• Providing clear and concise instructions to ensure the employee understands the task
• Offering a quiet room, free of distractions to aid concentration
• Use of alarms and email calendars to better manage time

Loughborough University in partnership with iansyst and Tribal has developed and pioneered an online screener, DysCalculiUM, which helps to highlight adults displaying signs of the condition.

In addition, utilising specialist technologies can significantly benefit the employee’s work flow and productivity. Speaking calculators and text-to-speech software systems may remove the need for the employee to read and comprehend numbers.

iansyst Ltd has specialised in the area of hidden disabilities, such as dyscalculia, for over 27 years and delivers a range of advice, software and computer technologies to enable people to achieve their potential.  For further information, please contact iansyst Ltd on Tel: +44 (0)1223 420 101 or visit the website www.re-adjust.co.uk.

For further information about the Telegraph’s “Make Britain Count” campaign click here: Make Britain Count.

The MyDocStore software is designed to make it quick and easy to transfer files between devices (such as PC, tablets or smartphones) whilst simultaneously converting them into the user’s preferred format – whether text, audio or a combination of both. For example, a person with reading difficulties could download a word file to MyDocStore on their iPhone. MyDocStore would then convert it to their preferred format, for example audio, enabling them to listen to it as a podcast.

However, this kind of technology will not only be of use to those who benefit from using assistive technology – it will also be helpful to people wanting to access their documents on the move, or those who would like to access their files in varying formats.

Further to the funding announcement, iansyst will be working with Southampton University and Raspberry software to develop a robust, usable, working system prototype to trial with learners in the FE and skills sector, whilst continuing to develop and improve it.

The funding was awarded as part of the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) ‘Plain Sailing’ competition, sponsored by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and managed by JISC TechDis, a leading UK advisory service on technology and inclusion.

Entrants were required to submit entries that help users to access, view, comprehend and navigate digital information independently and successfully.

Mark Glover, Director of Business Planning at the Technology Strategy Board, said: “Through these projects we are helping entrepreneurial British businesses to develop and provide innovative assistive technology solutions. The potential impact of these new technologies is huge; improving communication and access to information will aid individuals in life, learning and work.”

Most diagnoses of dyslexia occur at ages seven or eight, whereas interventions are far more effective at around age four. By the time older children are diagnosed, they have often had their confidence damaged because they have spent years of lagging behind their peers and being termed ‘stupid’ or ‘lazy’.

In the study, a research group at Children’s Hospital Boston carried out brain scans on 36 pre-school children while they performed a series of tasks. The scans revealed less activity in certain areas of the brain among the children with a family history of dyslexia.

The significance of this is that dyslexia can be detected before children begin to learn to read – children won’t have to wait until reading difficulties are apparent before they receive a diagnosis and intervention.

Researcher Nadine Gaab said the study wasn’t big enough to form the basis for a dyslexia test. However, NIH funding has been offered for a larger scale study.

The study expands on the understanding of dyslexia as a problem with phonological processing: manipulating the individual sounds that form language. To read, children must recognise the relationship between the sounds of spoken language and the letters that make up words. Children with dyslexia struggle with this.

The NHS lists some symptoms of dyslexia which may be detected in pre-school children:

• delayed speech development compared to peers
• speech problems: difficulty pronouncing long words, ‘jumbling’ up phrases
• problems using spoken language, being unable to remember the right word, or putting sentences together incorrectly
• little understanding or appreciation of rhyming words, or nursery rhymes
• difficulty with, or little interest in, learning the letters of the alphabet

Visit http://www.dyslexic.com, provided by iansyst, for information on assistive technologies. Since 1994, our core focus has been technology to help people with dyslexia make the most of their abilities. Information is also available by telephone on +44 (0)1223 420 101.

Click here to read the full article Brain scans spot early signs of dyslexia.