Dyslexia: Accommodations•Accommodationsallowastudenttocompensatefortheirhardwired,neurologicallybasedreadingdifficultyandallowthem to have the same opportunities to succeed as individuals without dyslexia.•Dyslexicreadershavetousemorementalenergyandperformmorefundamentalstepstodecodewordsthanthenon-dyslexicreader.Consequently,theyneedmoretimetoaccuratelydecodeandcomprehendwordsthanthenon-dyslexic reader.•Theseveredyslexicreader'sreadingskillsmaynotbeadequateforextendedtimealonetoallowthemtosufficiently compensate and may need to have tests read to them. Technology Assistance•TheLivescribeSmartpencaptureseverylecturenoteyoumakeandeverywordofthelectureandsynchronizeswiththe audiorecordingofthelecture.Insidethepenisacameraandmicrophone.Ifyouareaslowwriter,havedifficultytaking notes,justdothebestyoucan.Youcangobackandlistentoanypartoftheaudiorecordingbytappinganywhereonyour writtennotes.Theaudiowillbeginfromthatpointinyournotes.Ifwhenlisteningtotheaudiorecordingyoudiscoveryou havemissedimportantinformation,youcanaddittoyournotesatthattime.Youcanalsotransfernotestoyourcomputer through Livescribe Desktop software. Click here for the Livescribe website. •TheDragonNaturallySpeakingprogramforPCusersandDragonDictateforMacusersisavoicerecognitionprogramthat allowsyoutodictateyourideasandwatchyourwordsappearonthecomputerscreen.Dragoncanbenefitpeoplewhohave difficultyefficientlyexpressingthemselvesinwriting.Youcandictateane-mail,surfthewebusingvoicecommands,or write a paper. You can also dictate using your Blackberry, iPhone, iPad or iPad touch. Click here for the Dragon website.•Readingpensaregreatgadgetstohelpthedyslexicreaderdecodewords.Simplyscanthepenoverthewordandit pronouncestheword.Therearemanybrandsonthemarketincluding:FranklinAnyBookReader(Franklinwebsite),the Wizcom ReadingPen (Wizcom website) or other similar products. •KurzweilReadersfromtheKurzweilEducationalSystems,whichwasfoundedin1996.Therootsofthecompanyextend backto1976andtheintroductionoftheworld'sfirstreadingsystem,theKurzweilReadingMachine.Today,thecompanyis recognizedastheleadingdeveloperofreadingtechnologyforpeoplewithlearningdifficultiesandthosewhoareblindor visuallyimpaired.KurzweilEducationalSystemscurrentlyoffersKurzweil1000,Kurzweil3000forWindowsandKurzweil 3000forMacintosh.Allproductsincorporatethemostclear,human-likesynthesizedvoicesavailablecoupledwitharobust setofeasy-to-usefeaturesforaccessing,reading,managingandcreatingtextandimages.KurzweilReaders(Kurzweil website)
Robert D. Smith, PhDDiagnosis of Dyslexia, ADD & Learning DisordersChildren & Adults