assistive technology

AI

WHAT IS AI?

AI is a rapidly advancing field focused on automating and augmenting human intelligence to solve problems. Some common examples of AI applications include digital assistants like Siri or Alexa, recommendation systems used by Netflix and Amazon, self-driving cars, and chess-playing computers that can beat human opponents.

ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool driven by AI technology that allows you to have human-like conversations and much more with the chatbot. The language model can answer questions and assist you with tasks, such as composing emails, essays, and code.

EXAMPLES

AI such as ChatGPT can be used to gain knowledge, by asking questions. It can also in job junting – matching an individuals skills and knowledge with jobs on specific websites.

"The best feature of ChatGPT is its capacity to provide responses that are human-like. The model has outstanding fluency and is able to have lively, clear dialogues. The user experience is improved by its understanding of natural language inputs and timely, pertinent responses. Because of its adaptability and extensive knowledge base, ChatGPT is able to handle a variety of topics, making it an invaluable tool for numerous use cases."

Dave

Job-Coach

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

LANGUAGES

FURTHER INFORMATIONS

FutureTools – search engine of different AI tools:
https://www.futuretools.io/

ChatGPT – need to register:
https://chat.openai.com/

Google Bard -need to register:
https://bard.google.com

Claude – need to register:
https://claude.ai/

Money Dashboard

WHAT IS MONEY DASHBOARD?

Voted the Best Personal Finance App four times since 2017, Money Dashboard is a personal fiance and budgeting tool, available on desktop and smartphone app. With a simple, clutter-free design, Money Dashboard is a go-to tool for helping to manage the finances of your clients.

EXAMPLES

1) Assisting clients in managing their finances.

2) Setting a budget for clients, with the tool allowing for spending to be categorised for ease of use.

"Money Dashboard is the best banking aggregator/personal spend management app on the UK market. I've used various different apps and Money Dashboard (both Classic & Neon) are by the far the most intelligent for categorising transactions and show the most useful information for actually managing your spend. The best part about the app (on both web and phone) is that they are not trying to sell you financial products or other services, and are instead just focusing on providing a solid money management experience."

Emma

Job-Coach

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

LANGUAGES

FURTHER INFORMATIONS

This app advertises good data protection.

TUTORIALS / LEARNING MATERIAL

English

Getting started:
https://www.moneydashboard.com/getting-started

Help Center:
https://support.moneydashboard.com/hc/en-us

Capito digital

WHAT IS capito?

Capito Digital is a tool for easy language. It supports you in simplifying texts, by breaking down difficult and incomprehensible words and phrases. This way you can adapt your texts to the language level of your target group.

EXAMPLES

Before sending out emails to your clients, the tool lets you check your written text and if it will be easily understood by your target group. The tool can help a person with disability to format text into easier language for them, if they know how to use the tool correctly.

"Through Capito Digital writing texts in simplified language is made way easier."

Lisa

Job-Coach

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

LANGUAGES

FURTHER INFORMATIONS

There are basic steps build into the application and there are also courses for a fee.

STARS

WHAT IS STARS?

STARS (School Transition to Adult Responsibilities and Services) is a website with information and resources for young people and their families/ caregivers. The content is related to the transition of leaving school and moving into adult life. The website stems from a project involving five partners from four countries who all have extensive experience of supporting young people and adults with IDs. The website is broken down into five areas, with a further 16 sub-topics.

EXAMPLES

As a resource to guide, inform and teach our participants and their families/caregivers about different topics such as:

1) Practical Steps related to money: An important part of being an adult is learning how to manage money. Through this website, we teach our participants concepts such as personal budgeting and understanding expenses versus income, as well as being able to distinguish between things one might want to buy (snack foods, magazines, clothing) versus things one might need to buy (travel expenses, phone credit, medication, etc,.) We also offer support and teach our participants how to safely manage their bank account and how to withdraw money responsibly.

