• • • Spell-checkers - A 4th grade student of mine is dyslexic and struggles very much with spelling. He has the most wonderful ideas for stories, but when it comes time to put those ideas on paper, it looks atrocious. He spells everything phonetically, and at times he doesn’t even do that.

We do a lot of proof-reading when he writes, and he knows that they are wrong, he just doesn’t have a clue of what he needs to do to change it.

I decided that I would try using a spell-checker with him to see if anything improved. His mother was very apprehensive at first, and did not want him relying on a device to help him with his disability. She felt that he needed to learn how to spell on his own, and that by using a spell-checker it was not going to remedy that problem.

I assured her that it was just an experiment and that I wanted to see if it helped him with recognition of what he might need to change.

During the next tutoring session, I started to use the spell-checker with him, and the results were amazing. I had him write down three dictated sentences, and then circle the words that he felt were not spelled correctly.

He was able to circle every word that was wrong, and with the use of the spell checker, he was able to recognize the correct spelling of each word, and do all the self-correcting on his own.

He is now using his spell-checker at school during his writing lessons, and his teacher is very happy with the results. His mother is also pleased that we have found something that he can use, and has realized that some children with disabilities need to have ways that will help them to learn easier, and that it doesn’t mean “failure”. (Nanci Ross, Utah, USA)
USA | UK

• • • Kindle 2 Electronic Book - 'One of my students has found Amazon’s Kindle 2 electronic book system very useful because she can load her school English texts and pre-read them in a font size best suited to her reading ability.
Kindle2 also has a text to speech feature so that she can have the book read to her while she follows the text.' (R.P, Hong Kong.)

'The Kindle 2 does away with almost every awkward convention introduced in the original version. The device is now cleanly laid out, very much shaped like a large iPhone; a big rectangle with rounded edges. The keyboard has gone from that unnatural, slanted arrangement to a standard, familiar keyboard layout, and the keys are now small and round instead of rectangular pellets. The next / previous buttons occupy a very similar location, but are much smaller (as opposed to taking up the entire side of the device), so the threat of constantly hitting them is noticeably alleviated. They've also been stiffened up, so even if you do accidentally brush past one of them, it takes a little more effort to engage.

'The screen itself is looks somewhat clearer than the original version, helped largely by the fact that the e-ink display can now show up to 16 shades of gray as opposed to the previous four. You can definitely see those differences in font smoothing and on images (which, incidentally, you can now zoom in on)'. - EnGadget Review
USA | UK)

• • • Calculators - Louise has been struggling with math facts for many years. She never did master them back in the 4th grade, and hated when her class would play speed games with multiplication facts. She would always profess that she needed to go to the bathroom or find some way to get out of playing the game. She also shied away from any type of board game where you had to go up individually and do problems. These experiences were so overwhelming for her, that she hated school, especially math.

During the 6th grade Louise had an experience that changed her outlook on herself and on math in general. During that year the teacher had the class do timing tests once a week with their multiplication facts. As they mastered one fact, they would go on to the next, until they mastered them all in 5 minutes or less. Louise just could not get past her 4’s and the rest of the class was almost completed with all of them and on to division facts. This was done every Wednesday, and Louise would always decide she had a stomach ache that day, and refuse to go to school. It was so humiliating to her, and the class would ridicule her all the time.

Her mother sensed that something needed to be done, so she confronted the teacher and told her that they needed to have some other approach to helping Louise memorize her facts. The teacher didn’t realize that she felt this way, and decided that some kind of intervention needed to happen. After doing some testing on Louise, the school learned that Louise was dyslexic, and that numbers on a page were just a mess. With the help of a resource classroom, and I as her tutor, Louise has made amazing strides in her math facts.

We started to use a calculator to check her math, and this has been a big boost to her self-esteem. She is able to do the problems she has, check them for accuracy, and then realize that if she made a mistake she can go back and see where it happened. Louise has learned that the calculator is a help to her, not a crutch, and she knows that it is there when she needs that extra little boost. She no longer has the anxieties the she once had about math, and the use of the calculator has been the key. (Nanci Ross, Utah, USA)

• • • Wordshark - an important UK teaching resource for improving spelling, reading and motivation. Based on 'Alpha to Omega' and compatible with the National Literacy Scheme, it combines over 30 games with the serious task of learning to read and spell. Wordshark is designed for Key Stages 1-3 and includes KS1-2 word lists and KS3 subject word lists, but is also great for secondary and adult users as it includes higher level word lists.

Each game supports different aspects of reading and spelling, with variable levels and speeds to suit all grades. With scores and timings displayed on screen, competitive play between two or more users provides good training in mouse and keyboard skills.

.• • • Clicker 4 - Clicker Writer is Clicker's talking word processor. You can type into it just like any word processor. When you complete a sentence, the sentence is spoken using one of the clear voices included. If you like, you can have each word spoken as it is entered, or even each letter.

