Using Goal Guide to Manage Routines at Home and in Middle School

Our work on cognitively accessible self-management applications has always relied on a participatory research approach that grounds development in the real-world life experience of individuals with disabilities and those who support them. We are fortunate to have a rich network of students and adults with disabilities, parents, and teachers who drive our iterative development approach by providing design input, using … Read More

MyLife: IEP Self-Direction and Digital Storytelling

When we started the MyLife project, our focus was on the development of a cognitively accessible, multimedia ePortfolio that would function as a kind of online résumé with a person-centered planning style. The end goal was to provide an intuitive, digital tool for students as end users that would let them document and share their educational, work, and personal experiences, … Read More

Using Goal Guide for Virtual Teaching

In a previous blog post, we showed how the Goal Guide app is being used by the Community Transition and Connections Program in Eugene 4J School District in Eugene, Oregon to foster independence and empower students to run a school store with minimal interaction, prompting, or supervision. To observe Goal Guide in action, we recently visited Josh and the Connections … Read More

How MyLife Can be Used as a Student-Directed Assessment Tool

In a student’s mind, assessment is synonymous with “testing,” and nothing causes anxiety like the prospect of having to take a test. Most educators realize, however, that effective formative assessment of progress, learning, and educational experiences go way beyond test taking. Measuring student progress over time should include formal and informal assessment procedures and it requires tools that capture the … Read More

How Technology Enriches Personal Autonomy

PicturePlanner - 1st Cognitopia Software Product

I remember first meeting Tom Keating in 2001 at the Community Living Program (CLP) in Eugene, Oregon. The CLP is a special education program for students ages 18-21 with a range of exceptionalities who have either graduated with a modified diploma or high school equivalency. What makes CLP unique is that students attend classes in actual apartments in their community. … Read More

Using My Life to Build a Digital Portfolio

Dorothy Miller presents at OAVSNP 2016

I met Dorothy Miller for the first time a few months ago. She’s young and beautiful and has the kind of optimism and enthusiasm one might expect from a person about to enter the workforce. Dorothy wants to make the world a better place, starting with children. Due to her dysarthria, Dorothy uses the TouchChat program on her iPad to … Read More

2016 Oregon Association of Vocational and Special Needs Personnel Conference Recap

Cognitopia was well-represented in beautiful Hood River, Oregon at the 2016 Conference of the Oregon Association of Vocational and Special Needs Personnel. Our team participated in three presentations featuring the newest Cognitopia web applications Goal Guide, MyLife, and ScanDo. On Day 1, Josh Barbour and Tom Keating presented Technology to Support Integrated Employment: Cloud-based Apps, sharing the latest developments within … Read More

SLLEA House and Cognitopia Apps Facilitate ASD Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood

The transition between adolescence and adulthood is hard, but it can be really hard for people who experience Autism Spectrum Disorder. It’s also a stressful time for parents. Sherry Sandreth knows this from personal experience. Julie HenningJulie Henning has been with Cognitopia since 2015. In that time, she has been involved in customer support, training, marketing, documentation, social media, and … Read More