Last Updated on February 4, 2022 by Editorial Team
Dyslexia interferes with the ability to recognize and form letters. It reflects poor reading and writing skills. Previously, when the term was not known all those people who could not read or write were branded academically poor. But, there were several innovators and creative geniuses like Einstein, Picasso, who showed that the inability to read and write is not equal to poor intelligence. It is the shortcoming in teaching methods and not the child that needs transformation. The technology offered suitable accommodations to create a more inclusive model, and assistive tools for reading are one of the outcomes of the education system embracing innovation.
History of assistive technology use in education
The technology boom transformed various aspects of our lives. The education system tasted its marvels in 1988 with the introduction of the Technology-related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act[1]. This act allowed releasing of federal funds for employing assistive technology in education and work. But, the real boost to the transformation of education was offered by the IDEA Act, 1997, which advocated the application of assistive technology along with the implementation of IEPs (Individualized Education Programs)[2]. Cut to present times, there are several types of assistive tools available for building comfort with reading.
Types of assistive technologies for reading beginners
Assistive devices to support reading beginners can be rehabilitative and compensative in nature.[3] Rehabilitative ATs offer alternative ways of reading and writing, while compensative ATs bolster the in-borne reading and writing skills but present in a weaker manner. While deciding the IEP applicable, teachers also earmark the type of assistive device to be employed in imparting or boosting the skill.
1. Rehabilitative ATs
Phonemic awareness-building software is one of the examples. The learner absorbs the letter knowledge by smearing the letter shape instead of trying to read written alphabets. Other modules of this software focus on teaching syllables and words. It was introduced in Malaysia as MyLexics.
Several other countries developed such software to offer language-specific phonological awareness to literacy skills acquirers.
Both these followed the phonological path of offering a primer to build linguistic skills. But, how about imparting knowledge of those words that don’t follow any phonetic rule or deviate from grapheme-phoneme correspondence?
To provide support to read such words, Lexical support providing software and reading screens are developed. Mills, Weldon talked about Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) in one of their papers in 1987[4]. They found that though the paper-based manuals were faster to read, those who could not cope with saccadic eye movements while reading found solace in reading screens. For such people, the paragraphs were fixed on one side of the screen that limited abrupt movements of eyes and allowed better concentration.
That was just the beginning! Growing sophistication has yielded other technological marvels that offer assistive functions to reading disabled individuals. These are:
- Reading Pen: Using this text-to-speech solution, Dyslexics receive the voice output of the written text. Thus, those things almost impossible to read become comprehensible with this assistive device; also no intervention requirement helps increase self-dependence.
- Note-taking pens: Writing laggards can have suitable solution in note-taking pens. The pen records the lecture for you; thus, it dispenses need to divide attention in listening and writing simultaneously.
- Read & Write Software: Google Read & Write is a smart tool that offers several alternatives to written text and is easily integratable in classroom environments.
2. Compensative ATs
Dyslexia may be present in varying extents. As per the gravity of the situation, one may choose compensative support. It is recommended after thorough analysis and assessment. Compensative ATs just provide a cushion to reduce mistakes in work. A few examples are:
- Word prediction and proof-reading tools: It can help develop vocabulary and learn spellings
- Text pre-writing organization tools: Learners can organize the structure of their textual presentations or have the main points in the written text highlighted
- Text explainers: There is a video tutorial provided as a support for understanding the written text. The tool helps learn word segmentation, pronunciation, spelling, and reading comprehension.
How assistive technology benefits
Assistive technology usage is in consonance with the Rehabilitation Act. The fact that a sizeable population is left ignored due to their inability to express their ideas or demonstrate their expertise needs corrective addressing; the solution is offered by assistive devices. The Assistive technology for people with reading and writing disabilities have brought the following refreshing changes:
- Better participation: Students in classroom can participate much like the non-disbaled peers[5]. Their response time, understanding of topic and general participation in classroom activity improve when assisted by technological interventions.
- Improved memory retention: Since assistive devices are adorned with storage features, the learners can get a support to frail memory. They can refer to the devices for retrieving information needed to complete reading task.
- Mutisensory advantage: If reading is affected due to neurological framework, the devices offer multisensory approach to compensate for the shortcoming.
- Intellectual curiosity boost: Since reading support allows them to process information with ease, they are driven to explore the topic. The improvement in intellectual curiosity is visible in the form of enhanced questioning ability and readiness to explore more.
- Autonomous attitude: Assistive technology allows readers to become self-sufficient. Their doing things on their own boosts confidence. They feel confident and responsible, and display acceptance for accountability. It paves way for better task handling; also, they can make best use of exemptions.
A decrease in the abandonment of schools and the better contribution of people with reading disabilities is a testament to the fact that assistive technology has made learning easier for them. The area of assistive technology is still in a nascent stage and more sophisticated enablers are expected to hit the shelves in coming times.
Conclusion
Reading difficulties in children and adults call for the need to modify the teaching methods. Assistive technology proves effective in applying those innovative ways of imparting skills. Extracting performance and participation from otherwise creative and intelligent individuals becomes easier with assistive tools. The need is to implement the grants laws globally and to bring down the cost of having assistive technology. It can help authorities achieve the objectives of No Child Left Behind, and derive benefits from these learning supports.
References
[1] Committee Report, Congress.gov, S.2561
[2] A Guide to Individualized Education Program, US Department of Education
[3] Assistive Technology for reading disabilities: opportunities for developing countries, Conference Paper by Tania Cerni & Remo Job, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Italy
[4] Reading Text from Computer Screens, Mills – Weldon, ACM Computing Surveys, 1987
[5] Literature Review the effectiveness of assistive technology to support children with SLDs, by Mary Pushpy Tony, Jonkoping University – School of Education and Communication, 2019
I am Pratiksha Bhatt, Bachelor of Life Science, and Masters in Management Studies. I have done certification courses in early education counseling. I am a writer, a mother of a child with spelling difficulties which drove me to alternative resources of education like manipulatives and participatory activities. My areas of expertise are learning difficulties, alternative learning methods, and activity-based learning.