American Dyslexia Association

Category: Apps/Accessories

  • KAZ Type’s SEN/Dyslexia Typing Software receives recognition by judges at the BETT Educational Show, London

    KAZ Type’s SEN/Dyslexia Typing Software receives recognition by judges at the BETT Educational Show, London

    KAZ Type’s SEN/Dyslexia Typing Software

    KAZ Type Limited’s SEN/Dyslexia Typing Software (also known as their Neurodiverse Edition) was shortlisted as a BETT Awards 2019 Finalist for the Special Educational Needs Solutions Sector. The award aimed to reward products that make a distinct contribution to supporting learners with special educational needs.

    With regard to dyslexia, the judges were highly impressed with how the program and the skill of touch typing helped with the following challenges:

    Visual Disturbances

    KAZ’s unique preference screen helps address visual disturbances by offering the user a selection of preferences to choose from. Once chosen, their preferences are ‘saved’ and applied throughout the course – tailoring it to each individual for optimum visibility comfort.

    Cognitive Limitations

    KAZ’s multi-sensory ‘accelerated learning’ teaching method enables students to learn using more than one sense (sight, sound, and touch). With this method, information is more likely to be remembered and retained. Students can hone in on their most comfortable and preferred style of learning (visual, auditory, or tactile pathways). If the teaching method closely matches the student’s preferred way of learning, learning becomes more natural, making learning easier and in turn faster – ‘accelerated learning’.

    Difficulties with spelling

    With KAZ’s unique accelerated learning teaching method incorporating ‘muscle memory’, spelling and vocabulary are ingrained in memory, as spellings become a series of finger movements and patterns on a keyboard, dramatically reducing the likelihood of transposing and misspelling words. Additionally, the program uses only ‘real words’ and repetition of typing these words helps train students to recognize them by sight, saving the decoding process that often causes trouble when reading. Spell checkers also highlight mistakes and offer alternatives.

    Poor and messy handwriting – (this can lead to embarrassment, frustration, and anxiety).

    Teaching typing skills eliminates the need for neat handwriting, as touch typing automatizes the translation of thoughts and ideas into written language. Additionally, errors can be easily edited without messy crossings out, resulting in neat and presentable work – automatically boosting confidence and self-esteem.

    Slow work rate – (due to poor penmanship).

    Quick and accurate typing can reduce the amount of time spent on a piece of work, and often increases the amount of work produced. Additionally, when typing efficiently, without even thinking about it (subconsciously) –the individual’s ‘conscious’ mind can concentrate on the question at hand, concentrate on creative writing, but most importantly, type quickly enough to finish their paper.

    Poor Working Memory

    The KAZ course is presented in a structured and light-hearted manner and has been designed NOT to overload the working memory. The program is broken down into short modules in order to hold focus and concentration and allows the student to work at their own pace. Additionally, they are allowed to return to previous modules at any time, should they wish to refresh. Working at a computer allows students to work in a non-linear fashion, where they can process their thoughts first and structure them later.

    KAZ was thrilled to be shortlisted as a finalist, as the recognition of the product from such a recognized organization within the education sector and the publicity has greatly helped with the awareness of the product, which is now helping the masses, who continually send them testimonials on how their software has helped them.

    ‘Thank You UK, for caring and investing in tools for Dyslexia. You have helped me make a breakthrough!’ K.Hamerski – US

    ‘Thanks for letting me trial KAZ, which I found surprisingly easy, and I am touch typing this email!  I need to speed up a lot, but only practice will do that!’ Kate Ireland – Learning Support – City of London School

    ‘Honestly, your method is like magic. I sent your website to other friends with dyslexic kids and another adult friend who never learned to touch type. Thank you so much for your method. I feel so lucky to have discovered KAZ. I love typing now.’ Rachel Rosenthal – US

    ‘We loved the ability to customize your screen display to ensure you can read comfortably, and the typing and demo areas on the screen are clear and easy to use.’ The School Run magazine Review

    https://kaz-type.com/dyslexia-edition.aspx

  • Ross Linnett’s Journey from Struggling Student to International Business Owner of Recite Me

    Ross Linnett’s Journey from Struggling Student to International Business Owner of Recite Me

    Ross Linnett, Founder and CEO of Recite Me, can still remember his first day of school with surprising clarity.

