AssistiveText-reader programs, word-prediction software, and other aids

empower youth with learning disabilities.

Ted S. Hasselbring and Margaret E. Bausch

Schools in todays digital ageare filled with studentswho every day retrievearchived information witha mouse click or stream

video footage of events occurringaround the world right into their class-room computers. In these same schools,millions of students cannot benefit asfully as possible from their educationprograms because of learning disabili-ties. Besides providing exciting newways to communicate, digital technolo-gies can be a lifeline to this latter group.

About 10 percent of students in U.S.public schools—more than 6 millionstudents nationviide—receive specialeducation services i25th Annual Reportto Congress, , ., 2005). Approximatelyhalf of these students are classified ashaving a learning disability, a termdefined by the National JointCommittee on Learning Disabilities as

a disorder in one or more of the basicpsychological processes involved inunderstanding or in using language,spoken or written, which may manifestitself in an imperfect ability to listen,think, speak, read, write, spell, or domathematical calculations. (1991)

The percentage of students withlearning disabilities spending themajority of their school day in inclusiveclassrooms rather than in pulloulprograms has increased steadily overthe last 10 years. Approximately 44percent of students with learningdisabilities spend 80 percent or more of

their school day in inclusive classrooms(_25th Annual Report to Congress. . .,

2005).As more of these students are being

educated in inclusive classrooms,where they are expected to performgrade-level work but not always givenspecialized support, teachers aresearching for ways to educate studentswith disabilities more effectively Yet too

Assistive technologies

can act as a lifeline

to students with

learning disabilities.

many teachers are unaware of thepotential of assistive technologies toempower students struggling to workindependently at their grade level.

Assistive Technology DefinedThe term assistive technology (AT) is

used broadly in education. Federal law

defines assistive technology devnces as

any item, piece of equipment, orproduct system . . . used to increase,maintain, or improve functional capa-bilities of individuals with disabilities.(Individuals with Disabilities EducationAct, 1990)

Assistive technology devices andservices—from such high-tech innova-

tions as computer screen-readers forpeople with visual impairments tolower-tech products, such as headpointers or pencil grips—have aidedlearning for many students with phys-ical impairments. Positioning deviceshave enabled students with physicaldisabilities to join their classmates altables; auditory trainers have helpedthose with hearing impairmentscomprehend instruction in the regularclassroom; and portable text-readingdevices have enabled learners withsight problems to access informationfrom libraries.

Although assistive technology hasmade a dramatic difference for manystudents with severe physical impair-ments, research suggests that itspotential remains untapped for thelarger group of students receivingspecial services because of learningdisabilities. The National AssistiveTechnology Research Institute (NATRl)at the University of Kentucky exam-ined the use of assistive technology in10 U.S. states in 2005 and found thatassistive technologies are much morelikely to be used by students in low-incidence special education categories(such as autism, hearing impairment,or visual impairment) than bystudents with learning disabilities,Eurther, assistive technology is moreoften used in special education class-rooms than in regular classrooms.Regular education teachers appear torely on specialists for information

72 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/DECEMBER 2005/JANUARY 2006

Technologiesfor Reading

about assistive technology, reportingthat they know little about availableassistive technologies or how suchtools can be used (NATRl, 2005). It isessential that classroom teachers, notjust special educators, learn to guideand support students in using applica-tions that can boost their academicsuccess.

Assistive Technologiesfor LiteracyUteracy is one area in which well-applied assistive technologies can act asa lifeline to students with learningdisabilities. As many as 8 of 10 studentswith learning disabilities have readingproblems so significant that they cannotread and understand grade-level mate-

rial (Lemer, 2003). Learning disabilitiesoften interfere with students' ability tograsp principles of phonetics, decodetext, or comprehend what they read. Inour work with schools, we have seenassistive technology break downbarriers to full literacy in two ways: as areading support, meaning that computer-based applications help students withlearning disabilities successfully accessgrade-level text as they read, and as areading intervention, meaning that thetechnology helps students strengthenand improve their overall reading skills.

Supportive assistive technologyapproaches should work symbioticallywith learning interventions. In an idealsituation, students can use an assistivetechnology intervention to continuallyimprove their reading skills while at thesame time taking advantage of a readingsupport to provide the scaffoldingnecessary to read text at their gradelevel.

