This document discusses various assistive technologies that can help students with dyslexia, including spell checkers, scanning pens, the Wizcom Readingpen, the Neo 2 keyboard, and iPad applications like the Nessy Learning Programme. It provides examples of how teachers can utilize these technologies, such as allowing students to use spell checkers for assignments or scanning pens to assist with reading comprehension exercises. The conclusion emphasizes that while many options exist, access and funding are still challenges, but these technologies can help dyslexic learners keep up when available.

1. Assistive Technological
Advances
FOR STUDENTS WITH

2. Introduction
 In 1968, the World Federation of Neurologists
defined dyslexia as a disorder in children, who,
despite conventional classroom experience, fail to
attain the language skills of reading, writing, and
spelling commensurate with their intellectual
abilities.

4.  Simply put it is a learning disability that can hinder a
person's ability to read, write, spell, and sometimes
speak. Presently, dyslexia is the most common
learning disability in children and persists
throughout life. Its severity can vary from mild to
severe.

5.  Trauma dyslexia usually occurs after some
form of brain trauma or injury to the area of
the brain that controls reading and writing.
Types of Dyslexia  Primary dyslexia is a dysfunction of, rather
than damage to, the left side of the brain and
is genetic, occurring more frequently in boys
There are several than girls.
types of dyslexia that  Secondary or developmental dyslexia is
can affect the child's felt to be caused by hormonal factors during
ability to spell as well the early stages of foetal development and
as read. diminishes with time.
 Auditory dyslexia causes difficulty with
sounds of letters or groups of letters. The
sounds are perceived as jumbled or not heard
correctly.
 Visual dyslexia is characterized by number
and letter reversals and the inability to write
symbols in the correct sequence.
 Dyslexic Dysgraphia refers to the child's
difficulty holding and controlling a pencil so
that the correct markings can be made on the
paper.

6. Help!
 When pupils with these problems are encountered in
the classroom (whether special education or
inclusion), frustration may be experienced by but the
teacher and pupil at some point in the instructional
process. Modern technologies can assist in making
the process of educating the dyslexic learner, a bit
easier.

7. Assistive Technologies
 We have found that many such advances exists,
however we would just look at a few of them.

8. Spell Checkers for Dyslexic Persons
 Spell checkers for dyslexic
persons can provide
suggestions to misspelled
words based on the context of
its sentence or the words
nearest to it. This type of spell
checker can therefore correct
a word although it may have
been spelled very differently
from the actual intended
word.
 A text to speech feature also
lets the user hear what is
written in the document. This
lets the user make further
corrections on the text.

9. Practical ways on how teachers can utilize the
Spell Checkers for Dyslexic Persons
 This can be used in the classroom by the dyslexic
student/s by helping them to spell words they cannot
spell. For example if they are given an assignment to
do on animals they can type in what they think the
word is and get the correct spelling of the word.


10. Scanning Pens
 These are portable devices which
dyslexic people can use to listen
to text instead of reading it. The
user points the scanning pen on a
particular printed word and the
pen’s speech synthesizer then
speaks that word.
 Scanning pens can also scan a
line of text and read it aloud.
Some of these devices have built-
in dictionaries that can speak the
definition of a scanned word.
 Through this device, dyslexic
users can understand printed
text regardless of where they are.

11. Practical ways on how teachers can utilize the
Scanning Pens
 These can be used in the classroom by the students
to help with their reading. For instance when they
are doing Language Arts as in Comprehension, this
will help them read the passage and the questions
and will further help them to answer the questions.

12. Wizcom Readingpen
 The pen includes digital
dictionary, thesaurus, functions
and can:
 Read whole words and phrases;
 Spell words;
 Give readers the definition of
words;
 Provide synonyms for words;
This assistive technology device for and
dyslexia is a good resource to help  With practice, most students
children and adults access reading with learning disabilities will be
materials they might not otherwise able to use the Readingpen with
be able to read. some practice and little
The Readingpen scans text and
assistance. This device is
converts it into voice output. With
recommended for students with
practice, this assistive technology
severe cognitive delays and
device works very well.
significant fine motor
weaknesses.

