Salvation Through Assistive Technology
Christopher Lee, Practitioners’ Points – Volume 3, Issue 4, 2003, A Publication of Florida’s Bridges to Practice Project, http://www.floridatechnet.org/bridges

Mine is a story too commonly experienced by parents and teachers around the world. I was diagnosed with a cognitive deficit disorder in the second grade, placed in special education and speech classes, scored 650 on my SAT, and had to work my way through developmental studies, before I was mainstreamed at the University of Georgia. You could say that I was doomed to failure from the start. However, I was one of the fortunate ones and beat the system. Channeling my energies into a hobby and developing a strong support network became my salvation. Through my support network, an academic action plan involving tutors, mentors, creative strategies, and accommodations, I survived.

I understand firsthand that Assistive Technology (AT) is an important piece of the support system individuals with LD require to achieve success. And I have discovered that achieving success with AT is aided by developing an action plan that is "task" driven. A task plan simply means that you evaluate each task – eating at a restaurant or passing the GED Tests – and break it down into specific sub-tasks – reading the menu or studying vocabulary – and then incorporate strategies, accommodations, assistive technology, and the right support system to successfully complete each sub-task and ultimately the task.

Exactly What is Assistive Technology?

AT is any item, piece of equipment, or product that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the abilities of individuals with disabilities: tools to promote independence across all areas of daily living - in the classroom, at work, in the home, or in other social settings. AT is, in short, valuable tools for life. However, assistive technology is not the answer to all problems faced by people with LD or their service providers. Those seeking technological assistance should focus not on the device, but on what the device can do for the individual in need. The fit must be right, and the biggest or most expensive may not always be the best fit. The key to selecting the most appropriate tool involves many elements: seeking a thorough team evaluation, finding the resources to obtain the technology, customizing the technology to make the best fit, and providing the time and the patience for the individual’s training.

Assistive technology tools range from low-tech, low-cost items to high-tech, more expensive devices. Low-tech devices require little or no training; high-tech devices may require extensive training.

Inexpensive Low Tech Solutions

The simplicity and ready availability of low-tech devices should not be overlooked. Inexpensive color highlighters, for example, can help individuals with reading difficulties distinguish words that appear the same - like proud, pound, and pond. Providers help the student highlight troublesome words in different colors and make them visually aware of the differences between these words. Such training leads the student to a higher level of awareness of his/her disabilities.

Valuable High Tech AT Devices

What are some useful technology solutions that can increase task performance and accommodate the students with whom you are working in your classroom? And what are some resources that you can evaluate before purchasing? What follows is a brief description of some of the most popular and valuable AT available today.

Computer Screen Readers and Talking Word Processors

For reading comprehension and written expressive capabilities, screen readers and talking word processors are the most helpful AT solutions on the market. The most effective devices utilize software that takes a multi-sensory approach, combining auditory, visual, and tactile sensory inputs and outputs. Many of these assistive technology devices were originally developed for individuals with visual and mobility impairments, but over the last several years have been successfully applied to the learning disability arena.

There are several software packages that give students the ability to hear the text they see
on their computer screens as well as hear the text they are typing into the computer. Most of these programs have additional reading and writing features built into the software, including:

Spelling: WordSmith incorporates the latest advanced spell checker specifically designed to solve the most complex phonetic errors. The spell checker can be customized to suit individual needs. Errors are logged into the database to monitor user progress and help the development of literacy skills.

Homophone Support: Identifies and provides audible definitions for various like-sounding
words.

Word Predictions: Aids in sentence construction by suggesting and predicting words. Word predictor will learn as correct text is typed, dramatically aiding the development of literacy and increasing accuracy. It is grammar phonetic based.

Thesaurus: Increases literacy and creative writing skills by allowing alternative word lookup and definition.

Pronunciation Tutor: Breaks words into syllables, allowing easy recognition and pronunciation to aid in accurate speech.

Calculator: An on-screen speaking calculator with all the main functions of a basic or scientific calculator.

