4 Tech Tools To Help People With Dyslexia Overcome Workplace And School Challenges
4 tech tools to help people with dyslexia overcome workplace and school challenges
Yusuff was dismissed from his university in his third year in 2018. Although he was quite intelligent, his reading difficulties had a negative impact on his education.
“I kept failing my courses due to the difficulty of reading to comprehend. When I was in school, people said I was intelligent, but they never noticed my reading difficulties. As a result, they were disappointed when I failed,” he recalls.
Chioma, a 26-year-old accountant, attended a four-day career development bootcamp for young people in January 2019, but she struggled throughout, with reading being one of her major obstacles.
The third day of the bootcamp required each of the 18 participants to summarize a seven-page PDF document. Everyone except Chioma found it effortless.
“Reading was difficult. I was embarrassed because I was unable to read beyond the first page. I was simply looking around to ascertain how simple it was for my colleagues to read and comprehend.
“I recall approaching one of the participants, a familiar, and requesting that she summarize everything she had read. She, on the other hand, kept me out, telling me to read. I tell you, I was mortified and felt ashamed of my dyslexia,” Chioma explains.
In Africa, dyslexia appears to be a prevalent learning disability. The Africa Dyslexia Organisation (ADO) — a non-governmental organization dedicated to raising awareness, providing support, and advocating for dyslexics in Africa — estimates that between 15% and 20% of any population may be dyslexic.
Likewise, the ADO states that the majority of Africans are unaware of their conditions, and because the majority of adults and children suffer in silence, dyslexia is misunderstood. Occasionally mistaken for a vision problem, it is perceived as writing in reverse or reversing letters.
According to the International Dyslexia Association, dyslexia is a "language problem" that refers to a "collection of symptoms that result in individuals having difficulty with specific language skills, most notably reading."
It is a learning disability that affects adults in a variety of settings, including the workplace, who have dyslexia and may have difficulty processing information.
Frequently overwhelmed by written or spoken information, individuals with dyslexia require additional time to process what they are presented with. This complicates their ability to follow lengthy conversations or comprehend lengthy information.
Furthermore, they are unlikely to be able to communicate effectively in writing or speaking. While they know what to say, they frequently do not know how to say it, which can be perplexing.
Michael*, a recent graduate of the University of Lagos, resigned after three months due to difficulties replicating information, retrieving files, and organizing his work.
“It was difficult to jot down instructions because I forget things said in less than three seconds. Consider trying to hear and write down the first sentence, and finding that when you attempt to write the first two words, you simply cannot recall the subsequent two or three words that comprise the sentence. It was extremely aggravating,” he recalls.
Dyslexia, according to studies, has no known cause or cure. Nevertheless, dyslexics can receive the assistance they require to overcome barriers and overcome their obstacles through the use of assistive technology (AT).
Assistive tech tools to help dyslexics function better at school or the workplace
According to the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, AT empowers dyslexics by assisting them in completing tasks more quickly and overcoming obstacles such as reading and writing. As a result, they are able to demonstrate their capabilities in novel ways.
Numerous assistive technologies are available to assist dyslexics with reading, writing, and organizational tasks. We identified four tools that can assist dyslexics in achieving academic and professional success.
1. Immersive Reader
The Immersive Reader is a free tool that helps students improves their reading comprehension, fluency, and writing abilities. Additionally, it boosts the confidence of dyslexic children who wish to become readers. It's integrated into OneNote, Word, Office Lens for iOS, Microsoft Edge, and Outlook's web version.
This tool aids in the syllabication of words, the identification of verbs, nouns, adjectives, and subordinate sentences, and the conversion of text to speech.
Additionally, it can select a font that is optimized for reading comfort and adjust font size, spacing, and background color.
2. Grammarly
Grammarly is a 2009 app that assists users in improving their spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, and engagement. It is available for free as well as a fee.
The app is recommended for dyslexic students and employees due to its ability to improve their writing.
Grammarly is available on the Google Play Store and the App Store, and can also be added as a Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or Google Chrome extension.
3. Executive functioning tools
Individuals with dyslexia frequently struggle with executive functioning, which entails planning a task, shifting gears when necessary, and reorienting a team. As a result, they require organizational tools to assist them in achieving success.
Evernote is a multipurpose application that enables the management of to-do lists, the creation of voice recordings, and the scanning of business cards, receipts, documents, and handwritten notes.
Microsoft To Do is a useful tool if you have a lot of to-do lists. It is useful for managing multiple lists, setting reminders, and keeping track of critical notes, documents, or voice recordings associated with specific activities. iPhones, iPads, Android devices, and laptops are all compatible with the app.
While the Google Calendar app reminds you of upcoming events, ActiveInbox integrates seamlessly with your email, automatically converting emails that require action or follow-up into tasks.
ActiveInbox includes a "send later" mode that enables you to schedule emails for delivery at a future date and time.
Mind mapping software is a brainstorming tool that enables you to create visual representations of your ideas in order to improve information organization and comprehension. It was created specifically to assist dyslexics in planning their work tasks efficiently. Mindly and Coggle are two such pieces of software.
Additional technology tools such as word processing, voice recording, spell check, word prediction, and speech recognition can aid in learning, reading, writing, and editing through evaluation and instructional support.
Why should dyslexics use assistive technology?
While dyslexia impairs an individual's ability to learn easily and quickly regardless of the educational approach used, AT has assisted dyslexics in reducing their reliance on others to read, write, and organize their work.
Dyslexia is a learning disability caused by a deficit in the brain's ability to convert visual or auditory input to understandable language. The brain struggles to associate letters with their associated sounds and to combine those sounds into words, which slows and complicates reading.
Dyslexia can impair daily abilities and activities such as social interaction, memory, and stress management. In addition, it has an effect on grammar, reading comprehension and fluency, sentence structure, spelling, listening, and writing, as well as motor control. Thus, implementing AT in the classroom or workplace is critical.
Also, dyslexics may have difficulty with spoken language, even when they are exposed to positive language models at home and receive appropriate language training in school.
They may have difficulty communicating clearly or comprehending what others are saying. While these language difficulties are difficult to identify, they can have a significant impact on education, the workplace, and interpersonal relationships.
Sometimes the symptoms of dyslexia do not manifest until later in life, when people with dyslexia struggle with more advanced cognitive abilities.
Several of the indicators are emotional and behavioral in nature. Dyslexics may be reluctant to read aloud or to themselves, and they may become anxious or frustrated while reading. This occurs regardless of whether they have mastered the fundamentals of reading. As a result, AT tools are used to assist them in performing better.
While assistive technology can be beneficial for dyslexics, Charles MacArthur, an associate professor of special education at the University of Delaware, believes that technology has a negligible effect on learning.
As a result, dyslexics can perform significantly better at work or school with the support of their parents, coworkers, teachers, classmates, or friends while using AT.
