For students with disabilities who are in mainly general education classes, the need for effective accommodations is vital.

Technology has opened up a new world in what is available to help these students be successful like never before.

Previously, being able to read fluently was a necessity to be able to access much of the material presented in a typical general education high school classroom. Students whose reading was below grade level struggled to follow and understand the required reading.

Although the large majority of these students have average to above average intelligence, they were often relegated to special education classes that focused on reading remediation. In the meantime, they were missing information from general education teachers they needed to keep their grades up.

No longer. Devices like reading pens and AI assisted speech to text technology allow students with reading difficulties to keep up with the typical classmates.

And it’s not just reading and writing. Technology is available to help with language processing, attention, organization, and even behaviors.

For student with disabilities, IDEA requires school districts to assess for technology needs, and to provide the training and support needed to make it work for the student, their families and school personnel.

Resources:

CAST: https://www.cast.org/

Phone app for dyslexia: https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/mydys

Reading pen website: https://smarterlearningguide.com/reader-pens-for-dyslexia-are-they-right-for-your-child/

Speech to text website: https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/assistive-technology/articles/dictation-speech-text-technology-what-it-and-how-it-works

Thanks to soundimage.org for the free access to the AI generated music used in this podcast (https://soundimage.org/)