Assistive+Technology+in+Reading+and+Writing

=Assistive Technology in Reading and Writing=

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Audacity is a free download that allows students to record, playback, and edit their voices. I have used this with dyslexic students in their writing. They record their thoughts onto the computer, then play it back, writing as they play it back. This gives them the ability to let their natural thoughts flow first without worrying about the mechanics of writing. This allows students with dyslexia to write and perform to their greatest potential and creates much less frustration in their writing.

iTunes and iPods
Intelligent students' with severe reading disabilities or severe dyslexia are often forced to read books that are not below their reading level, but are below their interest and/or intelligence level. Allowing students to have a mixture of reading regular books, reading a book along with an ipod, and listening to a book on the ipod can allow them to participate in classroom activities at a much higher level than their actual reading ability might allow.

For example, last year I had a student that had a severe reading disability. The first couple of months I had him, he was frustrated with school, with life, and more than anything, he hated reading and usually refused to read at all. His reading ability, when tested on with Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) was on pre-K level. Quite by accident, I discovered that he had a passion for World War 2, so I began recording mp3's of his favorite book in the classroom, putting them on an iPod and letting him read and listen. He loved it. Then I went to the library to check out books on CD, which I would download onto the computer and put on the iPod. This particular student would listen to 5th and 6th grade books on the iPod and make 100's on Accelerated Reader tests. He was also able to do projects and activities centered around the higher level books, so he was using his brain in a more effective way than he would have if he had only been allowed to do projects on what he could actually read.

Screen Reader
Screen Readers will actually read what is on the screen to students. They work on Internet sites, word documents, PDF documents, and more. The most popular screen reader in Special Education is Kurzweil, but it is fairly expensive. These listed below are free. They are not perfect and do not have the bells and whistles of purchased screen readers, but they are an excellent trial to see if this type of assistance would be usedful for a student.

Mac
http://www.456bereastreet.com/archive/200505/voiceover_and_safari_screen_reading_on_the_mac/

Thunder:
http://www.xpscreenreader.com/index.php?tab=o&cPath=253