Dyslexics Deserve Extra Exam Time – Part 2

A few years back, I wrote a blog No Ifs or Buts – Dyslexics Deserve Extra Exam Time claiming that there is no question about it – dyslexics deserve extra exam time.

As my kids grow, I hear many discussions regarding the fairness and the pros/cons of providing extra exam time.

My view is simple: if a kid needs the extra time to succeed than we as parents must do all we can to enable them this extra time. It is important for a child to grow with the feeling of success, and though grades are not everything they do provide our children a scale to judge their success.

Other parents may claim that this is not fair. That some parents/kids abuse this benefit. But as parents of dyslexic children, this is not our concern. We must make sure that our smart and talented kids will succeed despite their reading and writing difficulties.

 

3 Educational Activities That Will Benefit Children With Dyslexia

By Joyce Wilson

Dyslexia is one of the most well-known learning disabilities, with 1 in 5 students facing the challenges it presents. Although it used to be widely believed that boys were more likely to be dyslexic than girls, recent studies from Yale University show the disorder affects both boys and girls equally. While dyslexia can present some roadblocks to the intellectual development of many children, it can be overcome with creative approaches to learning. Here are three activities that can help children get beyond their struggle with dyslexia.

Play Word Games

A great way to help children pick up new words and phrases is to play a game that engages their minds in different ways. Whether it’s Scrabble, a crossword puzzle or a homemade flash card memory game, by adding an element of fun to the learning process you encourage them to develop new strategies in recognizing different words and making connections to words they already know. Games like these put more focus on a single word, instead of sentences and paragraphs, which helps young students stay focused on the basic elements of language. Word memorization games can be highly effective to help dyslexic children get ahead.

Read Aloud

While reading is typically a solitary activity, having children read aloud can help them approach the text in a new way and inspire them to develop their reading comprehension abilities. When dyslexic children read out loud, they must externalize their thought process, which makes it easier for you to recognize which words or phrases trip them up and provides you with the opportunity to help guide them along in real time. As children become better at reading out loud, you can have them memorize short monologues or poems and perform them for a small group, which will improve their public speaking ability while forcing them to internalize the syntax and semantics of the text they’re reading. Another activity akin to reading aloud is to put the words into song, and whether you go with songs written for children or a karaoke machine with the latest pop songs, music is a powerful mnemonic device not only for remembering words, but also the order they go in.

Practice in the Real World

The classroom isn’t the only place where children can develop better reading skills. One of the most effective strategies for helping dyslexic youngsters boost their reading comprehension is to have them practice in a real-life environment. Walk through public spaces and read anything you encounter while out and about. Street signs, menus, advertisements and food labels all give children a chance to practice their reading in a practical way, which will help them not only improve their abilities, but it will also help them make the connection of how reading can be applied in the everyday situations.

Joyce Wilson loved being a teacher, and though she has recently retired, she hasn’t lost that passion. She continues to educate (and help educators) by mentoring teachers in her area. She is also the co-creator of TeacherSpark.org, a resource for teachers to gather fun, engaging lesson

How to Review Dyslexia Writing Software?

What are the criteria for selecting dyslexia writing software or app for those with dyslexia?
What should be the review process?
Which features/capabilities are the most important?

How do I review and grade different writing apps/software packages?

Dr. Robert Iakobashvili,  Ghotit CTO: I have been asked this question numerous times. Here is the list of my recommendations for reviewing writing dyslexia software or apps and finding the solution that fits you best.

1. Choose your own text samples.
Test the dyslexia software with your own text samples. The solution needs to assist your writing, so collect samples of typical text written by you or your targeted user group, and test these text samples.

2. Use text samples from multiple sources.
It is recommended to use numerous samples from diversified sources written on different subjects. Using a large enough and diversified corpus takes more time, but it has a real value in understanding what each solution can deliver to you or your institution.

3. Don’t use any published text samples in your reviewing.
Why? Many software companies collect published samples. These companies then optimize their algorithms to make sure that the published text samples produce good scores. You don’t want to be fooled by such targeted optimizations.

4. Make sure the solution is self-learning.
Don’t you want a solution that with time will understand you better? Make sure that the solution supports intelligent algorithms that learn your writing and offer improved suggestions the more you use the solution.

