SnapType For Occupational Therapy Has More Updates And Features Now

This post has been written by Amberlynn Gifford - creator of the ever popular app "SnapType for Occupational Therapy".

When I created SnapType last year, I knew it would help children struggling with handwriting. However, I could never have imagined the outcry of support I received from therapists and parents. Each week I read several emails from users with stories of how SnapType has changed their lives.

"Thank you for this app! You are a blessing! I can honestly tell you that I have spent many hours crying and hurting inside while watching my son struggle to write pages of sentences and spelling words and other homework assignments. He screams out with frustration. It's been so bad that I have stopped him and honestly wrote for him, left handed to make it look more like a neater version of his because I could not take it anymore! Now, with SnapType, he completes his worksheets, show off his intelligence and feels more confident than ever. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"

That was an email I received from a mother who felt like she was losing her son. I tear up while reading emails like this from parents and it brings me so much joy to know that these children are succeeding with the help of SnapType.

I have learned along the way that SnapType helps not only children with dysgraphia but also individuals with several other learning disabilities, low vision, low muscle tone, and Parkinson's. It is so exciting to learn that a variety of individuals can benefit from SnapType.

When I first had the idea for SnapType, I wanted to test out the idea as quickly and inexpensively as possible. So I paid a developer in India $300 to build the first version of the app. It was so basic, but it was the perfect way to quickly find out if anyone would find value in my idea. With tens of thousands of downloads, and over a hundred emails from users, it was clear that people were finding value in the app.

Every week emails came in from users who were so happy to have found SnapType. But they were also asking for more functionality. They wanted to print and email from within the app, save documents to work on later, import documents from the image gallery and much more. The initial SnapType app lacked all of these features yet people still used the app because there was nothing else like it on the market that could help their kids and students.

I wanted to give the users what they were asking for. But being a full time occupational therapy graduate student, I couldn't afford to pay thousands of dollars to get the app made. I asked the developer in India if he would be interested in partnering with me to create a new app but without the cash, he wasn't interested. So then I reached out to a community of app developers and received interest from a few. Shortly thereafter, I started working with a developer and it was going great. Then the emails stopped. He fell off the face of the earth it seemed and I was back where I started.

Feeling defeated at the end of September, I reached out to another developer who previously expressed interest and he jumped on board right away. Instantly, we were going back and forth, exchanging ideas and building the app's fundamental layout and features. The communication was prompt and continuous as we crafted the upgrade. I say upgrade, but it's really an all new app, built from the ground up.

The developer, Brendan Kircher, has been instrumental in making SnapType a success. There were

times when I felt overwhelmed because we were moving so quickly and there were so many questions he needed me to answer. I was juggling being a full time grad student, working a part time job 25 hours a week and also spending several hours a day on SnapType. Nevertheless, I appreciated Brendan's speed and pushing because it has helped create a wonderfully powerful and intuitive tool. Without his speed, knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment this would not have been possible.

By Thanksgiving we were ready to share the app and we enlisted the help of two dozen users who were equally passionate about this project. We spent the month of December working with our team of testers to debug and refine the feature set. By early January we submitted the app to Apple and crossed our fingers that they would approve it. Two weeks later we received confirmation that it was in the app store and ready for the world!

As I write this article, SnapType version 2.0 has been public for just a few days. But already the comments are pouring in. Parents, occupational therapists, teachers and students are loving the new features!

SnapType is available for free on the App Store. We wanted to keep it free in order to help as many people as possible. Interestingly, many users asked us to charge for the app. That took me off guard, but they wanted to make sure that we receive some revenue to ensure that we continue to keep the app updated. After lengthy discussions with mentors, users and each other, we decided to keep the app free, but also offer an in-app purchase to provide advanced features for the power users. SnapType Pro enables users to work on multiple documents and also access the a whiteboard feature which turns documents into simplified black and white images, to save ink when printing. SnapType Pro is $4.99, but for a limited time, we're offering it for $2.99.

Another frequent request we receive is for an Android version. I'm happy to say that we've just started working on SnapType for Android (which by the way, requires writing the app all over again in a different programming language with it's own set of challenges). To learn more about the Android version and to stay connected for other SnapType updates, follow SnapType on Facebook or Twitter.

Click here to download SnapType for free on the iPad or iPhone.

Amberlynn Gifford is a 2nd year OT student at Springfield College in Massachusetts. When she's not studying, which is rare, you can find her coaching gymnastics and working on all sorts of creative projects. She will graduate with her masters degree in 2016 and looks forward to working in pediatrics. Connect with Amberlynn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amberlynngifford. 



Image source: Carissa Rogers

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Story of Dyslexia, Learning Disabilities and Finding his Greatness � Introducing Dr. Christopher M. Lee.

This great humanitarian story was written by Debra Ruh of Ruh Global Communications LLC. Debra is a seasoned entrepreneur that focuses on Global Disability Inclusion, ICT Accessibility, EmployAbility, Marketing and Communications Strategies and Digital Media. She has provided global leadership to governments, corporations, NGOs and DPO�s (Disability Persons Organizations) all over the world supporting research, outreach, marketing strategies, policy and standards initiatives with public- and private-sector. Please go here to read her full bio.