    He recalls, “I was way ahead of everyone else in regard to reading. I think I was reading from around the age of 2, but from age 4 and 5 I was in a special reading class. You had to be pretty bad at English to get into this class!”

    At that point, growing up in the mid 80s in north east England, Ross and his parents had never heard of dyslexia. Perhaps his teachers didn’t either. Knowledge of dyslexia still had a long way to go, but it quickly became known that Ross needed extra help.

    Ross explains, “It was a less pressured environment, so I didn’t feel like I was getting into trouble. If a teacher really took their time with me, I could excel. It was obvious then that I needed an adjustment.”

    Despite the clear signs that Ross needed extra assistance in the classroom and even dyslexia testing, support from his school was minimal. Ross recalls, “One teacher even told me, ‘Don’t be stupid, you don’t have dyslexia,’ and a dyslexia specialist himself once looked at my school essay and told me I didn’t have dyslexia.”

    During this disorienting time in school, Ross credits his talent in sports for building his confidence in school despite his struggles with reading and writing. “You never really get bullied at school if you’re good at sport, and it also gives you a lot of confidence,” Ross says, “But the thought of reading aloud used to send shivers down my spine. I’d be dreading it all day. It was the equivalent of jumping off a 100ft cliff.”

    It wasn’t until Ross became President of the Students’ Union at Northumbria University that he forced himself to speak publicly and face his dyslexia head-on. As he explains, “I was presenting at the Students’ Union when somebody pointed out that their father specialized in dyslexia and suggested I get tested for it. I got myself tested at university, and they confirmed I had dyslexia.”

    Ross soon learned that he wasn’t alone. As one of the most common learning disabilities in the world, common vision impairments and learning disabilities mean that millions of people around the world struggle with web accessibility, leading them to miss out on the valuable resources of the Internet, including career development, socialization, learning tools, and engaging with businesses.

    The need for portable, cloud-based software that would make online content accessible to a variety of needs, including dyslexia and common vision impairments, became crucial. It was from this experience that Recite Me was born.

    “We were involved with the Disability Discrimination Act as a Student Union at the time, but I was very aware that employers had to make the adjustments. It meant that every organization, under the Disability Discrimination Act in the United Kingdom, had the responsibility to cater to people with dyslexia or visual impairments, in the same way that buildings had to install ramps for people with physical disabilities. Everyone had to do it, but nobody was because the technology wasn’t there, so that’s when I came up with Recite Me.”

    Since its early days, Recite Me’s software has been improving the web experience for millions of customers around the world who live with vision impairments, disabilities, or dyslexia. As businesses continue to move their operations online, and with an aging population, we expect our software to become even more vital in the future.

    Ross adds, “When you get diagnosed later in life, you tend to question things more. It made me realize how negatively dyslexia had shaped my life up until that point.” Despite a difficult time at school, Ross has certainly not let dyslexia hold him back.

    After much success in the UK, Recite Me is now expanding its operations to the US. Part of this expansion plan included opening a new office in nearby Naples, inside the Naples Accelerator. Despite our growth, our original mission remains at the forefront: to support and aid those with dyslexia or impairments around the world.

    http://www.reciteme.com

    Article written by Rachel Holbrook

  • DocLexi™ – Learn Reading with Fun!

    DocLexi™ – Learn Reading with Fun!

    All new comprehensive app to improve children’s reading and spelling skills, based on proven therapeutic concepts

