If it's Spring, then it must be time for driver training! Many Departments of Motor Vehicles are poorly equipped to meet the needs of the neurodiverse community and it may not be obvious how to access an audio version of the drivers manual (our state...
Auto-Correct in Foreign Languages: Installing Additional Keyboards [Premium]
This morning, I was interviewing a dyslexic physician, Andrew Newman (we’ll share his full story in another issue) and he happened to mention when he was working through Duolingo foreign language learning app that a pop-up occurred and asked him whether he might want to install a foreign language keyboard to help with spelling in […]
If Your Student Can’t Write [Premium]
If your student can’t write, no matter what age – prepare yourself for the long haul because so much of schooling and even many aspects of hiring and work can require writing. When writing is difficult for students with dyslexia, it may be that they are having difficulty converting feelings and images to words, trouble […]
More Free Leveled Texts and Reading Passages [Premium]
The grand-daddy of them all is still probably Readworks, but if you like to change things up with leveled reading, check out News in Levels (alas Newsela is no longer free) or Tween Tribune, run by the Smithsonian. If you do use Readworks, make sure you know about the slider at the bottom of […]
Better Living Through Technology with Auto-Text and Macros [Premium]
Here’s how you can simplify writing and other work tasks using technology. AUTO-TEXT If you use Gmail or Outlook for your email, you may have already see examples of automatic text. As an example, if you are typing an email with Smart Compose turned on in Gmail, typing “how” will generate a prompt for […]
Remote Work Hacks [Premium]
“I’ve found that a single screen feels very restrictive to me. I normally have three screens since I jump between tasks a lot. Many neurodiverse people like myself find it difficult to stay focused on one thing for very long. Having my work “scattered” around on different screens feels sort of like having papers all […]
Dyslexia Advocacy: Say Dyslexia 2.0
From Chalkbeat's story, "NYC plans to screen nearly 200,000 students in the early grades to uncover struggling readers. Then what?" "In a massive bid to gauge reading skills following COVID-related learning disruptions, New York City’s education department is...
Reading Fluency for College [Premium]
Recently we were contacted by a student who wanted to improve his reading fluency before attending college. He had completed a full course of “Wilson and Orton-Gillingham” yet his reading was still slow and effortful. He asked, “Is there anything I can do to improve my reading to help me be successful in college?” […]
White Noise Improves Reading Skills and Memory in Reading Disabilities [Premium]
Some of you may remember research in the past that showed that individuals with dyslexia have more difficulty screening out background noise (discussed in the news HERE). Students or adults with this difficulty can usually request quiet area for work or test-taking under the ADA or Americans for Disabilities Act. Now another research group […]
Answer Apps and the Benefits of Learning in Reverse [Premium]
Conventional lecture courses for subjects with problem sets can be inefficient. For dyslexic students if the information comes in too quickly, they can’t follow steps as a teacher works through problems in real time. A recurring scenario for many students (and not just the dyslexic ones) is that to truly understand, the students must […]
Apps for Productivity and Organization [Premium]
How about apps for productivity and organization? Here are useful ones you can try. ToDoist is a popular to do list that is integrated with email, IFTTT, Dropbox, and Slack. It is free – premium and available on iOS and Android. For some people, free Google Calendar is sufficient. Just remember […]
Best Writing Apps [Premium]
We’ve talked a bit about speech to text for writing, but over time, many dyslexic students may prefer to write by typing or by hand. Technology can help dyslexic writers in many different ways, depending on their needs. For young children with little or no eideitic (snapshot picture) memory for letters may benefit […]