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Brian is a twenty-three year old college student. He was diagnosed with dyslexia in kindergarten and had very little success in school. In high school, he dealt with his writing difficulties simply by not writing. Because of his lack of success and resulting low self-esteem, Brian had great shame around his disability. He avoided writing altogether. Despite a class in keyboarding, to this day, he does not touch-type with both hands. His hunt-and-peck strategy has served him well enough.
Upon arriving at Landmark College several years ago, he had virtually no writing skills. With his severe spelling problems, Brian's writing was solely phonetic. He had difficulties reading his own writing. At Landmark College, Brian was soon expected to complete assignments using a word processor. With intense determination, Brian became proficient at using a word processor and began looking into purchasing a personal computer. Because of his learning profile (high comprehension and high verbal skills, low decoding and significant spelling difficulties), Brian was placed in a program that developed his reading and writing skills, while introducing students to assistive technology.
This was a pivotal program for Brian. Assistive technology finally gave him access to challenging, college-level material, without the hindrance of his low decoding and severe spelling difficulties. For writing assignments, Brian was introduced to and trained to use Dragon Naturally Speaking, a voice recognition program. To address the volume of reading materials, students scanned reading assignments into computers provided in a lab. After a few semesters of intensive work discovering how to maximize the technology for his learning purposes, Brian found success in a full-time credit program.
As with many students who have a learning disability, Brian uses a combination of various assistive technologies to best aid him with his individual needs. How do computers help him write? Brian responds, "The computer takes care of all my spelling problems and reading problems. I use speech recognition for anything that I need to write, from the brainstorm list to the final draft of a paper."
Although he has made great gains in his skills, spelling is still a weakness. It is difficult for Brian to use the spell check tool in the word processing program. "I don't use spell check because I have a problem reading all the different choices... I use a Franklin speller to check spelling from the computer — to verify the spelling." After creating a draft, Brian uses a text reader (either the playback function on Dragon Naturally Speaking or Kurzweil™ 3000) to hear his papers, and revise accordingly. He accepts the imperfectability of the technology, knowing that certain spelling errors, such as homophones (here/hear), may go unchecked.
The opportunity to explore assistive technology has had a significant impact on Brian's life. Although he admits the technology can be costly and time-consuming (in terms of finding the right product), without it, Brian would not be in an academic setting, working toward his Associate degree. Brian accepts the disadvantages as minor drawbacks. Taking the time to research software, test it out, and spend considerable money on technology, as well as the time-consuming process of training the speech recognition, are minor when compared to the advantages gleaned from such tools.
Brian also admits that he was reluctant, at first, to use assistive technology as his primary tool for reading and writing. He felt strongly that he wanted to improve his reading and writing skills without becoming dependent upon the technology. But, a couple of years after integrating assistive technology into his academic life, he sees that the technology actually has a positive affect on his skills Ð not just his production.
Brian offered some advice for future students with learning disabilities who use assistive technology to enable them to engage in academic rigors like their non-disabled peers. He feels it is important to invest in a fast computer; leasing one may be better than purchasing one, since it can be traded in for an upgrade as technology advances. Brian also warns students not to make the costly mistake of walking into an educational software store and buying products based on the salesperson's recommendation. He encourages students to do some research on software before purchasing; he has found peer endorsements and school recommendations to be the most useful.
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| • Christina |
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