Technology for High School Dyslexic?

[Tokyomarie]

My 15.5yo son recently received his formal diagnosis of dyslexia & ADHD. I've known it all these years & have taught to those needs to the best of my ability; I wasn't in a "place" in life to be able to do the formal eval before this year. His current level of academic function follows:

 

He reads at grade level with average comprehension given normal time constraints; comprehension goes up to about the 90th %ile given time & a half.

 

His listening comprehension is way above average.

 

His writing is his greatest area of struggle. Spelling is at about beginning 3rd grade level for instruction; he has finally gotten over enough of his perfectionism that he will at least compose on the computer w/spell check. His spelling attempts are now phonetic enough to be able to use spell check semi-efficiently. That's improving the level of vocabulary & sentence structure he uses in his writing. Challenges with executive functions & perfectionism have kept his overall progress in mastering the writing process to a snail's pace. We are still working at a paragraph level, though I'm hoping to move to some essay/multiple paragraph reports sometime this year.

 

We now have tutors helping us with reading fluency, writing, and executive function skills.

 

Now I'm ready to consider adding technology so we can help him work closer to his intellectual ability level for content classes.

 

What technology has been most helpful for those of you with college-bound, high school aged dyslexics? For reading? Writing? Note-taking? Organizational skills?

Edited August 1, 2010 by Tokyomarie

[RamonaQ]

Disclaimer: I do not have a hs/ college age student, however, this area is one I am already researching soooo......

 

When our ds was evaluated by the Eide's they demo'd this pen to us.

 

http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/

 

It would help with notetaking, in that, by a simple tap, the pen will record a lecture. What is particularly unique is that the pen, through tapping symbols, can be sync'd directly to the notes you take (thus you can easily skip to where you need more input for your notes). They said it was created by a dyslexic individual and very successful for high school/ college. When I described this pen to a recent dyslexic college grad friend she immediately said that note taking was one of the greatest struggles she had in college.

 

I don't know what you are using for spell checker, but Ginger is really helpful as it is a context specific checker and also can catch grammar issues. However, I see, for example, at Don Johnson there are similar products that may be more powerful. Speaking of which, Don Johnson might be a useful place to peruse.

 

Finally, another product that I have had my eye on is Read/Write Gold, http://www.texthelp.com/page.asp but we have never used it, nor do I know much about it. However, all the text prediction, and built in look up functions seem like they are very useful.

[Tokyomarie]

Disclaimer: I do not have a hs/ college age student, however, this area is one I am already researching soooo......

 

When our ds was evaluated by the Eide's they demo'd this pen to us.

 

http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/

 

It would help with notetaking, in that, by a simple tap, the pen will record a lecture. What is particularly unique is that the pen, through tapping symbols, can be sync'd directly to the notes you take (thus you can easily skip to where you need more input for your notes). They said it was created by a dyslexic individual and very successful for high school/ college. When I described this pen to a recent dyslexic college grad friend she immediately said that note taking was one of the greatest struggles she had in college.

 

I don't know what you are using for spell checker, but Ginger is really helpful as it is a context specific checker and also can catch grammar issues. However, I see, for example, at Don Johnson there are similar products that may be more powerful. Speaking of which, Don Johnson might be a useful place to peruse.

 

Finally, another product that I have had my eye on is Read/Write Gold, http://www.texthelp.com/page.asp but we have never used it, nor do I know much about it. However, all the text prediction, and built in look up functions seem like they are very useful.

 

Thanks for your reply! I first learned about LiveScribe from another post on TWTM & our evaluator recommended that we check it out. I don't think he has personal experience with it, though. I would love to find someone who can demo it for us.

 

The Read/Write Gold looks like an incredible product, but Wow! the price! Between all the out-of-pocket for evaluation & tutoring expenses, and the fact that we really need to upgrade to a new, more robust laptop for DS if we're going to add technology, I'm not sure whether this could become reality for us. I see the company holds webinars on the product so I may sign up for one just to get a better feel for what it's all about.

 

Right now, we are just using the spell check & grammar functions that come with Microsoft Word. It works for ds about 75-80% of the time, I'd say. But I'm sure one designed for dyslexics would be better.

 

What I would really love, if & when we avail ourselves of technology, is someone to teach ds how to use it. I am feel old & tired right now & not desirous of learning lots of new stuff besides what I already have to teach. I'd love it if a magic fairy would come live at my house and do his remediation work & teach him the tech stuff- all for free! ;)

[EKS]

The single best thing I've done technology-wise for my high school student who also has dyslexia and ADHD is to get him his own laptop.

