Technology Tools for students with special needs

This week we have been learning about software and devices to assist students who have impairments and disabilities.

• If I had a student with a hearing impairment, I would try to use some sort of speech-recognition software that could translate spoken lessons in the classroom to written text for the student to read. The new iPad has a closed caption capability which would be useful for the student when viewing a video or movie. Many lessons and learning activities do not involve oral/aural work, so they would need no special assistance to complete those assignments.
• A student with low vision has several options depending on the severity of the impairment. All e-readers have adjustable font size so the text can be magnified to ease reading. They also usually have brightness and gray-scale adjustments to heighten the contrast for easier reading. For students with more severe vision impairment, a few e-readers have text-to-voice capabilities. The Kindle has text-to-voice, but does not have spoken menus, and a totally blind person would be unable to navigate through the system without assistance. So that particular e-reader would only be appropriate for a student who cannot read much text but can read a little, for brief moments. Amazon is currently working on a new version that would have full voice command for all areas of its use. They will also include a very large font for people who can read text if it is magnified in size. Other e-readers have voice command for all aspects of their use and so would be usable by students with any level of vision impairment. (Wikibooks. Assistive technology in education/ebook.) DAISY talking books are available on a multitude of platforms and can be downloaded to most personal computers for use with Word for example. The DAISY software converts text to speech and even has markers, a listener can go directly to specific points in the text, like a chapter or a particular heading. (Wikibooks. Assistive technology in education/daisy.) DAISY would definitely work well for a student with any visual impairment.
• A student with a physical impairment, like a broken arm, preventing them for writing, typing, or even holding a textbook to read, would benefit from the use of speech recognition software. The student would be able to use the software to perform tasks on the computer like typing papers, doing internet research, reading assignments from instructors. some software works as an overlay on a screen allowing the user to "select" points on the screen by identifying increasingly specific areas to home in on the point they wish to select. (Wikibooks. Assistive technology in education/speech recognition software.)
• An autistic student, who does not speak, could possibly use text to speech software to create a "voice" that would do their speaking for them. Activities using text and interactive visual learning do not require any speaking at all. Many of these activities are available on computer platforms and could be used for this type of student.

Software and devices are constantly being upgraded, enhanced and developed, so in not-too-distant years there are sure to be even better and easier ways for disabled students to learn successfully and independently.

Reference list:


Wikibooks. Assistive technology in education/ebook. Retrieved from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/eBook


Wikibooks. Assistive technology in education/daisy. Retrieved from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/DAISY


Wikibooks. Assistive technology in education/speech recognition software. Retrieved from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Assistive_Technology_in_Education/Speech_Recognition_Software