    DocLexi™ has been developed with the objective of helping children learn how to read, spell, and write with fun. It focuses on helping struggling readers and those with early signs of dyslexia. DocLexi™ has been built based on proven therapeutic concepts and delivers a comprehensive software to improve children’s spelling, reading, and writing skills. It was developed by dyslexia specialists based on their extensive experience and continuously tested with children during development. The games and activities are currently aimed at 5 to 7 year olds (up to grade 2 reading/writing skills). There is a consumer version available for children and their parents, as well as a professional version for specialists, therapists, and teachers. The professional version provides for a seamless integration with a therapist by allowing them to customize the app to meets the child’s needs and track progress by logging into the administration tool in their browser.
    Lori Johnston (M.A., CCC-SLP, Licensed Speech Language Pathologist), who developed the concept for DocLexi™, says: ”My 25+ years of experience in working with children who have reading and writing difficulties has enabled me to help create an app called DocLexi™. It has always been my dream to provide children with a tool that makes it easier and more fun for them to overcome their learning difficulties. DocLexi™ is the result of that dream and I am excited to see it come to life.”
    The program utilizes a multi-sensory approach by incorporating the following skills: visual scanning and tracking, visual spatial, recall, sequencing, phonological processing, and phonics (encoding and decoding).
    The exercises are embedded into the exciting DocLexi™ story. The children help the heroes achieve a happy ending by solving the individual learning tasks.
    The DocLexi™ team developed a machine that helped children learn to read, spell, & write. The Outer Space Mixer Monsters stole the machine, broke it apart and hid the pieces all over the world. The DocLexi™ Team is traveling and completing tasks to find the parts to the machine. On all their missions, the children are accompanied by DocLexi™ and his friends. In each game, the children can earn coins to customize their own avatar friend, give him a name, and change his looks and outfits. It’s seriously fun!
    DocLexi™ is available in English and German at launch.
    DocLexi™ covers a broad array of skills to help children learn reading and writing:
    • • Sequencing tasks (letters and numbers)
    • • Identifying letters and numbers
    • • Syllables (number of syllables in a word)
    • • Blending – find words (by sounds or picture)
    • • Building words (unscrambling words using phonics patterns)
    • • Reading order (tracking left to right, top to bottom)
    For a sneak preview check out this video and visit http://www.doclexi.com/ for more information.
  • KAZ – SEN/Dyslexia Typing Software

    KAZ – SEN/Dyslexia Typing Software

    If individuals with dyslexia are equipped with the correct tools, they stand a far greater chance of reaching their full potential.

    Trials and feedback from special needs teachers across the world have proven that touch typing and using a computer are formidable and even life-changing tools that open doors for individuals with dyslexia, as they present a new and powerful medium for learning and communicating – introducing them to a new, accessible academic world they can cope with and even excel in!

    The disturbances experienced by dyslexics make writing and producing a piece of work extremely challenging. The level of concentration and effort involved can be exhausting and can affect the overall structure and quality of a piece of work.

    The skill of typing can help eliminate many of these challenges and frustrations, and early acquisition familiarizes users with the keyboard, allowing them to fully appreciate the tools available to them through typing and using a computer.

    When typing:

    • The need for neat handwriting is no longer a priority.
    • Errors can be easily edited/corrected without messy crossings out, resulting in neat and presentable work.
    • Spell checkers highlight mistakes and offer alternatives.
    • Reassurance with the above automatically boosts confidence – promoting experimentation with vocabulary and spelling, and allows concentration to be focused on content.
    • Quick and accurate typing can reduce the amount of time spent on a piece of work and often increases the amount of work produced.
    • Physical dexterity is enhanced, helping with handwriting skills.
    • Reading, spelling, and vocabulary are ingrained in memory – with ‘muscle memory’, spellings become a series of finger movements and patterns on a keyboard, reducing the likelihood of transposing or misspelling words.
    • The working memory is not overloaded. Students can work at their own pace in a non-linear fashion, where they can process their thoughts first and structure them later.

    KAZ’s NEW SEN/Dyslexia typing software was developed with advice and guidance from the British Dyslexia Research Trust.

    Incorporating a multi-sensory approach throughout and available with US and UK accents and keyboards, it teaches typing skills whilst minimizing disturbances related to visual stress, by means of a unique ‘Preference Screen’ – tailoring the course to individual’s needs.

    Preferences include:-

    • A choice of colored background/filter screens – for reducing white screen glare.
    • A choice of 2 specific research-based background/filter colors – for steadying letter movement and blurring.
    • A choice of dyslexic friendly typefaces – for ease of reading.
    • A choice of font colour – for contrast from background screen colour.
    • A choice of font size – for optimum visibility, comfort and to minimize fusing and crowding of letters.
    • A choice of Keyboard for optimum visibility comfort.

