Assistive Technologies for Reading

This article talked about using new technologies to help students with learning disabilities read. Students with learning disabilities are commonly reading well below their grade-level. There are reading support computer programs that help students access grade-level text as they read. There is also technology that helps as a reading intervention to allow students strengthen and improve overall reading skills. Students with learning disabilities commonly skip words or misread written text and even their own writing. Teachers have found that students with disabilities are more likely to read a text passage multiple times using software versus only hearing it once when a teacher is reading it to them. Short videos are also used in conjunction with the program to help students who are not familiar with the words in the passage.

Interesting Bits -

• 18% of students didn't need special education services for reading after using the computer based programs.
• Students read the passages multiple times when using computer programs.
• Computer readable texts need to be made available in order for this to work.
• 8 out of 10 students with learning disabilities have reading problems.

My Summary -
I have not seen anything used like this in the school at which I work. I think that the article makes a good point when it says that this program hinges on the material being available in a computer format. Most of the books at my school are not available on computer and not even available in enough numbers to sign out a book to each student. This doesn't mean that in "actual" special ed or remedial classes they don't use these technologies. I think that it is a great idea; and if students are willing to use the programs and educators are willing to take the time to learn the programs and implement their use then I can see it working well. The article also makes another point that technologies are merely the vehicles that deliver instruction and do not influence student achievement any more than a truck that delivers vegetables to our grocery stores changes our nutrition.