Assistive Technology that supports Reading:
Most students have difficulties when reading with phonics, vocabulary, and understanding what they have read; children with disabilities are no different. Different programs in the classroom are geared toward helping children learn these key concepts and being able to demonstrate them. Some readers with disabilities simply do not know what steps to take when they do not understand something they have just read. Children who struggle with reading typically have trouble staying focused on the text that is in front of them; this is a sign that they may have attention deficit disorder. Because the student will have found the informtation within the text incomprehensible, the student will begin to associate reading either for school or for pleasure as a struggle and they will grow to avoid it because it frustrates them.
Low tech devices: EZC Reader Strips
EZC Reader Strips help students focus on what they are reading because the strips have black bars that prevent the student from reading ahead and stops them from loosing their place in the text. The strips have a colored filtered because some students find it easier to read text when the background is not white. The strips come in many colors so the student can find a colored strip that works best for them.
Low tech devices: Magnifying devices
A magnifying glass helps students with visual impairments see text that may be too small for them and can not changed or modified. The student can simply raise the magnifying glass to the text that they wish to read the print will become larger and a size that they can better read and comprehend.
High tech devices: WordTalk
WordTalk is a software program that can be downloaded to any computer. The software turns the computer into a word processor, making any word the user of the computer highlights turn to audio. This software is perfect for students with visual impairments and cannot see the text clearly.
High tech devices: Bookshare.org
Bookshare.org is a website that provides ebooks to students who have issues reading printed books. The user can download these ebooks to their computer, phone, or tablet. The student is also capable of making notes in the margins of the book and look up words that they do not understand in a dictionary. Students can also listen to the ebooks be read to them and watch the software read to them. Meaning, while the book is being read the software will highlight each word being read; one at a time. Students with who qualify for this service can access the the website free of charge.
(Dell, Assistive technology in the classroom: enhancing the school experiences of students with disabilities, 2012)
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