Trying to find software in France to help my son with note taking in school

Not that I know of. We are supported by the MDPH, they allocate an AVS. But I have never heard the term ULIS before. I will of course check to see if the teachers are using any particular system but I suspect they are not. The marks are supposed to be available electronically but the links don't work, they haven't quite got there yet. What I find difficult to get my head around is how schools do accept kids with special needs but don't give teachers the extra training they need. Surely this should have been done way before any children with learning difficulties were allowed to attend. The alternative methods of teaching required for some kids are not something teachers can just learn as they go along, no matter how dedicated they are. It seems crazy.

Lots of useful info given here, regardless of spelling. Lots for me to start looking into. Thank you all for your ideas.

You're right, of course, John. "Program" is the accepted spelling. Much like the disk/disc issue. I was being a little tongue-in-cheek. The English spelling appeared in print occasionally at the start of the computer revolution but journalists and the industry in general chose to stick with American version. Chambers Dictionary suggests "programme" can be used by stating that program is only the "usual" spelling in computing. Let's hope Karen finds a suitable app, however it's spelt.

Program is the accepted term in computing. They have never been programmes. An alternative name was application and that of course has been shortened to App.

Yes thanks I’ve thought of that John,and looked at a wifi one in Super-U before as well as the Apple one when in Le Mans, but as I have a perfectly good Canon printer/copier/scanner sitting here waiting for the computer tech to come back to sort the Asus notebook out, think I’ll wait But I’ll bear the make Brother,in mind if needed.

One thing I would say is before you get him equipped, find out what systems school has and make sure what you have is compatible. That's why I suggested eg open office. If the school has an ULIS, they are the people to talk to.

We aren't trained to deal with pupils with special needs because pupils are deemed either to be able to deal with mainstream school; or not, & in that case we don't see them, although this is starting to change. With increasing integration of pupils with SEN in mainstream school about the only person who is going to be a bit clued up is the ULIS coordinator, if there is one.

I use Note Everything on my Android tablet to take basic notes. It has the capability to record text, voice and graphic notes, organise material in easily accessed folders and produce accented characters painlessly. I don't know if this would cover your son's needs but it's a free download from the Google "Play Store" and you have nothing to lose by trying it if you decide on an Android tablet. I use Libre Office/Open Office on my Windows PC for serious work, but happily use a Lenovo Yoga 8-inch tablet for email, web access and internet banking. Works a treat and has extraordinary battery life. I understand there are a bunch of free or inexpensive programs (if you insist on the US spelling, which has now been embraced by the OED) similar to Note Everything, and I suspect most of them would do the job. Good luck in your search.

Shirley, it’s very straightforward to print from an iPad using a wifi printer. I use an inexpensive Brother printer that allows me to print directly from the dedicated App on the iPad. It’s very useful at times.

Sounds good the Fr laptop Karen, presumably the OS will be up to date, making it easier to download uptodate French info you find. OS systems and updates are changing so rapidly these days!

I’m with you all the way there Vero, from years ago, I even had just a few folders inside the Major Topic Folder, all kept on desktop. I.e. Financial,using Excel, for bank reconciliations, and accounts. legal, insurance, all with their own correspondenc folders inside them. I suppose I made my own software system work for me in a way I could use easily. Having started off in days of using ledgers, once I adapted to my computer software I was well away in those days, using my sales and purchase accounts to reconcile to my bank statements. But back then I did also print off hard copies for accountant before I started sending as attachments to emails. Unfortunately also having the knowledge these days doesn’t always as easily activate the Neural transmitters in terms of focus or concentration when I find in the middle of doing one thing I’m suddenly doing something different! I think I need to read my HW leaflets again given to me in print form by them :slight_smile:

Karen look at the Headway website www.headway.co.uk. (One of many health related Communities on www.Health Unlocked.org





Headway was set up primarily for people with Brain Injury however caused. They cover various topics organisational and cognitive skills, poor short term memory or loss and have PDF’s on these. I’m not saying your son has some or all of these. On the HW main page you will find a link to their PDF’s and you can read before picking and choosing which to download.



They also have discussion forums, similiar to this, where you make your own discussion (Posts) the difference being the contributors are all in the same boat as either having a B I with its side effects, or as carers of those who have.



Vero’s suggestions are excellent!

I can relate to those, and have always kept especially named ‘folders’ at work or home, on both my PCs that ran on MS Wins, and now on the iPad on IOS. I worked in administration for so many years it was habit.



How I wish I’d thought of the USB’s here and now though - I’ve messed up so many software programmes/computers over last 3 yrs, that now when I need the information that is still buried deep on the hard drive I can’t access it and now can’t print the info I have and need that’s saved on my iPad.



My husband decades ago said to me, think of a computer as a filing cabinet, open the drawer and take out the file you need, when you need it, also very sound advice I think for your son, especially with the colour coding! Like your son, I’m lucid, keep up with the crowd most times, but my organisational skills have deserted me somewhat. Another thing I do is keep an indexed address book, write down the important Titles and a brief note I need to remember, under the relevant Letter of the Alphabet! I do t need the whole alphabet so cut out the unneeded letter, giving more pages for the ones I do need.

Merci.

Hi Karen, most teachers have no training, very little experience with special needs students and have no idea what your son is going through apart from the fact that he is struggling. I would start here WWW.FEEDFRANCE.FR and maybe here http://www.enseignement-prive.info/colleges/dordogne/departement/24/COLL/1 as a lot of private schools focus on special needs (which is one of the many reasons few teachers in State schools have experience.

Good luck!

The most simple I have found so far is a straight forward WP, I need to look further to find the same with Fr keyboard. It would be small, light, fast to boot up, long batt etc Also found a co econocom, that specializes in software for schools. The site I found was UK but I think they are a Belgium based company, so that looks promising. I need to spend more time on this too. I found a few more US based sites too. At this stage I am just exploring the diff options. I have just dug out an old Fr laptop we have here, so I will see how he is with that too.

Can you give some examples of the English language software that you think would be suitable if it was available in French. I really can’t see how bespoke software would help. Veronique’s suggestion of Open Office or another straightforward word processing or DTP program would be so practical for everyone concerned.

Thanks I will take a look. I can find lots of info on English lang software but not so much in French so far anyway. I need to do some more digging.

Yes that would definitely be something we would consider. I didn't realize that at all. Do you have any idea how I would go about finding out which schools would be better equipped than others in my area. I am in dept 24. Maybe I could speak to my MDPH rep. The main problem over all is I feel that his teachers have no experience in special needs at all. They have even said this in meetings. When I discussed the possibility of using software not one person in the room (and the room was full) had any suggestions, or even where I could start looking. So even tho they are supportive and want to see him succeed, there is not a huge amount they can do, given their training or lack of. Even our MDPH contact who is lovely and super helpful was stuck, didn't know where to start.

I don’t think you need to overcomplicate the problem. You say that your son’s difficulty is physically taking notes with a pen and paper. He would have no trouble using and understanding a straightforward dendritic file system.

Thank you I'll take a look. Any study aid is worth a go. He has no problem retaining info for a test IF what he is learning is printed out in word etc, in fact he is very fast. But if he has to revise using his own hand written notes it is very difficult. But I can understand that.

Perhaps yes. Something that is easier for a child to follow than windows. Maybe using colors, icons etc. There are a few companies out there, I am waiting to hear back to see if they have versions in French too.