Using ICT to support children with dysabilities

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Using ICT to support
children with Dys-Abilities
Judith Stansfield BDA Computer Committee SEN ICT
Consultant
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What are dys-abilities?

• Some children have learning differences
  manifested as difficulties with
• Reading and spelling (Dyslexia)
• Poor co-ordination (Dyspraxia)
• Attention and memory (ADD/ ADHD)
• Numeracy (Dyscalculia)
• Social interaction (Aspergers syndrome)

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What are the common characteristics?

• These children often have
• At least average ability
• Great strengths in creativity / design
• Differences in two or more cognitive areas
• Problems remembering instructions
• Problems organising ideas
• Mis-match between oral ability and written work
• Misunderstandings with authority

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Attention development

• Using a computer is excellent for increasing a
  child's ability to stay on task because
• focussed activities can be provided
• there is room for experimentation within a
  time-scale
• a finite time span can be negotiated
• it is non-judgemental
• it increases independence in working

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How can they be helped?

• Early identification of learning styles
• Adaptation of teaching styles to learning styles
• Teaching survival strategies
• Providing relevant ICT support
• Monitoring and reviewing the ICT provision

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Early recognition

• Everyone has a unique preferred learning style,
  which may be mainly
• visual
• auditory
• tactile
• a combination of any of them

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• Where the teachers teaching style is different
  to the childs learning style, the child may
• be able to adapt the instruction to his preferred
  style
• give up and switch-off
• develop avoidance strategies
• become an attention seeker / behaviour problem

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Screening for identification may be through

• a paper test
• DEST
• Bangor Dyslexia Test
• a computer program
• Lucid Baseline Assessment
• Lucid KS1 CoPS
• Junior LASS
• LASS
• Instines /IDEAS

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LUCID KS1 COPS
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What to look for in a young child

• Many parents know from early on that their child
  is different, especially where there is a family
  history of difficulties.
• This may appear in the child as
• extreme clumsiness
• a disinclination to paint, draw
• a penchant for jumbling syllables, word order
• late speaking
• forgetful of instructions

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What to look for in an older child

• Mismatch between oral contributions and written
  work
• Late reading / barking at print
• Poor handwriting
• Heavily inscribed writing
• Difficulty staying on-task
• Spelling problems
• Arithmetic problems
• Conflict with adults / peers
• Poor organisation of work /day-to-day living

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Using ICT can help by

• providing a multisensory learning environment
• being non-judgemental
• facilitating individualised work for a child
• bypassing some co-ordination obstacles
• supporting home/school collaboration in the
  learning process
• raising self-confidence / esteem

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What sort of software?

• The young child does not need specialist
  software, but access to
• good multisensory early years software
• more regular access to the computer
• extra supported practice in areas of weakness

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TIZZYS TOYBOX
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IN SOUND
INSOUND
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FIRST KEYS TO LITERACY
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CLAUDE AND MAUD
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• The older child often feels a failure , so
  needs software to provide access to
• independent reading
• writing more independently
• recording diagrammatic information
• self-remediation for spelling/maths
• organising ideas

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Penfriend (Penfriend Ltd) with Pages(Semerc)
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Type and Talk (TextHelp!) Talking
spellchecker Predictive lexicon
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Wordsmith (textHelp!) used in Word
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INCLUSIVE WRITER
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What sort of hardware? - 1

• The young child does not need specialist
  hardware, but access to
• good multi media computer
• more regular access to the computer than the
  class norm
• alternative access devices (rollerball,
  touchscreen), if needed

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ROLLERBALL
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Kidtrac
KIDTRAC
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touchscreen
TOUCHSCREEN
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big keys
BIG KEYS
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What sort of hardware? - 2

• The older child may need
• A simple writing aid
• A hand-held spellchecker
• A hand-held voice recorder
• A laptop with sound and pictures
• A roller or trackerball

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spellmaster
FRANKLIN SPELLMASTER
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spellcheckers
talking calculator

• spellcheckers

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laptop notebooks
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palmtops
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handheld tape recorders

• handheld tape recorder

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mini disk recorder
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Attention

• Most of these children are forgetful
• Have difficulty staying on-task
• Have auditory and/or visual sequencing problems
• Benefit from
• learning strategies to help them
  remember
• repeating instructions out loud
• making up their own mnemonics

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Attention development

• Accele Read Accele Write is a teaching programme
  using a talking wordprocessor and cards to
• improve reading skills
• improve writing skills
• improve concentration and ability to stay on
  task while working
• on the computer
• on other activities

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Handwriting support

• Handwriting for Windows
• School fonts
• Claude and Maud
• Eye for Spelling
• THRASS IT

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FIRST KEYS TO LITERACY
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Touch Type
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Developing keyboard skills

• Children who will be keyboard users need to learn
  the keyboard!
• First Keys to Literacy
• Speedy Keys
• Type to Learn
• Mavis Beacon
• Disney
• Kaz
• Ultra-Type
• TypeQuick