 

He does all of his writing and note taking on it. He gets it to read what he's written aloud so he can more easily catch wording mistakes. He uses a flashcard program on it for vocabulary (Latin, English, and science). He uses it for research. And he uses websites for his textbooks to look at animated figures, videos, etc.

 

Though we haven't done this, most major textbooks (including many college level ones) have an audio version you can listen to.

 

He also uses an ipod touch to set up alarms and other scheduling things.

 

And then there's pharmaceutical technology. He takes a very low dose of Adderall on school days. We started this in 7th grade and it has really helped with certain slowness issues.

 

So there it is. I hope this helps!

[Tokyomarie]

The single best thing I've done technology-wise for my high school student who also has dyslexia and ADHD is to get him his own laptop.

 

He does all of his writing and note taking on it. He gets it to read what he's written aloud so he can more easily catch wording mistakes. He uses a flashcard program on it for vocabulary (Latin, English, and science). He uses it for research. And he uses websites for his textbooks to look at animated figures, videos, etc.

 

Our ds has had a laptop for his use since he was 12yo. We purchased a very low end model for his first one, seeing as we weren't sure he could be responsible enough to take good care of it. But he has outgrown the clunky Vista on a 512K- upgraded to 1G platform. Now that Windows 7 is out (I am using it now & like it much better than his Vista!), I'm ready to spring for a new computer for him.

 

What program do you use to make flashcards? Ds will be doing biology this year, which is definitely vocab intensive. I would also like to have him be able to create flashcards on computer for Japanese vocab.

 

Does he use any special software for notetaking? Does he take it into lectures with him?

 

Though we haven't done this, most major textbooks (including many college level ones) have an audio version you can listen to.

 

I'm planning to get the MP3 version of the Apologia Biology text. I haven't signed up yet, but I see that the Recordings for the Blind & Dyslexic has the Apologia texts in their offerings as well.

 

He also uses an ipod touch to set up alarms and other scheduling things.

 

Ds has a touch. I may need to look at it more closely to check out these things. He is using the stopwatch function to time his fluency drills. He actually has asked for a larger model of the I-Pod. He doesn't like the small size of the touch, so I'm thinking of getting him something else & taking over the one he has.

 

OK, so I'm going to admit how lame I am....Ds has the NANO. He doesn't like the small size of the NANO & would like a I-touch. I knew the difference already but my own word-finding challenges got me this time...(now I'm slinking away.....)

 

And then there's pharmaceutical technology. He takes a very low dose of Adderall on school days. We started this in 7th grade and it has really helped with certain slowness issues.

 

We haven't gotten this far yet. We're still doing some other medical evaluations, but the more I read, the more I'm wondering if meds could help. He's been given an ADHD combined-type diagnosis, but at this time he really struggles more with inattention/maintaining focus than he does the hyperactivity/impulsivity. He's not a classic hyperactive kid, but has the impulsive features of doing things like getting up and walking away from me when I'm in the middle of actively teaching him! It's better than it was but still drives ME crazy.

 

So there it is. I hope this helps!

 

Thanks for your comments. They are much appreciated!

Edited August 2, 2010 by Tokyomarie

[RamonaQ]

 

What I would really love, if & when we avail ourselves of technology, is someone to teach ds how to use it. I am feel old & tired right now & not desirous of learning lots of new stuff besides what I already have to teach. I'd love it if a magic fairy would come live at my house and do his remediation work & teach him the tech stuff- all for free! ;)

 

I will just give you a big amen, on that :tongue_smilie:. I also feel your same exhaustion, and pain in the pocketbook.

 

I forgot to mention one of the tools that we are using, supplied to us by our virtual academy, is Kurzweil. Another ridiculously expensive product, but I can see how very powerful it could be in college (in fact, there are stories of people solely using it in college). It is a program that has the text book scanned in, so it appears on the screen just as you would see it if you opened the book. So you listen to the book with TTS, but then have the ability to highlight text. You can use different highlighters, and then you can extract the text (all of it or based on colors). This has been an excellent way for ds to build study sheets (vocab vs. general study notes vs important people). Likewise there are dictionary functions, ability to create documents in which Kurweil will read them back to you.

 

Kurzweil may be something to be aware of when you look at schools. It seems that some colleges that do a good job of supporting disabilities will make the effort to have a student's textbooks available in Kurzweil format. If you choose such a school, then you may want to invest in Kurzweil then.

