REVIEWED BY NUMBERDYSLEXIA’S EXPERT PANEL ON MAY 02, 2022
Remote assistance has been getting easier with improved technology. What teachers may now need are just a few tips to make it a lot more effective. For people with Dyslexia, these tips work not only for personalization but also ensure flexibility of resources and time.
To end your search for strategies, we here provided effective ways to support special students. Apart from replacing the need to be present physically, these strategies are simple to employ and yet can be assistive pedagogically and personally.
Remote support- How is it pivotal for special children?
Remote support is often technology-based assistance that facilitates people with intellectual and developmental compromises to learn and compete independently. Remote support professionals (RSPs) can provide care remotely and respond in real-time to sensor alerts such as motion, door, and bed sensors by putting technology in the individual’s home. They can interact with the individual when it’s appropriate without being physically present.
Providing access to technology for kids receiving special education services may assist them in receiving high-quality educational instruction during extended school closures. If the student attends a school where 1:1 technology is not available, special education pupils may need to be provided with devices to ensure online learning alternatives.
Remote support may be an edge for parents as well. Mentors who may be attempting to strike a balance between working, teaching, and overseeing their children around the clock may ensure that their little ones are offered righteous guidance.
Chief attributes of remote assistance- Grounds for convenience!
Here are five different grounds where remote assistance can turn eminent, especially for special aspirants:
1. Location
With the ability to study at any university, you may access all the information you need without leaving your house, regardless of your geographic location or time zone. This can be substantially beneficial for those who live in remote locations with either no or very less availability of special schools and tutors.
2. Flexibility
Remote learning often provides a study schedule that is adaptable. Each student may get a chance to determine how much time they need to devote to learning a particular subject and, as a result, decide the length of the lectures as well. Furthermore, at some schools, it is possible to postpone training for a long time and then return to it without having to pay again.
3. Better Communication
Interaction between student and teacher here gets quick and efficient. Most of their communication takes place over the Internet, so the student may always ask about a topic of interest and receive a prompt response without having to book an appointment in person.
4. Material availability
Teaching resources are readily available online, mitigating the stocking need of books. All relevant instructional resources in distance education are available in electronic format, ensuring that students have everything they need to gain the complete range of information.
5. Serenity
Remote assistance, when ensured transparency, may return out serene with minimal effort. For instance, with a clear explanation of the query, a student can clear out the issue with a couple of messages effortlessly.
How to remotely support a dyslexic student?
Below are some of the ways which can be used to make remote learning more effective.
1. Clear communication
Students with dyslexia may be hesitant to express their queries and concerns in the class. Teachers should explain how children and parents can seek assistance or further assistance. We have the illusion that everyone in this generation is completely at ease online. However, this isn’t always the case when dealing with a language barrier. As a teacher, you must establish clear guidelines for how students interact in an online classroom. There should be clear communication between the teacher and student so that the teacher is able to understand the needs of the child in a better way. Better communication will lead to better understanding and teaching in the class.
2. Try alternate ways of teaching
Teachers may not be able to apply what worked in the traditional classroom to an online situation. When making improvements, they must take into account the requirements of students with language-based learning compromises. Special children may require significant assistance in maintaining their efforts and acquiring the stamina to accomplish the challenges of reading. For children, both support and clear education are often required.
3. Take advantage of remote options
Snap & Read, CoWriter, and Word Bank are just a few of the tools that might help teachers to teach students in a better way. These tools include features that assist children who have difficulty reading and writing. They also allow students to interact with literature, at the same time, making it possible for teachers to have face-to-face conversations with students from all over the world because of video conferencing.
4. Use of the latest technology
Schools should leverage technologies like speech-to-text and text-to-speech functions to help students with dyslexia navigate lessons and finish tasks, as they spend more time in front of computers, whether at home or during in-person learning. These students aren’t learning vocabulary if they aren’t reading the same text as their peers. Word prediction, writing and vocabulary word banks, and speech-to-text are some of the other functions. These functions will help the students to learn in a better and easier way by making them understand things better.
5. Avoid asynchronous learning
Dyslexic students require direction, instruction, and real-time feedback, which are not provided in recorded lessons. The concept of asynchronous learning is inappropriate for dyslexic students. There’s a difference between teaching kids how to read and assigning them to read. Asynchronous learning should be avoided also because it does not provide direct instruction. There must be some form of directed practice. Children require instant feedback and correction. They require independent practice, followed by a review wherein the teacher is always assessing things.
Conclusion
While the assistance may be necessary for all children, special aspirants may need personalized and concreting support. Even if the learning or provision is remote, with a few methods and plan of action, the barriers if any, may be sorted out, starting with taking advantage of remote access; one may check out the above-stated methods to ensure better guidance of learning compromised children. Also, ensure to be aware of accommodations that the student may be eligible for.
An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’,