Dyslexia: Accommodations • Accommodations allow a student to compensate for their hard wired, neurologically based reading difficulty and allow them to have the same opportunities to succeed as individuals without dyslexia. • Dyslexic readers have to use more mental energy and perform more fundamental steps to decode words than the non- dyslexic reader. Consequently, they need more time to accurately decode and comprehend words than the non-dyslexic reader. • The severe dyslexic reader's reading skills may not be adequate for extended time alone to allow them to sufficiently compensate and may need to have tests read to them. Technology Assistance • The Livescribe Smartpen captures every lecture note you make and every word of the lecture and synchronizes with the audio recording of the lecture. Inside the pen is a camera and microphone. If you are a slow writer, have difficulty taking notes, just do the best you can. You can go back and listen to any part of the audio recording by tapping anywhere on your written notes. The audio will begin from that point in your notes. If when listening to the audio recording you discover you have missed important information, you can add it to your notes at that time. You can also transfer notes to your computer through Livescribe Desktop software. Click here for the Livescribe website . • The Dragon Naturally Speaking program for PC users and Dragon Dictate for Mac users is a voice recognition program that allows you to dictate your ideas and watch your words appear on the computer screen. Dragon can benefit people who have difficulty efficiently expressing themselves in writing. You can dictate an e-mail, surf the web using voice commands, or write a paper. You can also dictate using your Blackberry, iPhone, iPad or iPad touch. Click here for the Dragon website . • Reading pens are great gadgets to help the dyslexic reader decode words. Simply scan the pen over the word and it pronounces the word. There are many brands on the market including: Franklin AnyBook Reader ( Franklin website ), the Wizcom ReadingPen ( Wizcom website ) or other similar products. • Kurzweil Readers from the Kurzweil Educational Systems, which was founded in 1996. The roots of the company extend back to 1976 and the introduction of the world's first reading system, the Kurzweil Reading Machine. Today, the company is recognized as the leading developer of reading technology for people with learning difficulties and those who are blind or visually impaired. Kurzweil Educational Systems currently offers Kurzweil 1000, Kurzweil 3000 for Windows and Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh. All products incorporate the most clear, human-like synthesized voices available coupled with a robust set of easy-to-use features for accessing, reading, managing and creating text and images. Kurzweil Readers ( Kurzweil website )