Prcrviding Reading SupportsIn 2000, the Kentucky Depanment ofEducation embarked on a technology-based initiative to help students withdisabilities become more independentwhen reading grade-level text. Theprogram centered on an assistive tech-nology called text-reader software thatuses synthetic speech to read text aloudwhile the same text is highlighted on acomputer screen. After evaluatingvarious text-reader tools, the KentuckyDepartment of Education selected a

Assoc iAr ioN FOR S U P E R V I S I O N AND CURRICULUM D E V E L O P M E N T 73

software program called Read & \WiteGold.' Kentucky negotiated an agree-ment with TextHELI makers of Read &Write Gold, to pro\ide a discount forKentucky schools; 95 percent ofKentucky's public schools now have asite license for this product.

Read & Write Gold software providestext-to-speech output of individualwords, sentences, or paragraphs. Itallows the student to customize theprogram and select personal preferencesfor the text-to-speech output, such asvoice gender, speed, and pitch. Thevoice reading aloud may be heardthrough computer speakers or throughpersonal headphones.

As the name implies. Read & WriteGold also provides computerizedsupport for writing, another area of diffi-culty for many students with learningdisabilities. Perhaps the most powerfulwriting feature is word prediction. As astudent is composing on the computer,the computer attempts to predict, on thebasis of the context or the first fewletters typed by the student, the wordthat the student is reaching for, andprovides several choices. Such supportoften dramatically speeds up thestudent's composition process. Becausestudents with learning disabilitiesfrequently skip words or misread writtentext even in their own compositions, thetext-reader feature of Read & Write Goldcan be especially useful. At any pointduring the writing process, the studentcan direct the computer to read backportions of the text. When students withlearning disabilities can hear what theyhave vvTitten, their composing andediting labors are lessened.

To a large extent, the success of theKentucky project has hinged on makingcomputer-readable school texts availableto Kentucky's students. Recent legisla-tion amends the states textbook adop-tion law to provide preferential procure-ment status to textbook publishers thatsupply digital versions oftheir text-books (Casebier, 2002).

Text-reader software creates a morelevel academic pla)ing field for studentswho do not decode or comprehend wellenough to read grade-level text indepen-dently The assistive technology' used inthis project has freed thousands ofKentucky students with learning disabili-ties from the stigma and failure thatthey may have faced their entire schoolcareers (Hasselbring & Goin, 2004).For many it is a breakthrough to be ableto read a grade-level passage withoutdepending on a teacher or anotherreader Students in Kentucky schools

T E C H N O - B Y T E

In 2004, virtually allpublic schools in the United

States had Internet access, upfrom 35 percent in 1994.

—Children's Partnership, 2005

who receive special testing accommoda-tions use Read & Write Gold whentaking the state assessment. Teachershave found that students with disabilitiesare more likely to reread text passagesseveral times for clarity when using Read& Write Gold than when listening to thetext being read aloud by a teacher.

Improving Skills withReading InterventionsWhat happens when a student with alearning disability faces reading chal-lenges outside the school environmentor when text-to-speech software is notavailable or practical? To address thisproblem, a number of schools haveturned to technologies that helpimprove reading skills. Computerizedreading training applications—such asthe Read, Write & Type! LearningSystem (developed by Talking Fingers,

Inc.) and Read Naturally (developed bythe Fluency Company)—have provedextremely effective for many students.In one study, a technology-basedreading intervention program calledREAD 180^ resulted in significant gainsin reading fluency and comprehensionfor special education students in theDes Moines Independent CommunitySchool District. Perhaps the most signif-icant finding was thai 18 percent of thestudents in the study no longer requiredspecial education services for readingafter one year of intervention (Palmer,2003),

READ 180, published by Scholastic,Inc., is one of the few assistive tech-nology programs for reading inter\'en-tion designed for older students, specifi-cally those in grades 4-12. The programprovides individualized instruction onthe basis of each students ability leveland specific needs.

