AccessAbility Solutions

The AT Show - Making a Difference to People's Lives

Episode 84 - What are Automations?

How to Build an Accessible Home Everyone Can Enjoy

Episode 83- Cognitive Accessibility

Episode 82 - Useful Siri Voice Commands

Sizergh Castle

For parents with disabilities who are already juggling caregiving, school meetings, medical logistics, and work, starting a business can feel like one more system built without accessibility in mind. The small business startup challenges are real: unpredictable energy, sensory overload, technology that fights back, and support that arrives late or not at all. Still, lived experience is also expertise, and accessible entrepreneurship can turn everyday problem-solving into a disability-inclusive business that fits real life instead of forcing real life to fit a template. Parent-entrepreneur motivation doesn’t come from hype; it comes from building something that finally makes sense. Quick Summary: Starting a Business With Confidence ● Start by clarifying your business idea and mapping a step-by-step plan you can realistically follow. ● Start by lining up disability accommodations early so your work setup supports your health and energy. ● Start by exploring funding opportunities designed for disabled entrepreneurs before you spend out of pocket. ● Start by comparing business structure options so you choose the setup that fits your goals and needs. ● Start by learning startup marketing basics so the right people can find and trust your business. Build and Launch Your Business Plan, Step by Step This workflow helps you turn your assistive-technology focused idea into a real, operating small business with fewer surprises. It matters for parents and educators supporting special needs learners because accessibility, predictable routines, and reliable tools are not “nice to have,” they are the product and the promise. 1. Step 1: Draft a one-page business plan you can actually use Start with three blocks: the problem you solve for learners, the AT solution you provide, and how you will earn money (sales, subscriptions, training, or services). Add a simple weekly schedule that matches your energy, caregiving, and school calendar constraints so the plan fits real life. This structure helps you avoid common startup pitfalls since 90% of startups fail when planning and execution get fuzzy. 2. Step 2: Validate demand with a tiny, accessible pilot Choose one offer you can deliver in 2 to 4 weeks, like an AT setup package, a classroom-ready toolkit, or short coaching sessions for families. Run it with a small group and track only what matters: time spent, outcomes (what got easier for the learner), and what people will pay. Use feedback to tighten your offer before you spend heavily on inventory, software, or branding. 3. Step 3: Line up disability-friendly funding and supports List your startup costs in plain language: devices, software, insurance, childcare coverage during work blocks, and accessibility needs like captions or adaptive equipment. Then compare a few paths at once: microloans, grants, community development lenders, and vendor payment plans, plus local disability and workforce organizations that may know niche programs. It can help to remember you are not alone because there are already 1.8 million business owners with disabilities in the U.S. 4. Step 4: Choose a simple structure and set up inclusive operations Pick the business structure that matches your risk tolerance and paperwork capacity, then open a business bank account and keep expenses separate from day one. If you hire, write job tasks around outcomes rather than physical assumptions, and offer flexible scheduling, remote options, and assistive tech as standard tools. Build your marketing to be accessible from the start: clear headings, readable fonts, captions on videos, and plain-language descriptions of who your service is for. 5. Step 5: Map an optional, flexible online management learning path Choose one skill theme per month, such as pricing, project management, hiring, or customer support, and learn it in small chunks you can maintain during busy family weeks. Pair each lesson with one practical action, like rewriting your service page for clarity or creating a repeatable onboarding checklist for families a...

Here us the recording that Lucy did with me I hope you like it . Here is the link:- https://soundcloud.com/lucy-watson-993251257/sen-together-episode-5

Assistive Technology is moving at such a pace that it’s hard to keep up with it. Busy parents and teachers would find this difficult so I have always tried to give useful information about assistive technology to both parents and teachers. At Home Things that work at home is speech recognition if the pupil doesn’t feel self-conscious using it. It’s 50% faster using your voice and nowadays it is built into your phone, your table and your computer. Combine that with text to speech where the technology you are using reads back to you will enable those with neurodivergency to succeed. Tools in your pocket like scanning pens can help to decode most printed text and speak it back to you. It may help not to show any anxiety to your child if you are worried about their progress and you suspect a special need. The child will pick up your anxiety and respond negatively to it. Also pushing too hard can have the same effect because you are worried for them. The best approach if you are anxious is to ….. relax! I know it’s not easy but a simple mantra might be a little and often. We still need typing skills so 15 minutes a day to practise is all that is needed for about 6 weeks to improve your typing skills. At School For some pupils assistive technology is essential especially if you have a disability. For those with neurodiversity is a game changer and can in some case overcome their learning barriers. The old hot potato about mobile phones in school with the latest pronouncement not to be used in school is bad news for those with neurodiversity who could benefit enormously from copying from the board and just taking a picture so that it could be read to them or have the ability to listen again – a key use of assistive technology that can help their learning. I suppose the use of tablets and laptops can compensate for this lack of ability to record. Of course schools face a tremendous problem with the lack of funding as well as knowledge of what can make a difference especially as their are a plethora of solutions and equipment that can make a difference at a cost. So having a strategy that focuses on what can be achieved with what you have and what might be worth investing in. At the very least the use of text to speech on a browser such as ReadAloud and ReadWrite as well as Immersive Reader in Microsoft 365 products can make a big impact for those who struggle with traditional methods of decoding text. Help is at hand to make sense of all this for schools. The nassen at mini guide which is freely downloadable for schools can help show how to make AT work. As well the training and inspirational films called “ The Power of Assistive Technology” can help foster a culture in a school or college setting to using asssitive technology . Links to the resources are below:- AT Minidguide for SENCO’s and Teachers The Power of Assistive Technology films At the end of this article all that we want to do is empower our children/pupils to achieve the best potential and tools like assistive technology can really help that in a way that wasn’t possible years ago. It’s a golden age for assistive technology in both homes and schools

Livescribe inq smart pen

My good friends at Aventido and AT Superstore are putting on an event on Thursday 26th February at Bailbrook Hotel , Everleigj, Bath. Cost £137 per delegate and includes lunch the focus is Dyslexia and Literacy and is a SEND Conference . “With a focus on dyslexia and literacy the day promises to empower and inspire educators to better understand dyslexia and literacy from a dyslexic perspective and provide you with armfuls of strategies and ideas to take back into your school and classrooms.” Jo is a mum of 3 dyslexic children and qualified dyslexic assessor and social influencer . For more details go to :- https://dyslexiclifewithjorees.com/think-different-jo-rees-on-tour/

Episode 81 - Testimonial about Ray Bann Smart Glasses

Episode 80 - Reminders App iOS

www.podbean.com/ei/pb-akk5i-1a08ffd Using voice command commands in Reminders app can be actually quite difficult to be accurate so would always advise checking particularly dates and times to ensure that it doesn’t just pick up from the last day that you put the reminder in. Also if you’re using shopping app then please note that market complete is the way to actually take out any objects that you don’t want in your shopping list 

Episode 79 - Ray Ban Wayfarer Smart Glasses

smart glasses

Finding meaningful work with a disability:practical guidance that actually helps