# "With Clicker 4 the computer is set to read automatically as soon as a period/full stop is used. This has been great in reinforcing the use of capital letters and full stops. My son is able to check his work as he goes and edits immediately instead of waiting until the end when he has forgotten what he has written. He prefers the voice in this program as the other was more or less on one tone. He is more able to independently find correct spellings and he is able to listen to each word then select the one he needs. This is helping him to work with greater independence and is building his confidence to try and complete a task." (S. B-W, Somerset, UK)

# "When I took S out to work with him we spent some time discussing “good” words to use for our leaflet about the school. I helped him with some of the words because as a very reluctant and struggling reader he hasn’t come across lots of exciting adjectives. When we had a comprehensive list I spent a few minuets turning it into a user friendly Clicker grid. I decided to use Clicker because you can create any grid you want with any amount of words in it . You can also have graphics and or sounds with the words. The child is encouraged to type small well known words but when it comes to a longer word or one that is difficult to spell the child uses the mouse to click on the word in the grid, this then appears next to the already typed work. This works particularly well when the child is timid about using words they are not too sure they know and are also very scared of spelling correctly. When they click on the word the computer will speak it, so they know if it is the word that they want or not. When the child has written a sentence the computer will automatically read out loud what the child has written before they move on to the next line/sentence. This program gave S the opportunity and satisfaction to produce work of the same quality as his friends and with only a very marginal amount of input from a adult. " (C.B., Surrey, UK)

• • • Kurzweil 3000 - 'The Kurzweil 3000 is the greatest tool to benefit the dyslexic student. My high school students can bring in a library book or an article, etc. and scan the material one class period and listen/follow along the next period. The students can use bookmarks and change the voice and speed that it reads to their individual tastes. The Kurzweil also comes with a CD with numerous works available to be read without scanning. With the CD you just find the author and click; locate the story you need and click; and start listening. The classroom teachers are really great about sending the reading assignments to me a few days ahead of time so I can have them scanned and ready to read. This helps the students because they stay on schedule. Sometimes students come in after and before school to scan articles so they will be able to keep pace with other students. Therefore extended time isn’t necessary. The bottom line is that it is a wonderful tool that gives the students a sense of independence.' (Lisa Landers, Texas)
     The “Kurzweil 3000” scans text, recognizes text, reads the text with voice options, and highlights the text – each word as it reads it. It has highlighters that can be used to extract and make notes from the text and therefore is useful in summarizing. The voice control and speed of speech can be set and it sometimes reads words out of context, but very rarely. It is an excellent asset for dyslexic students if you can find an electronic version of the text that you are required to read, import the text and have Kurzweil read it. However, its greatest drawback is that scanning each page of text when reading a book is extremely time consuming and takes a large amount of computer space. Therefore, my son finds that he does not use the program as much as he would like to, due to this drawback. (Keppy Guberman, Israel)

• WordQ - a writing tool used along with standard Windows word processing software. It uses advanced word prediction to suggest words for you to use and provides spoken (text-to-speech) feedback.

• • • TextHelp - highly recommended by John Bradford - 'an excellent word-processing support program which links in to your word-processor, suggesting spellings for each word as you start to type it, and reading out your writing so that you can see if it makes sense or if you've missed out any words.'

• WordQ2 - a software tool used along with standard writing software. It suggests words for you to use and provides spoken feedback to help you find mistakes. Users of all ages who have problems writing and editing can benefit from using WordQ. WordQ was researched and developed at Bloorview MacMillan Children’s Centre, an internationally renowned children’s rehabilitation hospital located in Toronto, Canada.

• • WriteOnline - has built-in tools for writing support. Pupils can use its integrated speech, word prediction, word banks and writing frames to help them write. It incorporates word prediction. The Wordflow Predictor works as you type, displaying the most likely words at the top of its list. Pupils can personalise prediction for individual needs too, ensuring that they are offered words at a level appropriate to their reading ability. ability.
WriteOnline

• • Co:Writer - adds word prediction to any word processing or email program. Co:Writer provides the explicit vocabulary, spelling, composition and revision supports that build skill and considerately scaffold a broad population of struggling writers. FlexSpell, equipped with thousands of phonetic spelling patterns, accommodates students who spell words like they sound. Hundreds of Topic Dictionaries are included so students can participate in writing across the curriculum — in every genre.

"Co-writer 4000 is a great instrument. It can be use as a thesaurus and give power words that will strengthen your writing style while developing a wider vocabulary." (B.R.N., Iraq).
USA | UK

• • Write OutLoud - talking word processor and writing software program built specifically for students in grades 3-12 . The program reads each sentence as it is finished, allowing the child to go back and correct errors. Allows children to write more effectively, more ofte, and have more enthusiasm to share creative thoughts on paper.
Write OutLoud demonstration

• • EasyTutor - Computer users can write, read, view and check text alongside a human sounding voice. Students with literacy problems can achieve improvements of up to 40% in exam scores when learning materials are delivered as combined audio and text. The program has an intuitive toolbar which works seamlessly with Microsoft Word, Excel and Internet Explorer. University students, and adults at work or on work training schemes will all experience the benefits of developing their reading and writing skills with EasyTutor.
EasyTutor.

