Dyslexia and Assistive Technology

Dyslexia, being a learning difference, comes with its own challenges and benefits. Today, we are going to be looking at how the usage of certain assistive technologies can be helpful to many people with dyslexia of all ages.

1. Text to Speech: Text to Speech is a very popular assistive technology tool. This tool is used to read long emails, ebooks, websites, or whatever else it may be. The computer will read out the text to you, which helps many readers better understand the content instead of struggling to read the email and then realizing they didn’t understand any of it.

2. Speech to Text: This is also another very commonly used tool and is basically the opposite of Text to Speech. This is mostly used for people who have trouble with spelling, writing long emails, reports, or any other written communication. Enabling this tool allows the person to talk to the computer where then this tool types in the content into an email, google doc, etc.

3. Mind Mapping: This is a visual thinking tool that uses images, colors, and keywords to prompt memory and association. It is also a really unique way of presenting any set of information. This tool helps keep your information organized. It also helps with planning for big projects, studying, and notetaking.

4. C-Pen Reader: The C-Pen is a tool that is used for paper books, magazines, articles, and any other hard copies of text. It is very easy to use as well. The user simply has to scan any word or sentence by pressing the pen against the text. The pen will then read that word or sentence out loud as well as say the meaning of the word or the overall meaning of the sentence. This tool can be purchased online.

5. Spell Check: This is a commonly used tool amongst everyone, and can be very helpful while writing long essays or simply a small text to a friend. This tool does just what it sounds like, it checks the spelling of each word and fixes it when there is an error.

6. Computer Based Learning Programs: There are also many reading programs, apps, and websites which help students with dyslexia sharpen their skills in reading, writing, touch-typing, and many more.

These are just a few of the tools that have been proven to be useful. Of course, every individual is different and there is really no way to know what is best for you unless you try it out. Some tools may be helpful to some while others could find it totally ineffective, but at the end of the day, finding what works best for you is the most important.