5. Make sure the vendor provides additional value compared to MS-Office, Pages, Windows, Mac or iOS platform tools.
For most people (those without dyslexia), the standard Windows, Mac or iOS spell checker and word-prediction are good enough. Why spend money on a writing dyslexia software if you already have a good one? Take your text samples and compare the results between the Windows spell checker and the selected dyslexia app/software. Write your phrases with word-prediction and see if you get the right predictions faster with less typing using a software tested than using the standard tools and if it’s easier to comprehend and select the right prediction.
See also if there are specific features offered by the writing assistant software vendor (word-banks, topics, dictionary with definitions, read-out-loud, etc.) that provide you even additional value.

6. The more users are testing the solution, the better.
If you are reviewing a software for an organization or a group of users, try to engage in the evaluation process as many potential users as possible. The different users should be asked to provide their inputs in different areas: correctness of the algorithms, user experience, features, etc.

7. Be precise in defining the reviewing goals and criteria of success.
The success criteria can include:

– Correctness of the suggested words upon text correction
– Improved grammar and punctuation
– Increased speed in typing due to an effective word-prediction technology
– Ability of prediction to cope with spelling/typing errors
– Feature completeness – e.g. integrated dictionary, read-out-loud.

8. Make sure that the solution inter-operates with your targeted environments.
Does your customer base use Windows? Macs? iPhones? Android devices?
Make sure, the solution supports all of the different devices that you need.

9. Confirm that the vendor is a credible supplier.
Many basic spell checking algorithms are published and can be easily programmed. Verify that the vendor is a credible vendor with a real business that offers support when needed.

10. Make sure that your vendor is dedicated to the dyslexic community
There are many writing apps for dyslexics out there. Some of them are generic spell checkers that are positioned as solutions for the people with dyslexia. But children and adults with dyslexia require more sophisticated writing adaptive solutions. Make sure that your vendor is familiar with the specific challenges that those with dyslexia face reading and writing text, and that the company is dedicated to the learning disabilities market.

This article doesn’t cover reviewing of complex all-in-one dyslexia solutions, like our recent Ghotit Real Writer & Reader 6, containing several types of assistance:

– Writing Assistance with Quick-Spell Word Prediction;
– Reading Assistance by Text-to-Speech Reader with dual highlighting, Integrated Talking Dictionary and Screenshot Reader;
– Text Correction including misspelled words, confused words/homophones, grammar and punctuation.

You can find links to the known independent reviewing of Ghotit software here: Ghotit Software Review. Note, that the views presented and recommendations are those of the reviewers and do not necessarily reflect Ghotit-recommended Best Practices.

Development of Dyslexia Adaptive Solutions is a Real Challenge!

This blog is the first one in the two blogs series: the first explaining the difficulties facing a spell checker designed for the people with dyslexia and the second blog discussing developing of a word prediction writing system for those people.

Generally speaking, developing a spell checker is a relatively simple task. All you need to do is to figure out whether a word is in dictionary and if not to suggest valid words with similar spelling. This problem sounds simple, and it is indeed simple if the following conditions are met:
The correct word you are looking for has the same number of letters as the misspelled word, or the user made only one spelling mistake. 
Thus, all you need to do is to find words that have one letter difference from the word the user misspelled (edit distance is equal to 1) and present them in a way easy for the user to choose from. That could be accomplished, for example, by sorting the suggested words by their frequencies of language usage.

Unfortunately, the above pattern, equal size words and a single error, does not fit the needs of dyslexics (samples of “dyslexic” writing) since in many cases people with dyslexia misspell a word with non-equal length word, and in most cases their spelling is a phonetic spelling with multiple errors.

The challenging task is to correct a misspelled word when you don’t know neither the number of letters in the real word nor the number of errors. It is clear, however, that in order to cope with this more complex task, dyslexia spelling software shall simulate human way of thinking.

To correct a badly spelled text, we read the entire text, comprehend it, mark the words that are spelled incorrectly, and suggest corrections based on the entire text context and the grammar rules. This is a very complicated path to follow for just a piece of software!

Try Ghotit and see how it works!

Difficult Times for Dyslexic Kids and Teenagers.

The summer vacation is almost over, and millions of kids and teenagers are about to return to school. As a dyslexic child, I remember these days to be very difficult.

The end of the summer break was a time when, on the one hand I could still smell Summer’s activities when my dyslexia and dysgraphia did not affect me, and on the other hand the clock was ticking in my head with alarming sound, saying, so and so days to school, so and so days back to facing my writing and reading limitations, or even more so, facing a new class and unfamiliar teachers.