 

Finally, you mentioned in your response above that you may upgrade your iPod. We are currently waiting for the next version of the iPad because I believe that the TTS will be much better (although in the current form it is usable, but you have to globally turn it on, so you here every selection speaking to you, not just text). Although, the new Kindle with the cheaper price is rather tempting. BTW, we have an iMac and the built in TTS is really good, ds just highlights selections on the web and it is read to him (along with in documents, etc...).

[riutwpoj]

There are many modern technology products that can assist dyslexic persons in understanding information or improving their skills, for example, they can benefit from text to speech software programs, some of the programs can highlight the word or sentences being read, convert the text to mp3 audio books, read text on the web pages aloud. User can adjust volume and rate. Take a look at Panopreter Plus for more features.

 

Devices for spelling and grammar, electronic dictionaries and voice-enabled computers are helpful too. With the proper training and treatment, dyslexics can overcome their dyslexia symptoms.

[rafiki]

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[cat]

With your diagnosis you qualify for this service. They have a lot of textbooks and books on recording. Great Resource!

 

http://www.rfbd.org/alt/

 

Often my child has trouble sounding out new words....just found a great way to hear any word.... http://www.howjsay.com

 

I've never used Dragon Speech Recognition, I wonder if it works..... feedback anyone? I haven't seen great reviews.

[cat]

Also, I've heard great things about this pen, especially for college students!

 

http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/

[Quiver0f10]

Stupid queston but can the Apologia audio text to play on an Ipod?

[Tokyomarie]

Stupid queston but can the Apologia audio text to play on an Ipod?

 

The audio files are MP3 files, so I don't see why not. My son currently listens on his laptop; he only has a Nano & doesn't want to load it up with his Biology book files :rolleyes:. OTOH, if I needed him to listen while we are out somewhere he could temporarily load just the files for that module.

[Tokyomarie]

With your diagnosis you qualify for this service. They have a lot of textbooks and books on recording. Great Resource!

 

http://www.rfbd.org/alt/

 

Often my child has trouble sounding out new words....just found a great way to hear any word.... www.howjsay.com

 

I've never used Dragon Speech Recognition, I wonder if it works..... feedback anyone? I haven't seen great reviews.

 

Check on RFBD. We just got our approvals with RFBD a couple of weeks ago. I haven't gotten any books yet, but have a list saved of ones I want from his history & literature curriculum.

 

I'm still mulling over what is the best format & hardware to use. Any hints?

 

I'm hoping to just use his laptop for now until I can figure out what else I might want to purchase. Unfortunately, he really could use a new laptop because his hard drive is nearly full & it's a clunky machine built for XP which runs VISTA because it was new shortly after VISTA came out. All that to say, I'm not sure how well it will work for this purpose.

[Quiver0f10]

Check on RFBD. We just got our approvals with RFBD a couple of weeks ago. I haven't gotten any books yet, but have a list saved of ones I want from his history & literature curriculum.

 

I'm still mulling over what is the best format & hardware to use. Any hints?

 

I'm hoping to just use his laptop for now until I can figure out what else I might want to purchase. Unfortunately, he really could use a new laptop because his hard drive is nearly full & it's a clunky machine built for XP which runs VISTA because it was new shortly after VISTA came out. All that to say, I'm not sure how well it will work for this purpose.

 

 

We bought a daisy player and honestly we haven't really used it much. We just listen on the computer. I am probably going to sell the player and just stick with the PC. Once my son is a bit older we will probably invest in a laptop for him.

 

.

Edited September 13, 2010 by Quiver0f10

[Quiver0f10]

The audio files are MP3 files, so I don't see why not. My son currently listens on his laptop; he only has a Nano & doesn't want to load it up with his Biology book files :rolleyes:. OTOH, if I needed him to listen while we are out somewhere he could temporarily load just the files for that module.

 

 

Thanks! Good to know that it can be done.

[RamonaQ]

Check on RFBD. We just got our approvals with RFBD a couple of weeks ago. I haven't gotten any books yet, but have a list saved of ones I want from his history & literature curriculum.

 

I'm still mulling over what is the best format & hardware to use. Any hints?

 

 

We don't use textbooks, but get literature books from RFBD. I remember sorting this all out a year ago-- As I remember, the RFBD software is not compatible with iPods. So we bought a Sansa Clip

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=sansa+clip&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=11786513241670541430&ei=cMKOTNK6KIGisAPR6ZHmCw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CEMQ8wIwAw#

 

We download books onto the windows partition of our Mac using the RFBD software, and then use WMA to load up the Sansa. Usually I can get it to go, but honestly, it is just a bunch of click, click, clicking without really knowing how. It would be more efficient if I did know.