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Leaving School with Dyslexia

Posted by Allan Wilson on the 6th November, 2019

I had a phone call recently from a school trying to support an S6 pupil with severe dyslexia who is transitioning to an apprenticeship, involving work in an office environment. He is regarded as being capable and quite bright, but is struggling with reading written instructions and phoning people, when he has been given a list of phone numbers. He has good verbal communication skills but finds it hard to read the names and numbers on the list. The school was wondering if there was any technology that could help him as he had been used to having a reader / scribe at school.

I don't want to criticise the school as I don't have all the background information and there may be valid reasons for this situation, but, really, this shouldn't be happening in the 21st Century in an advanced country like Scotland. All teachers working with learners with dyslexia should be aware of how technology can help and all pupils with dyslexia should be leaving school knowing how to use technology to support their reading and writing.

Minimum Skills Required for a School Leaver with Dyslexia

A pupil with dyslexia may have relied on learning support staff to help with reading and writing during their time at school, but they are not going to be able to leave school with a Reader on one shoulder and a Scribe on the other. They need to have minimum skills in the use of technology to help with independent literacy. A school leaver with dyslexia should be able use technology to:

  1. Read Digital Text (e.g. from a computer screen)
  2. Read Printed Text (e.g. a set of instructions on a sheet of paper, or a book)
  3. Produce written text (e.g. fill in an online form, or write a short letter)
  4. Meet any other individual needs arising from their personal experience of dyslexia

Reading Digital Text

Digital text comes in many different forms. e.g:

A text-to-speech app would generally be the main tool for reading text out loud from a computer screen, but there are other aspects of text that you may want to consider, and which you may or may not be able to change, e.g. text size, spacing, font, colour.)

Immersive reader screenshotText to Speech Options for Windows - Many programs now have a built-in text-to-speech facility, but it is not always easy to find. Most of the individual programs in Microsoft Office include their Immersive Reader (click on View, then Immersive Reader); most web browsers now have a Reader Mode / View, which usually includes text-to-speech. If you are using a program that doesn't have text-to-speech built-in, the Text-to-Speech page in the Information section of our web site provides 14 options, but you don't need to use them all! In reality, all you need is something that lets you select and read a short piece of text, e.g. an email, or a posting on social media (Ivona MiniReader and NaturalReader are both good for this) and an app that helps you read a long eBook. (Balabolka works well and also allows you to change the appearance of the text.)

Text to Speech Options for iPads / Androids / Chromebooks - iPads (and iPhones) have pretty decent Speak Screen and Speak Selection facilities built into the Accessibility options of the device. Chromebooks and Android tablets (and phones) also have built-in text to speech facilities, though they are less reliable than the iPad equivalents,

Reading Printed Text

Once you're comfortable with reading digital text, you may wonder about what you can do if you have text printed on paper. Rather than getting somebody else to read it, there are various options, depending on your requirements:

Books

Paper copies

Producing Written Text

Meeting Individual Needs

People with dyslexia are all very different to each other, all with individual strengths and individual difficulties. Technology can help people build on their strengths and compensate for their difficulties. Ideally, people with dyslexia should be aware of their difficulties and understand how technology can help. Here are some examples:

Getting Further Information

Online course - £30

Empowering Autistic Learners through the use of Assistive Technology

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