2) Healthy Living: Making good lifestyle choices are important for physical health and well-being. Through this website, we teach our participants concepts that help them to make healthier choices, such as sleep (how to get a good nights sleep), balanced diet (ingredients to eating healthy, the importance of drinking water and how to build a healthy plate), unhealthy diet (the consequence of eating an unhealthy diet), unhealthy habits (we offer information about the dangers of drugs and medicine, smoking and alcohol consumption) Covid (What is it? Symptoms and proper safety measures to avoid catching it or to overcome it safely).

"Stars is a great website to teach our participants and their families/ caregivers about different options and tools to face this new phase in life. Leaving school can be a daunting moment for people with LDs and their families, so it is incredibly helpful to have an online resource offering printable handouts and worksheets to work on and reinforce ideas and concepts needed during this transition. Teaching concepts like money, online safety and potential dangers, etc., can oftentimes be abstract and difficult to grasp, so having a website to refer to and worksheets supporting clearly laid-out points is very helpful, as repetition is key in teaching these ideas. The website is visual with comic-like, modern drawings that help young people engage better with the information, as the content resonate with them and it is more digestible than a format without the visual aid."

Virginia

Job-Coach

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

LANGUAGES

Microsoft ToDo

WHAT IS Micosoft ToDo?

To Do is a digital to-do list. With To Do, you can create task lists in a variety of different ways. You can either use predefined lists or create your own lists to keep track of things, for example if you have different areas that you want to organise. Apps for the desktop or mobile devices are available for To Do, so that you can access the list from anywhere if you have internet access. To use To Do you need a Microsoft account.

EXAMPLES

1) Collaborative working: Responsibilities can be assigned when working with others.

2) “To dos” with sub-items: To a single task, you can add sub-tasks that you have to work on.

"We use To Do because it helps to save paper. On the other hand, colleagues can work well together when several people are involved in a task, as responsibilities can be assigned and you can always see what has already been done and what is still open."

Claudia

Job-Coach

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

LANGUAGES

FURTHER INFORMATIONS

This app advertises good data protection.

TUTORIALS / LEARNING MATERIAL

English

Helf & learning:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/todo

Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=microsoft+to+do+tutorial+english

German

Hilfe & Lernen:
https://support.microsoft.com/de-de/todo

Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=microsoft+to+do+deutsch

Spanish

Ayuda y aprendizaje de To Do:
https://support.microsoft.com/es-es/todo

Vídeos:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=microsoft+to+do+tutorial+espa%C3%B1ol+

InA.Coach

WHAT IS InA.Coach?

The InA.Coach app is a digital task assistant that was developed together with job coaches and participants. In the app, work processes can be mapped in individual steps and each step can be backed up with aids such as written instructions, videos, checklists or timers. In this way, people can independently master even more complex tasks at their workplace with a contemporary tool.

EXAMPLES

1) This app can be used, for example, at the start of a new task as part of an in-company qualification. The job coach and participants can take photos of the individual work steps together. Together with their colleagues, they can record what is particularly important in these work steps and also record this as a text or voice message. This can create an individual work aid that can be expanded and changed over time.

2) If-then jumps are an important function. While analog paper-based aids must always present all contingencies and can lead to a flood of information, this digital task assistance allows steps to be specifically displayed only when they are actually needed and otherwise remain hidden. For example, if a check shows that there are still sufficient quantities of a particular product in the warehouse, the reordering step does not need to be displayed.

"The app has been kept simple to make it as intuitive as possible for participants and job coaches. At the same time, however, it has a sufficiently wide range of assistance for completing tasks so that participants with very different support needs can master individual work steps independently. Meanwhile, there is even a calendar function that can be used to assign specific tasks to specific days and times. This could also be used by company supervisors."

Delia

Job-Coach

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

LANGUAGES

FURTHER INFORMATIONS

The developers offer a monthly online seminar on the use of the app.

Didab

WHAT IS didab?

