Use of Assistive Technology by Students With Dyslexia in Post-Secondary Education
By Draffan, E.A.; Evans, D.G.; Blenkhorn, P.; Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 105-116Publication Date: March 2007
Study conducted to identify the types of assistive technology (AT) provided to post-secondary students with dyslexia under the United Kingdom’s Disabled Student Allowance (DSA), and to determine the students' perception of the equipment provided and to examine their experiences with training. A telephone survey of 455 students with dyslexia who had received technology under the DSA from one equipment supplier was conducted over in the period September to December 2005. A wide range of hardware and software devices were provided, as students with dyslexia often utilize portable notetakers such as the AlphaSmart with standard word processing software, i.e. Microsoft Word. Speech recognition programs such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking are often used to help overcome typing difficulties, while text-to-speech systems like TextHelp’s Read & Write and Claro Software’s ClaroRead can assist in reading. Concept mapping software such as Mind Manager and Inspiration can also be used by students with dyslexia to help organize information for reports and essays. A total of 90 percent of the participants indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their AT, while 48.6 percent indicated that they had received training on how to use their devices. A total of 86.3 percent of these participants indicated that they were pleased with the training they received. The authors contend that while these results are very positive, a number of students still elect not to receive training on how to use their devices, and may not be using their equipment to their best advantage.
Assistive Products Discussed: DRAGON NATURALLYSPEAKING
INSPIRATION
ALPHASMART 3000 (MODELS AS30, AS30-RC, AS30-IR, & AS30-IR-RC)
TEXTHELP! READ & WRITE
CLAROREAD STANDARD EDITION
CLAROREAD PLUS FOR MAC
CLAROREAD PLUS
CLAROREAD PREMIUM
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Limited (Website:http://taylorandfrancis.org)
International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (Web Site: http://www.isprm.org )
