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Assistive Technologies and Accommodations

Assistive Technologies

Assistive technologies are the means for helping dyslexics with the transfer of information at school, work, and for pleasure—reading and writing.  

  • Keyboards 
  • Recording systems 
  • Calculators  
  • Livescribe smartpens 
  • Talking dictionary or electronic thesaurus 
  • Speech-to-text softwarelike Dragon Naturally Speaking, and programs with spellcheck features for writing. 
  • Audio books 
  • Digital text-to-speech software—this means that text has been encoded in digital form so it can be real aloud by a text-to-speech program on a computer or other electronic device. Additionally, as Ben Foss discovered, the big advantage of digital text is speed. He says, “You can listen to digital text much faster than analog text recordings—in some cases up to ten times the spoken rate, and over time you can train yourself to be comfortable with ultrafast digital text as a way of getting access to information.” Ben couldn’t read well, and used this technology to get his BA, Masters and JD/MBA all from prestigious universities. He says that one essential key is to listen to many electronic voices and pick the one that you like best.  

Tip: This is the book to get to help advocate for your dyslexic child at school! 

This book will help you untangle the intricacies and help you advocate for your dyslexic child. 
Dyslexia Advocate! How to Advocate for a Child with Dyslexia within the Public Education System by Kelli Sandman-Hurley. And here's a short video about dyslexia from Kelli: What Is Dyslexia? 

Accommodations

Accommodations help students learn in a style that benefits them most. Some people may misguidedly view dyslexic accommodations as “cheating” but they are not! Accommodations are the equivalent of having a ramp for a person in a wheelchair to get up the stairs instead of dragging him- or herself up step by step by the elbows. Could they get up the stairs by crawling? Yes. Is it necessary, productive, or more fair? No! The Eide’s write, “Accommodations aren’t cheating, and they don’t unfairly plant ideas into anyone’s head. They simply remove the barriers that prevent dyslexic students from expressing what they already know—that’s all.” 

Accommodations for School and College Students Include: 

  • Being able to use the assistive technologies listed above. 
  • Extra time to take tests and complete schoolwork and handwritten assignments.  
  • Oral testing or having a person to act as a reader to read test questions aloud. 
  • Having a quiet room to take exams in.

More Info:

Please also check out the info on the Disability Vs Difference page.

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