I hope this short blog will help parents of kids and teenagers with dyslexia understand why this is a hard time for their dyslectic kid.

Starting a New School Could Be an Opportunity for a Student with Dyslexia.

The summer vacation is almost over, and millions of kids and teenagers will start a new school after their summer activities.

It can be very hard for a kid with dyslexia or dysgraphia to start a new school since he is leaving his comfort zone where he is already familiar with the teachers and classmates.

I believe a student with dyslexia could see a change of school as an opportunity.

In order to make the most, the child and his parents need to sit down and perform a strings and weakness table. You can do it since you already have experience coping with dyslexia and dysgraphia.

The result of the strings and weakness table needs to be an action plan for the first month in school.

The action plan may include all aspects of being a student, for example:

• Social – Making new friends in school.
• Learning – what I need to do in order to succeed in class
• Technology – which assistive technology I need in order to cope with my dyslexia or dysgraphia

The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity

We would like to commend the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity.

The Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity “You are not alone” message:

So, 1 in 5 people have dyslexia. It crosses racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines. You are part of a community of successful people who overcame dyslexia.

Dyslexia Declaration of Rights for Yale students:

1)    Accurate Diagnosis:  Dyslexia students and or dysgraphia students (those who have a suspected area of disability) are entitled to an assessment, regardless of whether they are in a public, private, or charter school.

2)    Use the Word Dyslexia: Schools must use the word “dyslexia” so that proper diagnosis and evidence-based instruction and intervention can be applied.

3)    Evidence-based Instructions: All students deserve to have a written plan of action from the school specifying the evidence-based intervention, frequency, and measurable objectives. The plan must be a consensus between parents and teachers. 

4)    Accommodations: Accommodations must be provided to ensure that the students’ abilities, not their disabilities, are being assessed. Examples: extra time on tests, speech-to-text or text-to-speech technology, foreign language waiver or alternative.

5)    Dyslexia-Friendly Environment: A supportive environment that promotes educational and professional progress must be provided to enable dyslexic individuals to flourish to their full potential.

Ghotit commends Yale and wishes other educational institutions to adopt Yale’s level of commitment to dyslexic student body.

For more info on Yale Dyslexia & Creativity forum

So, You Are Dyslexic: a Slow Reader and an Out-of-the-Box Thinker.

So you are dyslexic. A slow reader and an Out-of-the-Box Thinker.
(Slogan taken from Yale University)

I know the feeling. I am too one of those guys.
I was diagnosed as a Dyslexic as a young child.
I struggled in school – probably would not have graduated without the support of my parents.
I struggled in college – usually by sitting in class and listening to the lectures without writing any notes. (I did marry the girl next to me who wrote the notes).
I had difficulties maintaining a 9-to-5 job – that is why I started Ghotit, my own business with a great partner called Robert, to provide dyslexics just like me with an awesome assistive writing solution…
I am still a slow reader- though I love and slowly read any non-fiction book I can get my hands on… And I like to think of myself as an Out-of-the-Box Thinker…
So are you dyslexic and an out-of-the-box thinker and slow-reader?

Communication in a Mobile World for people with Dyslexia

A lot has changed in the way we communicate. We have become the always-on generation.

Smartphones and tablets have changed the way we do business. Smartphones and tablets allow employees to be more responsive and provide immediate service.

Smartphones and tablets are today part of any educational setting, starting from elementary school all the way to college.

Today, if you are a person with dyslexia or dysgraphia, it is not enough to have assistant technology installed on your Windows or Macintosh laptop. In todays’ always-on connected world, you will often need to answer an immediate email or post on a social media directly from your Android smartphone or tablet.

If you are one of those “always on” people, then you need a writing assistive technology that will be available for you from any of your devices.

Ghotit offers an “Always on” solution. The “Always on” solution enables you to utilize Ghotit advanced writing algorithms from either your Windows or Macintosh laptop or desktop and then enjoy these same capabilities from any of your Android devices.

Ghotit Assistive Technology

Ghotit Real Writer & Reader software includes advanced writing and reading assistive technologies tailor-made for people with dyslexia and dysgraphia:

• Context and phonetic spell checker
• Grammar and punctuation checker
• Proofreader
• Reader that can read out any document
• Word prediction, contextual & phonetic
• Integrated word dictionary US, UK, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and South African dictionaries