Reading

Students with many different disabilities may have difficulty with reading. This may involve having difficulty identifying words in print, understanding printed text or remembering what is read. It can also involve difficulty in holding a book or turning pages. There are many assistive technology tools to help with reading including both hardware and software. The following lists include possible solutions:

Assistive Technology for Reading

Standard text at a lower reading level
Predictable books
Changes in text size, spacing, color, background color
Book adapted for page turning (e.g. page fluffers, 3-ring binder)
Use of pictures or symbols (rebus) with text
Talking electronic dictionary or computer software to pronounce challenging words
Single word scanners
Scanner with Optical Character Reading software (OCR) and talking word processor
Electronic books

When is it appropriate?
Assistive technology for reading should be used when it is important that the student be able to get information from the printed word. Assistive Technology for reading is often used by students in content intensive classes such as science, literature and social studies at the same time that they continue to work on basic reading skills in a separate class time. Students who use assistive technology for reading rarely use the same solution for all kinds of reading tasks. They may use an electronic dictionary when they are able to read most of the words in a passage but switch to a scanner, OCR software and a talking word processor when the material is more difficult.

This Assistive Technology website was developed by Gus Farmakidis (gfarmakidis@hotmail.com),
former graduate assistant on the REFOCUSTT Project.