Dyslexic students' experiences in using assistive technology to support written language skills: a five-year follow-up.

PURPOSE: This study presents several accounts of user experiences with assistive technology (AT). Although previous studies on dyslexic students reported promising results from using audiobooks, text-to-speech (TTS), and speech-to-text (STT), qualitative research is relatively sparse and short-term, and little is known about adolescents' long-term experiences of using AT in schools. Therefore, this five-year follow-up study aimed to describe dyslexic students' experiences of AT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nine students with dyslexia were interviewed using a semi-structured framework and a descriptive pattern-based thematic analysis. The students had previously participated in an AT intervention in Sweden. RESULTS: Three main themes are reported: Contextual factors: facilitators or barriers; Emotional responses in the learning environment; Developing meaningful strategies. The results align with previous research findings that audiobooks are beneficial throughout the school years, while STT is of mixed utility. TTS was mainly used in learning to decode texts. Continued AT use is discussed thematically, concretising experiences connected to schools' multilevel support. CONCLUSIONS: This study can contribute to the development of AT academic practices enriched by users' views. The findings reveal factors enabling or hindering students' continued AT usage. Contextual factors in schools concern organisational elements rather than AT accessibility. Students' emotional responses (using AT in the classroom) are influenced by dyslexia self-acceptance and AT attitudes. Students' understanding of how and why to use AT may limit the development of meaningful strategies. Implications and suggested further research are provided to improve dyslexic students' AT experiences and success in school.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONUnderstanding the organizational factors that enable or hinder continuous assistive technology (AT) use can help teachers support dyslexic students' development in text-based learning throughout schooling.Ongoing attention to the emotional aspects of AT use in the classroom may be a valuable support in conjunction with systematic AT training.Listening and text production strategies with AT may need ongoing support to develop both lower-order and higher-order skills.

Effects of assistive technology for students with reading and writing disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Assistive technology has been used to mitigate reading disabilities for almost three decades, and tablets with text-to-speech and speech-to-text apps have been introduced in recent years to scaffold reading and writing. Few scientifically rigorous studies, however, have investigated the benefits of this technology. PURPOSE: The aim was to explore the effects of assistive technology for students with severe reading disabilities. METHOD: This study included 149 participants. The intervention group received 24 sessions of assistive technology training, and the control group received treatment as usual. RESULTS: Both the intervention and control groups improved as much in 1 year as the normed population did. However, gains did not differ between the groups directly after the intervention or at 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The use of assistive technology seems to have transfer effects on reading ability and to be supportive, especially for students with the most severe difficulties. In addition, it increases motivation for overall schoolwork. Our experience also highlights the obstacles involved in measuring the ability to assimilate and communicate text.Implications for rehabilitationsAssistive technology (AT) can be useful for children with reading disabilities to assimilating text as well as boosting their reading.Children with reading disability using AT increased reading performance as much as a norm group, i.e. the students enhanced their reading ability despite no training in traditional reading remediation.Children's and adolescents' motivation for schoolwork can be boosted when using AT as a complement for those with reading and writing disabilities.

Assistive technology as reading interventions for children with reading impairments with a one-year follow-up.

PURPOSE: This pilot study investigated the possible transfer effect on reading ability in children with reading difficulties after a systematic intervention to train and compensate for reading deficiencies by using applications in smartphones and tablets. The effects of using assistive technology (AT) one year after the interventions were completely studied. School related motivation, independent learning and family relations were also considered. METHOD: 35 pupils aged 10-12 years participated. They were assessed five times with reading tests. The participants, their parents and teachers were surveyed with questionnaires regarding their experience of using AT. The data from the assessments were analyzed with paired t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. The data from the questionnaires were analyzed using content analysis. RESULTS: The paper shows that using AT can create transfer effects on reading ability one year after the interventions were finished. This means that reading impaired children may develop at the same rate as non-impaired readers. Also, increased school motivation and an increase in independent learning and family effects have been shown. CONCLUSIONS: This paper provides implications in how to facilitate reading impaired pupils' learning process and realizes the need to challenge the concept of reading to change to fit modern means of gaining information. Implications for rehabilitation Children with reading impairment could benefit from assistive technology in regards of their reading development process and increase their chances of not falling behind peers. Assistive technology as applications in smartphones and tablets may aid children with reading impairment to have an equal platform for learning in school as their peers without reading difficulties. Assistive technology could facilitate the information gaining process and subsequently increase motivation to learn and increase interest in reading activities. Assistive technology had wider effects on its users: stigmatizing situations when leaving the classroom for special education were avoided and positive effects on family life were noted.