Didab is a German-language learning platform for people with learning difficulties. In the classic version, it includes multimedia learning units in easy language for a wide range of topics with a more or less close connection to the topic of work. In the extended version, Didab can also be used as a platform for personal learning content and made accessible to participants.

EXAMPLES

On the one hand, Didab provides content ranging from the presentation of work by experts in their own field to tips for planning holidays in easy language.
On the other hand (in the extended version), your own learning content can also be prepared in such a way that participants can access it in a well-structured way and at any time from anywhere. Texts, images, videos and links can be embedded as well as interactive learning elements such as H5P.

"The learning platform has been designed primarily for people with learning difficulties. This means that great emphasis was also placed on simple structure and usability. That stands out particularly positively."

Lena

Job-Coach

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

LANGUAGES

FURTHER INFORMATIONS

Gdw says that under no circumstances will it sell or rent the data it receives to others.

TUTORIALS / LEARNING MATERIAL

German

Video zur Lernplatform:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54xAEeW2mOI

So funktioniert Didab:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpGpWqvxYeg

WhatsDo

WHAT IS WhatsDo?

WhatsDo is a small but solid tool, that guides you through the process of decision making. It makes you reflecting on your choices, the criterias regarding that specific choice and how important they are in relation to others. It then shows you graphically, how good your choices meet the criterias.

EXAMPLES

When a client is insecure in the process of decision making, for example how to choose between different training options in the care profession or a direct contract as support staff, this tool can be used to guide the client through this process. The ‘result’ is obviously not binding, but the process of the app makes you think of your options in a very structured way.

"The actual benefit of that tool is not the result, but the process, where you are guided step by step in dismantling and analyzing your choices and possible decisions."

Alex

Job-Coach

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

LANGUAGES

FURTHER INFORMATIONS

There are similar tools available for other devices or in other languages, e.g. “ChoicePro” in English.

Choice Pro

WHAT IS Choice Pro?

ChoicePro is a small but solid tool, that guides you through the process of decision making. It helps you to reflect on your choices, the criteria regarding that specific choice and how important they are in relation to others. It then shows you on a graph how well your choices meet the criterias.

EXAMPLES

"The actual benefit of that tool is not the result, but the process, where you are guided step by step in breaking down and analyzing your choices and possible decisions"

Alex

Job-Coach

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

LANGUAGES

FURTHER INFORMATIONS

There are similar tools available for other devices or in other languages, e.g. “WhatsDo”.

Microsoft Excel

WHAT IS Mircosoft Excel?

Microsoft Excel as a spreadsheet application is able to process a huge amount of data. It is very difficult to describe this tool due to it’s innummerable functions. An example could be to support clients with learning difficulties in jobs where they have to process data, in this instance it t can help to put a smooth process in place for processing this data.

EXAMPLES

For example if a person working in a post office struggles to sort letters depending on the receiver’s name (names beginning with A – E go to box 1, F-I go to box 2…), a spreadsheet can be prepared, where the client only has to type in the receiver’s name, and the spreadsheets indicate the box where the letters should go.

Another example:
A spreadsheet can help to keep track of something, for example the stock level of office material. n client could receive automated feedback once the number of available pens has fallen to a certain level and the client would then be expected to order new pens.

"Microsoft Excel can help clients with tasks like decision making or keeping an overview, where these tasks are based on data and data processing. Although there are endless amounts of tutorials on the internet, beginners need a low-threshold, job coaching-specific introduction to encourage staff to use Excel as a resource for supporting clients."

Bianca

Job-Coach

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

LANGUAGES

FURTHER INFORMATIONS

The most convenient, but also most expensive setting is to run Microsoft Office / Excel with the paid Desktop version.

Microsoft offers a free browser-based version of it’s MS Office package for everyone, who registers with a Microsoft account. The Android and iOS versions are free as well on devices with a small size. Therefore the usability is limited.