Tools to help with school
I had no idea about all the new stuff out there in Technology World but now my eyes have been opened up and let me tell you…Wow!! There are some really awesome gadgets on the market that can open up whole new worlds for people with disabilities. If I’d had access to these things sooner, I for sure would have passed my classes without half the struggles! These can make a person’s life so much easier.
A woman named Brenda McBride spent quite a bit of time showing my mom and I some of these devices and how to use them. They are powerful! A couple months later, mom and I went down to Ohio to demonstrate what we’d learned and the people there were as astounded as we were! It is so awesome.
Here’s a quick rundown of three programs I learned about:
*The Intel Reader is a device that takes pictures of text, processes it and then reads it back, all without any downloads. It reads at the speed you tell it to, and it also does a whole lot more.
*Dragon Naturally Speaking is a software program that lets you talk into the headset and it types out for you. Now that’s awesome.
*Solo is a software program that has every type of paper organization format.
There are so many more to tell about but those will have to wait for another day.
I’ll be advocating these tools because they should be made available to everyone who needs them. Life is hard enough with dyslexia or some other learning disorder, so I want to do my best to get the word out.
Anyone who’s interested in any of these technologies, or if you’ve got questions that I can help you with, contact me at dyslexiawonders@gmail.com.
Yes, there are so many new and wonderful tech tools out there to help many who are challenged learners.
Have you heard about the Reading Focus Card? It can help many struggling readers by providing a color and focusing attributes.
The Reading Focus Card is created by an experienced teacher and is curretnly being used in select Kumon-N. America studios. You can also call 314-892-3897 to speak to the teacher/inventor of the tool.
You might want to visit http://www.ReadingFocusCard.com to learn more. Great tool for ADD/ADHD and dyslexia!
Sincerely,
Joan
This sounds like a great program…I’m sure it would be very useful for schools for dyslexic children . Thank you for the great post and product.
Jennifer,
We read your book and want to thank you for writing it and sharing your experiences with others. You are very right when you say that tools should be available to everyone. In Ottawa, Ontario Canada we formed a community collaboration between the four school boards and three post secondary colleges and universities. We created a website with FREE online training resources and videos for students on the learning strategies using assistive technology–voice to text software, read aloud software, graphic organizers. We were lucky to receive grants from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Inukshuk Fund, Cowan Foundation and from an anonymous donor.
Please have a look at the site, especially the Student Videos (we are making the college/university videos right now and will put them on the site in March 2011).
We are also creating a Teacher Training program to help teachers integrate AT into their classrooms.
It should be ready soon too.
Please share this site with others. http://www.ocri.ca/at in order to help as many people with dyslexia as possible.
thank you for sharing,
Lee-Ann
Mother and Advocate for students with LD