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Imagine trying to read a sentence when every other word looks like made-up gibberish. It’s exhausting to read the sentence over and over again, trying to put together the meaning. That one troublesome sentence is followed by another… and another… and another… You know it’s not your fault – it’s the text doesn’t make sense. …
Beth Dichter's insight:
Did you know that it is estimated that 1 out of 5 people struggle with dyslexia (and often do not realize it)? This post provides a range of resources that look at dyslexia. The resources are grouped in four areas: * Understanding Dsylexia * Identifying Dyslexia * How to Teach Dyslexic Students * Personalizing Dyslexia The resources include videos and articles/posts as well as a link to a great website at Yale. And if you have a student in your class how is dyslexic they might be interested in learning that the following people were also dyslexic: Albert Einstein, Steven Jobs, Walt Disney, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg were also dyslexic. 
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"Spritz’s mission is to change the way people read and make communication faster, easier, and more effective."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Spritz is a digital tool that allows you to read one word at a time and you can set the speed. You read the "text one word at a time in our “redicle,” a special visual frame we designed for reading." Words can be read starting at 100 words per minute up to 1000 words per minute. This tool is worth looking at because it may help some students who struggle with reading. The text has to be accessible online and does work on many platforms. For more information head over to the website.
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Last week, Texthelp announced that a surprise was coming soon in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. Today that surprise was revealed - Read&Write for Google is now Free for Teachers!
Beth Dichter's insight:
ReadWrite Gold for Chrome is a great tool...and is once again free for educators! What does it do? It is a Chome "extension that provides comprehensive reading and writing supports for Google Docs and the Web as well as PDFs, ePubs, and KES files stored in Google Drive." Specific features include: * Read Aloud that has dual highlighting * Word prediction * Talking and picture dictionaries * Annotations and much more. If you already have ReadWrite Gold installed you can upgrade by going to this link: http://rw.texthelp.com/drive/home/RegisterTeacher If you do not have it yet download the 30 day trial. You may register for the free version afterwards.
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Learning differences or disabilities are frequently misunderstood, but some of the most common myths are easy to dispel with a look at the facts.
Beth Dichter's insight:
There are myths surrounding many things, including learning disabilities. This post looks at four myths and provides the actual facts. Which of the following do you believe are true? What are the realities? Myth #1: Learning disabilities are intellectual disabilities. Myth #2: ADHD is a learning disability. Myth #3: Dyslexia is a visual problem. Myth #4: The incidence of students with learning disabilities in US schools is on the rise. The post also provides a food for thought section and references. You may find that this is an article you will share with parents.
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"As educators we believe that students with vision, hearing, physical, communication, and learning challenges have the same potential to learn as anyone else if the "mechanical" impediments to participation in the classroom are removed or lessened...We have attempted to collect many of the available apps and extensions which we believe could foster alternative forms of access for real learning to occur, with the ultimate hope of extending the definition as to who can be a learner in any particular setting."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Chrome has an amazing number of free apps and extensions that help to provide access to individual whom have 'vision, hearing, physical, communication, and learning challenges.' This website allows you to search for by task, profile or keyword and includes a Google Presentation "Co-opting Chrome to Help Learners." Although these apps may be marketed as geared to assistive technology they are useful for all students.
Teresa Pearl's comment,
December 12, 2013 5:40 PM
This allows people to see all the tools available on Chrome. There are a ton of free apps that provide access to all learners. You can use the website to search for by task.
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Reading Activity Reading Comprehension - How well do you understand the things you read? Test and improve your reading with our reading comprehension activity! This activity includes 140 texts, each with a set of challenging questions.
Beth Dichter's insight:
If you are looking for online books to help beginner readers or ELL students check out 140 texts available at GCF Learn Free. Each text can be read to the student and there are four questions for each story. If a student answers a question incorrectly they may try again.
Jessica Janus's curator insight,
October 23, 2014 9:26 PM
I tired this out and I think this is a great tool to integrate within the classroom. Perhaps on Friday when there is some free time.
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Beth Dichter's insight:
This infographic looks at how technology shaped education for special needs students (in the U.S.). There are many sections in the infographic including: * A Brief History of Children with Special Education Needs * The Percentage of Students by Disability (ages 6 - 17) * Then, Now and the Future * Devices to Help the Hearing Impaired * Devices to Help the Visually Impaired * iPad Apps * Psychological Effects of the new Technologies * References As educators we need to understand the history of Special Education and the needs of our students. This post presents valuable information for teachers across all grade levels and curriculum.
Shao Lin Lauricella's curator insight,
October 30, 2013 8:26 PM
I find this super helpful. There are many more special needs children today than there were back in the day. Also today there is more use in the technology world and we need to accommodate to both. This is helpful because it teaches teachers who has a special needs students the different technology tools that will help those students specifically.
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Power Up: Common Sense Media's guide to nearly 100 great apps for kids ages 2-17 who have special needs and learning differences.
