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Audio–note taking app launched for students with learning difficulties


A new app for children and students with learning difficulties, hearing impairments or limited fluency in a language has been developed by Surrey-based assistive listening specialists Conversor. The Conversor Pro Recorder App


records audio such as a teacher's lesson using its patented digital noise reduction software. The app starts up in seconds


and can record and play audio in the background while students use other apps. It supports voice-activated recordings to skip any silence and features a 10-band equaliser. Conversor has since produced a


Windows App, Claro AudioNote, which can upload both audio and bookmark files for Conversor Pro Recorder and Olympus. Jeremy Brassington, managing


director of Conversor, said: "We are delighted to have partnered up to produce a series of apps which link to existing audio tools. We look forward to future partnerships


to develop products for new platforms which make a genuine difference to the educational support available to children and young adults with special needs."


Bath’s autism summer school triumph


A summer school for young people on the autism spectrum (ASD), hosted by The University of Bath, has been deemed a success. The Introduction to University life:


Summer school for students on the autism spectrum was a three-day residential school for young people with a diagnosis of ASD. Transitions can be particularly difficult


for people with ASD, and the school provided a taster of university life, including lectures on how to manage academic work and what the social environment is like. Small group sessions were also


run on stress and anxiety management as well as how to develop and maintain friendships. The summer school was run by the


University's Department of Psychology and free to all students thanks to generous support from the Bath Alumni Fund and the Widening Participation Office. Dr. Mark Brosnan, from the


Department of Psychology, said the benefits for the students were immense: "The summer school was a huge success. It was amazing to see how


well the students coped with university life. They all had a great time and felt they benefited immensely from the experience." The students experienced living in the


University's halls of residence for two nights and on one night went to the bar and ordered food and a (non-alcoholic) drink. They also made a meal in the halls of residence and ordered takeaway food. Guidance was provided by the


University Disability Support team as well as external bodies such as the NHS, the health promotion team from the local council and the National Autistic Society.


Major anxieties about leaving home


and developing friendships were expressed by students before the school and they said they were significantly more positive about atending university after the school. Prior to atending the school 11 out


of the 23 students were actively positive about atending university. This increased to 22 out of 23 after the school. Dr Ailsa Russell, also from the


Department of Psychology, said: "The students were all far less anxious and more positive about university after the summer school. We are hoping to follow up the students after six months to find out just how helpful the school was." One student who atended


the school said: "It has actually made me feel proud of having my Asperger's." Another added: "I was quite scared


about Freshers' week but now I'm raring to go and wanting to go and do it." The Department of Psychology is


hoping to run the course next year and is currently looking for funding.


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