13. Practical ways on how teachers can utilize the
Wizcom Reading Pen
 Allow students to repeat the words as they are being
sounded out by the pen.
 Make it interactive by getting them to guess each
word and read out phrases wholly without the pen at
first, then after with the pen to figure out how correct
they were.
 Use the pen as an asset for the whole class to figure
out meanings of words, thus leaving the dictionaries
in their bags on that day.

14. NEO2
 The Neo 2 helps students
with special needs such
as dyslexia stay up to
speed with their peers.
 Allows students to type
combination keystrokes
without pressing down at
the same time.
 High contrast LCD
screen and variety or font
sizes, makes viewing
easier.

15. Practical ways on how teachers can utilize the
the Neo 2
 Teachers may use this for the dyslexic student and
allow them to type instead of endure the difficult
task of writing.
 Because their isn’t much text displayed on the screen
at a time, following what has been composed is much
easier than on a large piece of paper or on the
monitor of a computer.

16. iPad Applications for Special Needs
 The iPad is an intuitive
touch screen tablet
computer.
 It is very popular today and
has many benefits in
For those with vision difficulties special needs education
the iPad has a range of built in and for dyslexia as a result.
features which allow  This technology addresses
background colour changes, the problem of reading and
magnification, font-changes and writing and makes
selecting options easier for
text to speech applications
those who have motor skill
which allow web-pages and challenges.
stories to be read aloud.

17. Nessy Learning Programme is an interactive literacy development suite to encourage
positive, independent, learning for pupils of all ages

18. Features of the Nessy Programme
 Integrated electronic record keeping with group monitoring
 Users create their own profile and all progress is automatically saved
 10 new games include titles such as Jig Sore, to build up phonemes, and
Chimp Fu, for syllable division
 25 animated rules
 120 lesson plans with strategies for learning
 70 animated phonemes
 Library of interactive mnemonics and word endings
 40 interactive worksheets
 Provided a teaching manual full of information about dyslexia and how to
use Nessy's resources
 Interactive comic explains 'What's it like being dyslexic?'
 The Fair - 9 games to maintain motivation
 Lessons for Punctuation, Thinking Skills and Past Tense
 Revision games linked to printable certificates

19. Using the Nessy Learning Programme
teachers can:
 Give students tasks such as completing a stage
(seeing that it is a game) for home lesson.
 Allow students to share the experience they felt while
going through the stages and ask them to recall some
of their favorite words.
 Based on the game allow students to transfer all the
words they find are similar in sound or some other
category by grouping them in their exercise books.

20. Conclusion: Using technology to help the dyslexic
 As we can see, much technology is available to the
dyslexic learner. The problem exists as to whether it
can be accessed. Funding for special needs
classrooms in many regions is a major problem.
 If accessed the learner is able to keep up with the rest
of the class and work along with his/her unique
system to learn the content which is covered.

21. REFERENCES
 Assistive Technologies for persons with Dyslexia. Retrieved from
http://www.evengrounds.com/blog/assistive-technologies-for-persons-
with-dyslexia
 Retrieved from http://www.iansyst.co.uk/wp-
content/images/pid204bg.jpeg
 Retrieved from http://www.eurocosm.com/Application/images/C-
Pen/Cpen-20-lg.jpg
 Assistive Technology for Dyslexia – Wizcom Readingpen. Retrieved form
http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/readingstrategies/gr/readingpen.
htm
 Net Educational Systems Ltd. http://www.nessylearningprogramme.co.uk/
 Renaissance Learning (2011). http://www.renlearn.com/default.aspx
 Tablet Computer.org. (2011). http://tabletcomputer.org/apple-ipad/ipad-
helps-special-children/