Download Below
After downloading your file, a folder will be extracted with "Just My Type" and two versions of RevPlayer. To run the program you must drag the "Just My Type" program onto the 'Player' that has the "R" icon. Mac users will also have a 'Tracing Font' file. Placing this file in your 'Fonts' folder will give you access to a tracing Font to practice printing.
Backstory
Just My Type began as many customized assistive technology solutions do: in response to a request from a colleague that sounds something like "I've got a kid who…" and "Can you make me something that will do...?". We began with a HyperCard stack that allowed a child to copy text she had dictated to a para-professional. Once it was typed in for her, it appeared one word at a time for her to copy. She could hear each letter and see its location highlighted on a keyboard map on the lower portion of the screen. Only her correct keystrokes appeared in the text box. When she completed typing the text that had been entered, she could print it out and/or listen to it, remaining involved in the same task her peers were working on. Basically, Just My Type was a way for her to gain keyboard skills without editing her errors, in the context of real writing tasks, with the auditory and visual cues she needed.
What has followed can best be described as an avalanche of requests that sound like this: "Now can you make it do____?". Teachers and therapists are using Just My Type to get kids with writing or learning problems to write/type independently instead of relying on cues from someone seated beside them. The keyboard layouts offered as a visual cue have expanded to include small, large, left and right QWERTY, left and right Dvorak, Upper and Lower Case IntelliKeys and frequency sequence layout all with On-Screen Typing Options. What has evolved is a way to allow kids to type using various access methods, and text limited only to what can be typed in, copied or imported from a text file. That translates into content that can be easily connected with curricular tasks. A diagnostics option provides a way to record student rate and errors/substitutions to track progress.
Sounds like a great tool for inclusion doesn't it? Many teachers, students,and families seem to think so. Currently, this program is used by more students than we can count. And it's hard to anticipate being "done" because those suggestions keep coming. What we know is that there are many kids out there who need alternatives to pen and paper, but who also need to gain experience in typing by whatever method. While these kids are using Just My Type, they are gaining keyboard experience, getting their work done, and increasing in independence.
