How Can Technology Help Kids with Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a common learning disability. Students with dyslexia have trouble reading and interpreting letters, symbols and words. Because classroom learning involves large volume of writing and reading, students with dyslexia can easily become frustrated and fall behind in their lessons.

Technology in the classroom can offer many benefits to students who struggle with learning disabilities. Apps and devices that can help compensate for disabilities are becoming more widely used in schools across the country. If you are pursuing a Master of Education in Special Education degree online, you will become familiar with technology that assists students with learning differences, including students with dyslexia.

Here are some examples of technology in the classroom commonly used to help students with dyslexia thrive in the classroom:

Livescribe Smartpen

The Livescribe Smartpen is an electronic pen that contains an audio recorder. As users take notes with the Smartpen, a camera takes pictures of the words. A microphone records the lesson, which syncs with the pictures of the user’s notes. When students later review their notes, they can simply tap the photos of their notes with the pen, which will pull up the corresponding audio data for a given note.

vBookz PDF Voice Reader

This is an app that converts text in any PDF to a font that was specifically designed for readability by students with dyslexia. The program can also read any PDF out loud. Because students with dyslexia benefit from hearing text out loud, this is an incredibly beneficial type of classroom technology.

Dragon Dyslexia Solutions

This is an app that functions as dictation software. Students simply speak, and the app will convert their speech to text. For students who struggle with spelling and typing, dictation software is highly useful. This software helps to reduce stress in dyslexic students, allowing them to focus instead on their curriculum.

In an online master’s in special education program, master’s candidates will learn how to bridge the learning gap for students of all abilities. Because students with dyslexia have difficulty reading, writing and interpreting words, they greatly benefit from classroom technologies such as the examples above. These apps and technologies assist students in typing, spelling, reading and comprehension. Because assistive technologies are constantly evolving, it is important for educators to remain apprised of the most current devices and apps for assisting students in the classroom.

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Learn about University of Texas Rio Grande Valley online M.Ed. in Special Educational program.

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Source:

http://www.dyslexia-reading-well.com/assistive-technology-for-dyslexia.html

http://www.idaga.org/Downloads/AssistiveTechnologyForDyslexicStudents.pdf

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