Local
News
Assistive
Technology for the
Child in the
Classroom.
Anne
Rees talked about
apps which could help children, who had difficulty reading or writing,
keep up with their classmates.
At exam time,
candidates who have severe reading problems, may be
allowed to have the questions read to them. But this is expensive
and the children need to become used to this method. They may be
self-conscious about writing the answers when there is an adult sitting
by them and they will need to be in a separate room from the other
candidates. However modern computer applications allow scripts to
be read out from the screen and the student has control over how this
is done. Anne argued that this was altogether a better
arrangement and that if this method was going to be used it should be
introduced early on in the child's education. Similarly a child
who has difficulty writing for whatever reason may be better helped by
the use of speech to text software than by having an amanuensis to
write their exam papers.
If the school
introduces children, who are having difficulties in
reading, to these applications early on they will be able to read the
same textbooks of their classmates and so develop understanding and
vocabulary. If the app underlines each word as it is read
this will reinforce reading. Class work can be scanned in and
many textbooks are available in electronic form. One source is
Load2learn, https://load2learn.org.uk/
Children
have difficulty writing, perhaps because of dyspraxia or
poor spelling, can benefit from speech to text software which would
free
them to write full answers to questions and essays.
We discussed
how using these apps might affect reading and writing
development. Reading could be reinforced by seeing the words on
screen as read, widening the vocabulary, hearing the word correctly
pronounced, and nurturing the enjoyment of books. Text reading is
a valuable way of proof reading documents as we may hear mistakes more
readily than see them. Some handwriting is still necessary but
nowadays typed work is very acceptable.
So introducing
children, perhaps all children, to this method of
working will benefit their school education and provide them with a
skill which will be valuable for the rest of their lives.
Students at university often work this way and dictating notes is
common in hospitals and businesses.
There are many
applications which will turn text into speech and speech
into text and many can be used on a tablet or smart phone.
Examples are ClaroRead,
http://www.clarosoftware.com/
Read&Write
http://www.texthelp.com/UK/our-products/readwrite
ireadwrite
for ipad
http://www.texthelp.com/north-america/ireadwrite/
Dragon
Dictate
http://dragondictation.co.uk/
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Available on loan
We have a
number of audio tapes and video tapes on dyslexia which will be of
interest to teachers and parents and also a CD available on loan. These
may be borrowed for 2 weeks by members on the receipt of a deposit of
£15.00, refundable on return.
We have a few ipads which are available on loan, for a deposit , to teachers or parents wanting to explore some of the apps.
If you are interested please e-mail westwalesdyslwxia@gmail.com
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Tuition and Courses
We also have a brief list of qualified tutors working
locally
and of approved
courses in dyslexia.