�Leaders Making a Difference in the World�

Story of Dyslexia, Learning Disabilities and Finding his Greatness � Introducing Dr. Christopher M. Lee.

I believe that the best way to further inclusion of persons with disabilities is to tell the stories of the organizations and leaders that are making a difference.  Progress is being made all over the world and I want to highlight efforts coming out of Atlanta, Georgia.  I have had the pleasure to collaborate with Dr. Christopher Lee and his team at AMAC Accessibility Solutions and Research Center (AMAC).  AMAC is part of the Georgia Institute of Technology located in the College of Architecture.

Dr. Christopher Lee has been an advocate and pioneer in promoting social entrepreneurship to benefit humankind and further strive for sustainable social change in the field of disabilities.

Why does Dr. Lee care about the community of persons with disabilities?  He is part of the community and was diagnosed with a cognitive deficit disorder in the second grade.  He was placed in special education and speech classes.

Dr. Lee describes his dyslexia in this way: �Nothing I hear seems to stick with me and nothing I say

seems to come out right.  It is as though I am in a world where the air is packed with floating symbols.  I watch as everyone swallows the symbols, digesting them to produce something that everyone else understands, but I can only swallow bits and pieces.  Choking, I remain hungry in my struggle to find a way to communicate and comprehend effectively.�

He recalls being a student and standing in front of the classroom, he did his best to recall the ways to spell, to read and to say the right words and phrases.  He understood that he needed to recall and use the words and phrases in the correct order to be able to connect and communicate with his peers and teachers.

He spent hours organizing his thoughts and preparing for presentations in front of his classmates.  He tried to find ways to help him get his thoughts across to his peers and teachers.  The efforts left him feeling very alone and frustrated, and in his mind and heart he longed to decipher the code of language.

 �Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.� Albert Einstein

Dr. Lee has built a lot of character and drive to make the world a better place for individuals with learning disabilities and other disabilities.  He admits to being a perfectionist and he worked very hard to fit in and succeed in a world that is not set up for his �twisted perception of language.�

He was determined to go to college and scored low scores on his SAT due to his severe visual and audio process disorders.  He had to work his way through developmental studies before he was mainstreamed at the University of Georgia (UGA).

 �With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.� Wayne W. Dyer

He notes that his story is not unique from the high percentage of people in the United States and all over the world who are also dealing with learning disabilities.  This story is experienced by parents and teachers globally.  Many �experts� expected him to fail, but he worked hard and decided to become a success story and a beacon of hope for others with learning disabilities.

His motivation to become a collegiate swimmer athlete at UGA drove him hard to create his own academic action plan which included strategies, tools like assistive technology, and most importantly, a strong tutoring and mentoring network.

He also developed a communication strategy that included the use of role-playing activities where he perfected how to disclose his learning disabilities.  He became an expert in and promoting his strengths and managing his weaknesses.

Today he holds multiple college degrees including a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Speech Communication from University of Georgia.  He also earned a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Social Psychology from Union Institute and University.

His work has centered on the innovation of new models and techniques to support accessible electronic information in corporate, governmental and nonprofit entities. Dr. Lee is an internationally recognized advocate, author, speaker, principal investigator and leader in the fields of learning disabilities and assistive technology.

In 1992, at age twenty-three Christopher wrote his first book, Faking It: A Look into the Mind of a Creative Learning.  This book can be purchased on Amazon by following this link:  http://ow.ly/Avs8V

In 2003, he was highlighted in Microsoft �Accessible Technology for Everyone�, a Microsoft video and publication.  http://www.microsoft.com/enable/

In 2007, he was featured in the PBS series �A Chance to Read�, hosted by Molly Ringwald, which highlights new strategies driven by emerging research that shows what's happening across the country to help children with disabilities find success. 

Today Dr. Christopher Lee is the Founder, Director and Department Head of the AMAC Accessibility Solutions and Research Center (AMAC), located in the College of Architecture of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.  AMAC is committed to promoting technological innovation and developing effective user-centered products and services for individuals with disabilities.

AMAC's mission is to address unmet accessibility needs in government, non-profits, and corporations by providing products that benefit those with physical or cognitive impairments.  AMAC has pioneered a cost-effective, replicable, scalable, full service center for alternative, digital and captioned media for college students with disabilities, along with the downloadable assistive technology software.  AMAC receives baseline operational funds from the University System of Georgia (USG).

AMAC services and costs vary depending on the annual membership status of its 2,287 participating institutions. AMAC offers a variety of services to meet the individual needs of students with print-related disabilities and post-secondary institutions.

Christopher has been recognized for his advocacy and leadership many times and most recently was awarded a �Campus Technology Innovators Award for 2014�.  AMAC was also awarded a coveted �Zero Project Award 2013� from The World Future Council and the European Foundation Centre.

To learn more about Dr. Christopher Lee�s work, please visit AMAC at http://www.amacusg.org/.

To learn more about Ruh Global Communications, please visit www.RuhGlobal.com.

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