Nadira’s family has lived a law-abiding — but illegal — existence since arriving in the U.S. from Bangladesh years ago. During a post-9/11 crackdown, her father is discovered and the possibility of deportation hangs heavy over their lives.
Torgesen,J. K., & Miller, D.H. (2009). Assessment to improve instruction in academic literacy for adolescents . Portsmouth, NH: RMC Corporation, Center on Instruction.
Are there other examples you can think of about how AT is being used effectively to serve students with learning disabilities?
Another great example is word prediction. So for students who have difficulties with spelling, we have these fantastic programs that are very much like the auto correct on your smartphone. So as you’re typing in, it gives some suggestions of what are you actually trying to type, or changes it for you. However the technology for students with literacy difficulties is much more advanced than our smartphone is. It’s using very sophisticated algorithms to look at the phonetic spelling.
How are students using technology to help them study?
There are a lot of great study tools available now. One example is the virtual highlighter, so if I’m on a web page, I can highlight a piece of text, or if I’m reading a pdf, I can highlight a piece of text. The software can gather those highlights, and create kind of note for the student. It’s like starting with the tools that we use for reading comprehension, such as using a highlighter to mark the main ideas, or a post-it note to write our questions down and then stick the note on a piece of paper. We’ve taken those basic tools and made them digital.
Assistive technology is any kind of technology that can be used to enhance the functional independence of a person with a physical or cognitive disability. Get the basics in this fact sheet from the Center on Technology and Disability.
Assistive technology is any technology that enables a person to be able to continue to perform or to circumvent any area of challenge due to a disability. And I think one of the things that’s really important around the definition of assistive technology is this idea of the disability part. Because when we actually look at students who are using assistive technology, most of the technology that they’re using is the same type of technology that other students are using.
Are there some common misconceptions about assistive technology that you often encounter?
The biggest one is that it’s a form of cheating. That the technology is doing the work for them. So often a teacher will be reluctant to allow a child to use some technology, because they feel that by the fact that the computer is reading out loud to them, that suddenly they must have some great new understanding, that their intelligence is kind of giving them the answer. Again, that’s not the case. It’s kind of like the wheelchair. The wheelchair does not give a person who’s paraplegic, any great super powers.
If your child has a learning disability, he or she may benefit from assistive technology tools that play to their strengths and work around their challenges.