Beth Dichter's insight:
Common Sense Media has just released a new guide that provides great resources for students with special needs and learning difficulties. Available to download as a pdf or online you will find six categories split into levels of Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. The six categories are: * Communication * Social Interaction * Organization * Reading * Mathematics * Motor Skills Each section has an overview, a look at common challenges, common signs, ways to help, what to look for in an app and links to additional resources, and then a page for each level which suggests apps which also has a Power Tip on each page. This is a great resource for students, teachers and parents. To go directly to the pdf use this link: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/special-needs-full-guide.pdf.
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Once again Paul Hamilton brings us another great tool to use with Chrome, VoiceNote. He states that it "offers excellent voice-to-text...VoiceNote opens as a dictation window." Therefore it may "sit on top of a document being written" (or occupy your entire screen). A few of the features he mentions are: * dictating directly into a text box facilitates creating paragraphs or longer selections of text * on-screen buttons for adding punctuation * suport for multiple languages For more information click through to the post.
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A great list of blogs focused on special education. There are six categories: * Special Education Topic Strategies * Technology and Assistive Technology * Special Topics * Special Education News and Policy * Special Education Law * Various Topics on Special Education Great resouces to be found.
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Are you looking for a tool that you can put in the hands of your studnents tha twill provide them with tools to help them learn? If so, check out The Freedom Stick. A free downloadable package of software that comes to you from Michigan's Integrated Technology Support. For information and links to many other resources check out this post!
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"Mobile devices have made a huge impact on countless areas of our lives in a remarkably short span of time. This is certainly true for people who require “assistive technology”. I think of assistive technology as “…any technology that improves the functional ability of anyone who needs it.” By this definition, we all benefit from assistive technology of one sort or another!"
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Technology can help make your education environment more accessible to those with special needs. This guide includes: * an overview of accessibility and its effect in the classroom; * definitions of impairment types and tech solutions for each; * an assistive tech overview and decision tree; * links and references for more information. It is available to download in English and Spanish.
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Dyslexia affects up to 1 in 5 people, but the experience of dyslexia isn't always the same. This difficulty in processing language exists along a spectrum -- one that doesn't necessarily fit with labels like "normal" and "defective." Kelli Sandman-Hurley urges us to think again about dyslexic brain function and to celebrate the neurodiversity of the human brain.
Beth Dichter's insight:
Learn more about the brain and dyslexia in this five minute video from TED-Ed. Find out what type of teaching works best for students with dyslexia, and experience how it feels for students with dyslexia to decode words. You will also find questions you may use with students, additional resources and a forum for discussion.
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Fluency Tutor is an application for Google Chrome which allows educators to assign reading passages to students via their Google Drive accounts.
Beth Dichter's insight:
If you have Chrome installed on computers at your school consider checking out this app called Fluency Tutor. The website states FluencyTutor "is an easy-to-use, time-saving leveled reading and assessment tool that helps busy teachers support struggling readers. Teachers pick reading passages based on content, lexile level or reading age and share with individual students or groups via Google Drive." Students may access material from home or school and can record passages. Text-to-speech, a dictionary, a picture dictionary and translation tools are also available. The teacher dashboard and the student area for interaction is free. If you want to be able to see analytics, track progress, and more there is a charge of $99 per year (for teachers). Tools such as this are great free resources for many students. You might also want to check out Read&Write for Google.
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Richard Byrne shares two speech to text tools and three text to speech tools that are browser based in this post.
Beth Dichter's insight:
If you are using Chrome and looking for a speech to text app Bryne suggests that you check out the Dictanote Speech Recognizer app, a free app and also Dictation.io. For text to speech he suggests three app. Speak It is for use with Chrome and will read most web pages. Announcify works with Chrome and also comes for the Android. Select and Speak work with Chrome and will read any text on a web page. Bryne explains each of the tools in his post. If you have students whom struggle with reading text to speech tools provide a way for them to work more independently online. For students whom may struggle with the writing process but whom speak cleary a speech to text tool may make an enormous difference in their ability to keep up with work.
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"When’s the last time the deficit model of viewing student performance really irked you? Just thinking about it can be quite enraging. Here’s why: Students end up being placed along a bell curve (hope this doesn’t induce a headache) to decipher how on target they are—how close to the “average” learner. And this is deciphered basically by looking at their test scores…then placing them along this line of doom."
Beth Dichter's insight:
The myth of average may be a new concept to you but if you listen to the short video clip by Todd Rose you will get an idea of what this issue is, and there is a link to a TEDx talk in the post (a longer presentation on 'Project Variability and the dangers of “averaging” learners.' Additional resources are also available in this post including a new Universal Design for Learning book that may be found online. For more information click through to the post.
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Literably "allows students to read a text and have it automatically assessed for accuracy and words-per-minute speed. Plus, and this is what was most surprising to me, it also provides a fairly accurate indentification of student errors — in other words, what word they said instead of the word in the text. You’re able to provide the student or parent a link to the recording. And it’s free."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Thanks for Larry Ferlazzo for sharing this website that allows teachers to choose reading and levels for students to read and saves their reading so you can come back and access it via a dashboard. You will need to register and set-up your student list. Ferlazzo also discusses the cons of this. There is value in having one-on-one time with students when they read so you determine if they are "racing through words" or having other issues that may not be apparent through a recording. None the less this may be a great tool for some of your students. Students do have the option of re-recording.
