Thanks for the feedback. I know that our school has some old Alphasmarts. They used them to teach keyboarding for a couple weeks at the end of the year. At our end of the year 504 meeting, her teacher mentioned that the Alphasmarts did not work well for any of the kids because the keys stick and the design is bulky. She said that she thought DD would do better with a different keyboard -- this was in the context of me saying that we planned to give DD typing lessons. I don't know if we have any Neos.
The OT suggested an inexpensive netbook style laptop that DD could use for word processing. She suggested that we get one with internet capability so that DD could email her homework to the teacher.
I lost sleep over this last night. I want DD to get going on this skill. I know what next year's 5th grade writing requirements are like. I would love to give DD another tool in her belt before then. I'm afraid that DD will need a little more guidance and structure than just handing her a computer/Alphasmart. That has been about the extent of support that she's received in the past.