    Once the user has selected their preferences and can read the sample text comfortably, these options are applied throughout the course, ensuring the learning experience is a comfortable and enjoyable one. No other typing tutor works in this way.

    The program uses a unique and proven ‘accelerated learning’ teaching method. Incorporating both ‘muscle memory’ and ‘brain balance’, it engages the major senses of sight, sound, and touch simultaneously, radically enhancing memory retention and recall, which is why it is so effective.

    Using specific combinations and progressions of just 11 words in 5 scientifically structured phrases, the method trains the fingers on both hands to work symmetrically and simultaneously – a direct result of both hemispheres of the brain working at the same time – ‘brain balance’.

    With repetition, reading, spelling, and vocabulary are ingrained to memory and with ‘muscle memory’ spellings become a series of finger movements and patterns on a keyboard, reducing the likelihood of transposing and misspelling words.

    The Course is presented in a structured but light-hearted manner to make learning fun and enjoyable. It solely focuses on teaching typing and does not include gaming or try to teach typing with other subjects, as research has proven that this splits concentration and may overload the ‘working memory’.

    The program offers both spoken and written instruction and includes ‘speaking keys’ covering the a-z keys. It is delivered in 5 short modules, in order to hold interest and concentration, and once again, avoid overloading the working memory. The student is allowed to progress at their own pace, acquiring the skill and gaining speed and accuracy without even realizing it. Additionally, a visual of the keyboard is always on the screen, encouraging the user to look up at the screen and not down at their fingers (so there is no need to cover hands or keyboard).

    The combination of KAZ’s unique ‘Preference Screen’ and its proven accelerated learning teaching method delivers a simple, yet dynamic course.

    The software is suitable for ages 6+ and is available in ‘Junior’, ‘Adult’ and ‘Corporate’, editions  – Online, as a Download, or via SCORM for LMS.

    Since launch, it has received wonderful reviews and is now promoted by the British Dyslexia Association and many SEN resellers across the world.

    www.kaz-type.com

  • Free app for spelling: FCJ Spelling App

    Free app for spelling: FCJ Spelling App

    FCJ Spelling is an app designed to help people improve their spelling with a special emphasis on dyslexia. It contains 10 exercises, customizable words, the option of a color overlay, and a fun word card game.
    The app allows teachers to monitor their students’ results remotely. Once all the students in a class have been added, the teacher can view all their students’ results with the press of a single button. All results are encrypted and private.
    The app was developed by three 13-year-old Irish students: Billy Lee and Eamon Lalor, and was programmed by Niall Kehoe. The team would welcome any suggestions on how they might improve the app in later editions.
    The app is available on the iOS App Store free of charge at the link below, and the authors hope to release an Android version in the near future.
    Apple iTunes store:
  • Put Your Best Text Forward Online – Grammarly.com

    Put Your Best Text Forward Online – Grammarly.com

    Grammarly

    How many emails did you send today? What about Facebook updates or tweets?

    Online communication is more important than ever. According to research by the email management company AWeber, over 90 percent of teens today prefer to communicate via email, text, and Facebook. Texting and social networking are increasingly our primary modes of talking to each other; in fact, a 2012 study found that 40 percent of Americans would rather text than call, while 30 percent prefer to connect with friends online instead of face-to-face.

    Unfortunately, typical spelling and grammar checker tools aren’t available to you where you write most—online. Here are 5 tips for helping people with dyslexia to write better on the Web.

    1) Create a short proofreading checklist for yourself. What kinds of errors do you most want to find and fix? Typically, people struggle with a few areas of grammar and spelling more than others. Maybe homonyms (they’re/their/there) trip you up, or maybe you have trouble remembering when to use a comma. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses as a writer is the first step to improving your prose.

    2) Look for one kind of error at a time. Trying to fix everything all at once is a great way…to make yourself feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Instead of proofreading for all errors at once, break the task down into more manageable chunks. Start with end punctuation first (periods, exclamation points, and question marks), then move on to other punctuation (commas, semicolons, apostrophes, etc.), and finally tackle spelling. Pay closest attention to the problem areas you identified in step one.