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Preparing for reading

• Use the multisensory aspects of talking books to
• foster success in reading
• support tracking skills
• reinforce relationships of image, sound and
  letters
• encourage independence
• foster rhythm, rhyme and pitch skills

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ORT
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LEARN MORE ABOUT WORDS
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MAKE SENSE WITH WORDS
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CATCH UP
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ELECTRONIC LIBRARY
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ICT supports writing through

• on-screen grids
• screen readers
• predictive typing
• VAS /SRS (for some users)

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ICT supports writing through

• personalised handwriting practice sheets
• talking wordprocessing
• rebus support
• talking wordbanks
• a portable wordprocessor

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I CAN WRITE
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I can Write (Resource)
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INCLUSIVE WRITER
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INCLUSIVE WRITER
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CLICKER
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Inclusive Writer (Widgit / Inclusive Technology)
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Handwriting for Windows (KBER)
School Fonts (Inclusive Technology)
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Wordbar (Crick) with Word
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Romeo

• He asked Juliet to marry him too quickly
• He rushed to Juliets tomb without thinking
• He didnt try to talk to his parents about Juliet
  

• He went to the ball at the Capulets house
• He killed Tybalt
• He fell in and out of love too easily
• He bought the poison on his way back to Verona

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• Glaciated Valleys
•  
• When the ice covered an area of mountains, it
  flowed down the valleys as glaciers.
• Pieces of rock in the base and edges of the ice,
  gouged away at the bare rock. Melt water would
  percolate into cracks and split them wider.
  Splinters of the rock became embedded into the
  ice and continued the scraping action.
• The interlocking spurs of the old river valleys
  were worn away, making a long, straight u shaped
  valley, with truncated spurs. The tributary
  valleys lost their lower courses and were left
  hanging above the main valley. Once the ice had
  gone, waterfalls flowed from the hanging valleys
  into the main valley.
•  
• All the rock and soil that was used by the
  glacier was dropped as moraine at the snout as
  terminal moraine along the valley sides as
  lateral moraine along the valley floor as low
  snaking hills called eskers.

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• Glaciated Valleys
•  
• When the ice covered an area of mountains, it
  flowed down the valleys as glaciers.
• Pieces of rock in the base and edges of the ice,
  gouged away at the bare rock. Melt water would
  percolate into cracks and split them wider.
  Splinters of the rock became embedded into the
  ice and continued the scraping action.
• The interlocking spurs of the old river valleys
  were worn away, making a long, straight
  u-shaped valley, with truncated spurs. The
  tributary valleys lost their lower courses and
  were left hanging above the main valley. Once
  the ice had gone, waterfalls flowed from the
  hanging valleys into the main valley.
•  
• All the rock and soil that was used by the
  glacier was dropped as moraine at the snout as
  terminal moraine along the valley sides as
  lateral moraine along the valley floor as low
  snaking hills called eskers.

Glaciated Valleys glaciers melt water percolate
interlocking spurs u-shaped valley truncated
spurs tributary valleys lower courses hanging
valleys   moraine the snout terminal
moraine lateral moraine eskers
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ICT helps remediation through

• simple reviewing and editing
• regular spelling practice
• regular numeracy practice

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LexiaUK (Lexia Learning Systems)
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My WorldMathsPage (Inclusive
Technology)
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Maths activities, with builtin checking and no
writing, so child can concentrate on the
arithmetic, not recording My World (Semerc)
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Interactive Calculator (Inclusive Technology)
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Foundation tables (E-Soft)
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MY WORLD SCREENS FOR RECORDING WORK
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Alternative recording of diagrams for science
through My World (Semerc)
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Alternative recording of diagrams for science
through My World (Semerc)
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Using strengths to help weaknesses

• These young children have not failed, but need to
  develop strategies to support their differences
  in learning through schooling
• use speech and sound to support visual strengths
• use images to support auditory strengths
• encourage handling of objects alongside looking
  and listening
• encourage the child to articulate and repeat new
  words / ideas

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Promoting confidence and self-esteem

• For all children with dys-abilities it is
  essential to provide the means of
• Getting round their problems, so they become only
  differences
• Boosting their sense of self-worth
• Making support as unobtrusive as possible

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Helpful hints

• provide a multisensory learning environment
• establish the childs preferred learning style to
  facilitate more focused learning /teaching
• use the childs strengths to support any learning
  differences
• make use of the variety of equipment / teaching
  aids, especially in the early years classroom
• use the technology as and when appropriate
• regularly monitor and review its suitability
• foster close home /school links for good
  collaborative support, especially for remediation
  / extension activities

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Useful Websites

• www.carr.demon.co.uk
• www.clickergrids.com
• www.djsn.u-net.com
• www.DyslexiaAssessments.com
• www.dyslexia.com.uk
• www.dyslexiacentre.co.uk
• www.iamdyslexic.com
• www.inclusive.net
• www.semerc.com
• www.r-e-m.co.uk

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