Scanning: Scans any text document into Microsoft Word or other word processors for enabling on-screen editing and text reading.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scanning programs: “Reads” any material from hard copy (books, magazines, etc.). A scanner and computer with multi-media capabilities are required in addition to the software. Students can scan the material into the computer, which will read text aloud via a speech synthesizer. Options such as voice, rate of speech, and screen display may be individualized. For a user who is scanning text with graphics, the best bet would be to buy an OCR software package developed for individuals with disabilities.

Speech Maker: Converts selected text into speech, which can be saved as a WAV, MP3, or WMA file.

Speech Recognition: Operates in conjunction with specially equipped personal computers. Such programs enable the user to dictate to the computer, converting oral language to written text. Speech recognition comes as a feature in many screen reading and talking word processor programs, however, the most effective speech recognition programs are stand alone products such as IBM ViaVoice http://www.ibm.com/software/speech or Dragon Naturally Speaking http://www.dragontalk.com/NATURAL.htm.  Check out several screen reading/talking word processor programs and explore some of the above features by visiting: Read & Write http://www.texthelp.com, WYNN (http://www.freedomscientific.com), and WordQ http://www.wordq.com.  Another great program is Reach Interface Author http://www.ahf-net.com, offering a screen reader, talking word processor, automatic windows management features, word scanning, and SmartKey ™ word prediction. This software provides students with the opportunity to remediate their spelling skill while accommodating them.

Screen Magnification Software

Use magnification and speech together or independently to increase word recognition and relieve stress, which can improve the individual’s reading skills. Two good screen magnification software products are MAGic http://www.freedomScientific.com and
Zoomtext http://www.enablemart.com.

Books on Tape/CD-ROM and/or E-Text

Utilizing books on Tape, CD-ROM, and/or EText can help in accommodation and remediation of students. There are two primary services that record books. They include:
􀂾Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D): a non-profit service organization providing educational books (academic text books) on audio-cassette and CD-ROM. Visit the RFB&D web site at http://www.rfbd.org.

􀂾National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), a free service of the Library of Congress, often referred to as Talking Books, offers leisure materials and magazines on audio-cassette and CD-ROM. Visit the Talking Books web site at
http://www.loc.gov/nls.

Outlining/Brainstorming Software

Many individuals with LD have difficulty organizing topics, categories, and sequences. An appropriate method for many adult students with LD is to allow them to “dump” any ideas on paper without regard to organization. Outlining programs allows the student to dump information, which can subsequently be placed in appropriate categories and ordered more easily. Inspiration is one type of outlining software that can be useful to students. A free evaluation copy of Inspiration can be downloaded at http://www.inspiration.com.

Microsoft Accessible Features

ABE teachers should be aware of the features in current Microsoft operating systems. Take some time to check out the Accessibility Folder under the control panel. Microsoft has gone to extra lengths to provide accessible features in their operating system (i.e. text font, background screen colors, and enlarged computer icons, such as desktop icons and mouse). It is also important to be aware of helpful features in Microsoft Word. Under TOOLS there are two features that are similar to word prediction - Autocorrect and Autotext. Another good feature is the Autosummarize feature under TOOLS. This feature takes the text and summarizes it in highlighted format. Key topic areas are then pasted into a summarized document

Freeware /Shareware

Bookshare - http://www.bookshare.org/web/Welcome.html

ReadPlease - http://www.readplease.com

Talk To Me - http://www.talk-to-me.net

Text Edit (Mac) - http://www.tex-edit.com

In this article, I have offered just some of the solutions to help increase task performance utilizing Assistive Technology. Take some time to find out more about the resources in your
area. Most states have an AT project (www.resna.org/taproject/index.html)  that
offers a wide selection of AT services, including, in some states, lending libraries. Also, most AT software vendors offer demonstration disks. Two good sites to visit regarding buying assistive technology are http://www.synapseadaptive.com and http://www.atdepot.com.

The world of Assistive Technology opens doors for individuals with disabilities. It offers valuable help to make us more independent in school, at work or in a social environment.
Not all technology works for everyone, but when you do find the right match, gaps in learning start to close and success usually follows.

CHRISTOPHER M. LEE is a nationally renowned consultant in the field of learning disabilities. He has spoken to numerous groups on topics that include self-advocacy, living with LD, assistive technology and learning disabilities, and the like.