    3) Read aloud (or use text-to-speech to read aloud) to locate misspelled or missing words. Reading your emails or tweets out loud may make you feel a little sill, but according to the Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, it’s one of the best ways to catch errors that you might otherwise miss. “Most people have far more experience listening to and speaking English than they do reading and editing it on the printed page. When you read your draft out loud or listen to someone else read it, your brain gets the information in a new way, and you may notice things that you didn’t see before.” If you’d rather have someone else read your text, there are a number of free text-to-speech programs available such as Natural Reader.

    4) Step away and look again later. After you’ve proofread a piece of writing, take a break, step away, and then come back to it with fresh eyes. The longer the work, the more time you should take between passes. Shorter pieces of writing, such as tweets or status updates, may only require a coffee break, but important emails, blog posts, and other documents may need to rest overnight.

    5) Use online grammar checking tools. American Wordspeller is a phonetic dictionary that allows users to look up words based on how they sound, not how they’re spelled. Another great tool is Grammarly Lite, a free browser extension for Chrome, Firefox 4+ and Safari browsers that alerts you to potential grammar mistakes before you post or hit “send.” It also catches contextual spelling errors (typing “horse” when you meant “house,” for example) and has a built-in thesaurus for those times when the right word eludes you.

    Without non-verbal cues like tone of voice or facial expressions, text-based communications rely entirely on the quality of your writing. Put your best text forward!

    Blog Post provided by Grammarly.com

    Grammarly improves communication among the world’s 2+ billion native and non-native English writers. Our flagship product, the Grammarly® Editor, corrects contextual spelling mistakes, checks for more than 250 common grammar errors, enhances vocabulary usage, and provides citation suggestions. More than 4 million registered users worldwide trust Grammarly’s products, which are also licensed by more than 350 leading universities and corporations. Grammarly is a privately-held company with offices in San Francisco and Kiev.

  • Proofread documents, presentations, articles, websites, and emails in every language with the help of eAngel.me service

    Proofread documents, presentations, articles, websites, and emails in every language with the help of eAngel.me service

    Mistakes in spelling and punctuation in emails are forgiven every day. This is no problem if the message is about being late for dinner. It is different if the message is to persuade someone to sign a purchase order or grant a job interview. eAngel.me is a new online service for business or personal use which offers to proofread and correct email punctuation and grammar in any language. It is not a translation service and will not change the meaning of the text in any way. The corrections are made by humans and the service is available in all countries.

    Users of email know that the software on their computers, no matter how advanced, cannot catch all errors because it cannot automatically put the meanings of a word which may sound the same but be spelled differently in the proper context. Professionally qualified humans can do that; and this is the premise on which eAngel.me was founded. Those who may find this unique service valuable include global businesses which have teams of salesmen in different countries, students seeking jobs or admission to schools in different countries, people with Dyslexia, technology experts who paid more attention to the technology professor than the English teacher but still need to communicate well with non-techs, and anyone studying or writing in languages other than their mother tongue.

    eAngel.me has a free trial available so prospects can experience how the service works; and it supports any type of email and any type of browser. This comment from one customer illustrates its ability to save time: “Today my emails are much more professional. I can do more with my time because I don’t need to worry about reading the email over and over again before I send it”.

    For information on how eAngel.me works and for a free trial, go to eAngel.me.

  • App: Sushi Monster

    App: Sushi Monster

    Meet Sushi Monster! Scholastic’s new game to practice, reinforce, and extend math fact fluency is completely engaging and appropriately challenging. Strengthen reasoning strategies for whole number addition and multiplication by helping monsters make a target sum or product. Earn points with each correct answer… but watch out for distractions! To be successful, plan ahead and strategically select numbers from the sushi counter.

    Sushi Monster is available for free on the app store.

  • 50 Popular iPad Apps For Struggling Readers & Writers

    50 Popular iPad Apps For Struggling Readers & Writers

    Teachthought has collected 50 iPad apps that help struggling readers and writers. You will find helpful tools, fundamentals, and apps for reading, writing, and spelling. Check it out.

    While we’re at it, also have a look at 15 Of The Best Educational Apps For Improved Reading Comprehension.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.