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"As e-readers grow in popularity as convenient alternatives to traditional books, researchers at the Smithsonian have found that convenience may not be their only benefit. The team discovered that when e-readers are set up to display only a few words per line, some people with dyslexia can read more easily, quickly and with greater comprehension."
Beth Dichter's insight:
The end of this press release shares a new website: Read Easy (located at http://readeasy.si.edu/). This website shares links to several articles that share the research ("E-Readers are More Effective than Paper for Some with Dyslexia" and "Shorter Lines Facilitate Reading in Those Who Struggle"). The website also provides a demo of what works and states that the Smithosonian will be offering a "FREE online certification course to support professional reading specialists interested in using mobile e-reader devices to help students with dyslexia in their practice. Certification is only open to professional reading specialists." This course will be available on December 1st. For more information click through to the Read Easy website (link above).
Heather MacDonald's curator insight,
September 23, 2013 11:20 AM
I love these kinds of advances. For those of us who know of people who've struggled with language learning challenges this is a great discovery. Language leaning problems create way too many other personal and social problems for children who then grow to be adults with problems unless they are diagnosed and helped. Way to go Smithsonian researchers! 
LS5043-2014's curator insight,
November 6, 2014 6:34 PM
Important evidence re: usefulness of e-readers to underserved library populations.
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The Autisum Transition Handbook was created by grants from the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Delaware Department of Education "to assist individuals with autism spectrum disorders and their families by providing access to the most current and comprehensive information on the transition to adulthood."
Beth Dichter's insight:
This app wonderwheel is developed for students on the autism spectrum by an Apple educator Mark Coppin whom is also the Director of Assistive Technology at the Anne Carlsen Center. The wheel is split into six sections that define common learning expectations. Each of the sections then shows common learning traits, followed by app categories and then the apps (each of which is hot linked at the website). The six categories are: * Behavior * Communication * Social Skills * Need for Sameness or Routine * Sensory Sensitivity * Difficulty with Traditional Learning Methods The link you to the chapter that discusses Assistive Technology. To go directly to the App Wonderwheel use this link http://www.autismhandbook.org/images/4/4c/Appwheel.pdf. It is often difficult to know which apps to choose when we work with students. This resource may help you determine some apps to investigate for students on the autism spectrum.
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Beth Dichter's insight:
Do you have questions about dyslexia? It is a "language based difficulty that is caused by a defect of some sort in the way the brain processes graphic symbols." This post provides additional information about dyslexia as well as a look at what dyslexia affects, which includes reading difficulties, oral language difficulties, writing difficulties and math difficulties (greater detail in the post). Learn about some of the misconceptions around dyslexia and check out the short video that looks at dyslexia and an additional dyslexia map.
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An overview of Special Education that helps to define the term special education, looks at types of special needs, the percentage of students who receive special education services, and much more. In this infographic special education is defined as "specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability." Today one of the buzzwords in education is personalized learning. As our classrooms move towards this goal it is important to recognize how technology may impact both our special education and our regular education students.
Steven Blomdale's curator insight,
June 6, 2013 12:12 AM
I scooped this info graph to demonstrate to teachers to prominences of the various types impairments in the 21st century. I beleive this is an important issue as teachers need to know as classrooms today are having students with some type of disability or impairemnt. Teachers need accomodate and differentiate the types of ICT skills and devices used within the classroom. The aim of technolgies within the classroom is to allow students to engage confidently with technologies and make informed, ethical and sustainable decisions about technologies for preferred futures including personal health andwellbeing, recreation, everyday life, the world of work and enterprise, and the environment (ACARA, 2013). 
Victoria's curator insight,
June 23, 2015 10:22 AM
@Dennis P. Garland I thought this was a great overview of data on special education.
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SimpleK12 has great resources and this link provides access to 10 of the most popular iPad resources for educators. You will find 50+ Quick Tips and Resources, 20 Free iPad Apps Educators Can't Live Without, Essential iPad Websites and App Guide, Apps for Students with Special Needs, and much more. SimpleK12 also provides live webinars for free so you may want to sign up to receive notification of when they take place. You may choose to join SimpleKi12's Teacher Learning Community (there is a cost) but these specific resources are available at no cost.
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This post looks at underachievers, with a focus on "undiscovered weaknesses or uneven learning skills." Specifically it provides information on weak visual learners, weak verbal learners, graphomotor weaknesses, attention weaknesses, and social factors. In each section there is an explanation followed by suggestions or "possible paths of action." Although written with the parent in mind this is also a great resource for teachers.
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Today's mandates for special-needs students set schools up for lawsuits, conflict with No Child Left Behind requirements, and waste taxpayers' money. Here are some alternatives.
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very worthwhile! Did you know that th earliest sign of dyslexia is difficulty telling right from left? and that the kids will blithely interchange hands, not even knowing that they're doing it?