One of the greatest problems thatpoor readers face is a deficit in back-ground knowledge in many subjectareas. We have all read text that madeno sense to us even though we couldread all of the words. Typically in thesecases, we don't have the knowledgeneeded to comprehend the text. READ180 remedies this problem: Beforereading a text passage, the learnerwatches a short anchor \ideo thatprovides the background knowledgeneeded to make sense of the text. Theanchor videos are clustered aroundthree areas: people and culture, scienceand math, and history and geography.After viewing the video, the student isshown a text passage about the videothat is on his or her pre-tested readinglevel. READ 180 includes support muchlike that found in text-reader software;when needed, the student can promptthe computer to provide help indecoding words, phrases, or the entirepassage.

After the student works through thereading passage, the software providesinstruction on words that the student

74 EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/DECEMBER 2005/JANUARV 2006

had trouble reading quickly and accu-rately; the text-reader software enablesthe student to decode, pronounce, spell,and define words, as well as break theminto parts and translate them into one offive different languages.

Following the vocabulary work, thecomputer presents the student withcomprehension questions about thepassage. Finally, a recap shows thestudent how many words he or she hasread correctly. The student continues toread the passage with instruction andsupport until he or she can do so withspeed and accuracy. Then a new video isintroduced, and the instructional cyclebegins again.

Beyond InstructionalDelivery SystemsAs assistive technologies have advancedover the years, they have deliveredinstruction in new ways. But simplyimproving access and delivery will notnecessarily improve instruction. On thecontrary, improved learning for allstudents depends on the quality ofinstruction—not on the medium withwhich it is delivered. As mediaresearcher Richard Clark notes.Instructional technologies are

mere vehicles that deliver instructionbut do not influence student achieve-ment any more than the truck thatdelivers our groceries causes changes inour nutrition. (1983, p. 445)

As teachers, we must become moreaware of the role that technology playsin learning. Our main focus as educa-tors who care about youth with learningdisabilities must be on providing excel-lent instruction. Although assistive tech-nologies make it possible for studentswith disabilities to profit from goodinstruction, technology is not magic; itis simply a tool of education. As withany tool, when used skillfully, it canhelp achieve spectacular results, 13

'For more information on Read & WriteGold, contact TextHELP Ltd. at 617-896-

9704; vvww.texthelp.com. Other text-readerprograms include Solo, available from DonJohnston, Inc.; W>'nn, developed byFreedom Scientific; and Kurzweil 3000,available from Kurzweil Educational Systems.

For more infomiation on READ 180,contact Scholastic, Inc. at 212-343-6100;wvvw.scholastic.com.

References25lh annual repori to Congress on the imple-

menlalkm of the Individuals with DisahilitiesEducation Act to ensure the free appropiiatepublic education ojall children with disablU-ties. (2005). Prepared by Westat for theOffice of Special Education and Rehabili-tative Senices. Washington, DC: U.S.Depanment of Education.

Casebier, L, (2002), Senate bill 243: Kentuckyrevised statutes. Available; www.lrc.state. ky.us/recarch/02rs/sb243 .htm

Clark, R. (1983). Reconsidering research onlearning from media. Review oJ EducationalResearch. 53(4), 445-459,

Hasselbring, T, S,, & Goin, L, I. (2004).Literacy instruction for older strugglingreaders: What is the role of technolog)'?Reading & Writing Quarterly, 20,123-144.

individuals with Disabilities Education Act of1990, PL 101^76. (1990, Oct. 30). Title20, U.S.C. 1400 et seq.: U.S. Statutes atl^rge, 104, 1103-1151.

Lemer, J. (2003). Lfaming disabilities: Theo-ries, diagnosis, and leaching strate^es (9thed-), Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

National Assistive Technology ResearchInstitute (NATRl). (2005). lAssistive tech-nolog)' state case studies,] Unpublishedraw data.

National Joint Committee on LeamingDisabihties. (1991). Leaming disabilities:Issues on definition, ASHA, 33 (Suppl, 5),18-20.

Palmer, N. (2003). READ 180 middle-schoolstud -.- Des iVltiincs, Iowa 2000-2002.Available: http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/read 180/research/pdMDesMoines_Study.pdf

Ted S. Hasselbring is William T. BryanProfessor of Special Education Tech-nology at the University of Kentucky;859-257-7908; tsh@ukv.edu. READ 180is based on his research at VanderbiltUniversity. Margaret E. Bausch isAssistant Professor of Special Educationat the University of Kentucky; 859-257-8810; meb@uky.edu.

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