• • Ginger Software - Based on a full sentence context, Ginger can automatically correct severe spelling and grammatical mistakes at an unmatched success rate. It enables users to produce error-free texts, quickly and easily. The product operates as an online service and supports Microsoft text editors such as Word and Outlook. Free Demo

• PenFriend - Supportive writing software featuring word prediction (predictive typing), on-screen keyboards, screen-reader speech feedback, etc. Penfriend XP's core strength is in predicting the next word you want to write. It does this using a dictionary of known words, along with detailed knowledge of when they are likely to be used, their grammatical type, words you have used before, and so on. Every time you type a letter, it comes up with a new list of the most likely words which fit your letters. Choosing one is a simple matter of pressing one more button, or clicking on the word with the mouse. If you're not sure how to read it, you can hear it spoken before you choose a word.

• • • www.dyslexic.com This recommended company specializes in a very wide range of computer software support programs for dyslexic learners. Worth adding to 'My Favorites'.

• • IBM ViaVoice is similar to Dragon Naturally Speaking, though less well reviewed. ViaVoice Pro USB Edition, Release 10, includes a quality headset microphone with USB adapter. REVIEW
USA | UK

• Chloe - enables users to adapt and personalise computer software programs to their own particular needs. It allows them to easily change screen layouts, colors and fonts as well as being able to listen to text read back via a menu of available voices.
It can be used to type up documents at work; listen to lecture notes after study; make best use of social network sites such as Facebook.

• RenWeb for Publicizing Lesson Pland to Parents - "We utilize RenWeb to share teachers’ lesson plans, student performance and other information with parents.  Parents have access to RenWeb on their home computers.  Lesson plans are posted weekly." (Kenneth, La, USA)

• iPod Can be Used to Help Reading and Learning - While they are mostly used to listen to music, your child's iPod can also be used to listen to digitally recoded text. Memo microphones can be used to record speech, which can be used, for example, for reading a book while listening to the words being spoken on the iPod, learning facts for revision, learning key points for exams, etc.

• LeapPad Plus - 'Books magically come to life with voices, music, silly sounds and games while children learn to read and write. The LeapPad Plus Writing works with the entire LeapPad Library of over 50 books plus an exclusive library of writing activity books. Children place a book on the LeapPad Plus Writing player, pop in the cartridge, and touch any page with the Magic Pencil to bring the pages to life. The dual-function pencil switches between writing mode and non-writing mode'.
USA | UK

• Aurora Suite 2005 - Aurora Suite 2005 offers a double-shot of accessibility features in one flexible, high-quality solution for people with Learning Disabilities and Dyslexia. Aurora Prediction is surprisingly effective word prediction, a talking spellchecker and homonyms assistance that helps you type emails, instant message to friends, write documents or do any other task that requires typing. Prediction works with whatever applications you use to save keystrokes, get punctuation and capitalization right, and assures you write the best you can. Aurora Echo provides simple screenreading and a complete range of readback tools to help you be sure you get your ideas down on paper. You can use Echo to read your documents, emails, web pages and even application menus aloud, highlighting each word as it is spoken.

• Waterford Early Learning Systems - Waterford Early Reading Program provides three levels of full-year instruction. From Level One for emergent readers through Level Three for developing fluency, Waterford Early Reading Program incorporates skills like letter mastery, reading and listening development, controlled and natural language stories, complex spelling, basic writing skills, and comprehension strategies.

• Lexia Learning Systems - Lexia Reading software supports reading skills development in students at all levels of ability, Pre-K through Adult, building skills with explicit practice in phonemic awareness and phonics while promoting gains in fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Our research-based reading software supports core reading curriculum in over 10,000 schools nationwide, helping students master the essential reading skills necessary to become successful readers for a lifetime.

• Reading Plus - Reading Plus is a comprehensive, evidence based software solution for reading assessment and improvement that develops foundational fluency skills for students of all ages. It is the result of over 70 years of research and development in the area of reading improvement technology. Reading Plus addresses all the elements of reading cited by the National Reading Panel including: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Comprehension and, what is most important, Fluency.
The Reading Plus assessment tools and instructional programs are browser based and can be delivered through the internet for remote access and extended instruction, or through a local area network. Reading Plus® has helped over 500,000 students become better readers and continues to be the reading intervention program that assists students who have not found help through other programs or teaching methods.

• Techno Dys - Technology Blog for those with an interest in dyslexia.