Does your child with attention deficit disorder (ADD ADHD) need tech help with homework? There are many gadgets, software and other high-tech tools designed to help students with ADHD or learning disabilities compensate for their learning deficits and executive function, and build on your strengths.
Given the wide range of products now available, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Focus on two or three most pressing problems in your school, and look for easy to use products that address these needs. Buy well before school starts to give him time to catch up. If it is slow going, or if he is frustrated, consider hiring an expert tutor in technology.
Use this guide as an introduction to the tools that can help with organization, time management, reading and writing - and allow your child to experience the exquisite pleasure of learning.
Staying organized and punctual
I forgot. Disorganization. Chronic tardiness. If these added features are keeping your child learning two products can make a huge difference.
Personal digital assistant. A PDA - essentially a mini-computer pocket - can be helpful for children 12 years of age. Standard features include a planner to keep track of tasks and activities, a task list, a notepad, and alarms to keep your child on schedule. A stylus allows you peck an onscreen keyboard or write directly on the screen.
Most basic models - such as the $ 99 Palm Z22 - have a color screen and enough memory to hold additional assistance technology software (AT).
Visual timer. Lacking an internal sense of time, snakes need external help to not be late. The $ 25 Time Timer uses a decreasing red disc to graphically illustrate the passing of time. Younger children, such as the $ 37 Time Tracker, a tower with colorful lights and sound effects that signal when the time is up. Free PDA software called BigClock offers a striking display of the time, a stopwatch function, and four alarms. Find it on Download.com.
Reading, unencumbered
Most academic knowledge is imparted through the written word. AT tools to translate text to speech enable students to use listening skills in place.
Audiobooks. Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic maintains a library of over 100,000 recorded text books covering all grade levels. The books are narrated by specialists in each field, making charts, graphs and illustrations are described accurately.
For a modest fee ($ 100 the first year, $ 35 each year thereafter), a student can borrow up to one year texts.
Audio books are written in specialized formats to meet U.S. copyright law, so you will not be able to play on a regular CD player. Players, priced at $ 199 to $ 895, and special software, priced at $ 45 to $ 129 specially equipped, are available on the Group website. These tools allow you to move digital playback through an audio text almost like a normal book, jumping ahead, going back, bookmarks, and "read" your desired pace.
Register
for a free copy of the ...
9 Ways to succeed in school
For materials other than textbook reading - fiction, nonfiction, magazines - check out the National Library Service. This free government program is available to anyone with a medically documented reading disability and people with impaired vision or physical disabilities. The NLS provides playback equipment required at no cost and electronic recordings to you. You do not even have to pay postage when they are returned.
Text to speech software. If the book your child has to read is not available in audio, you can scan to a computer and use the text to speech software that reads back in a synthesized voice. For this, you need a scanner (sold at electronics stores for about $ 75), and text to speech software.
ReadPlease 2003 is a free download that reads the scanned pages, wrote documents and Web pages. An advanced, ReadPlease Plus 2003 ($ 60) version offers more human-sounding voices and additional features. Both products are for PC only.
More sophisticated, such as reading and writing 8 Gold ($ 595) and ClaroRead Plus ($ 395) for PC, literacy or Gold ($ 645) for Macs, combining a function of reading aloud programs a dictionary and other tools to help with both reading and writing.
Scanning pencil. Perfect for library research and other reading that does not involve a computer, this handheld device scans text as it is dragged along the page. The pen shows the words in an easy-to-read them spoken aloud, and provides definitions. ReadingPen Basic Edition ($ 279) is designed for elementary students. ReadingPen II ($ 249) is for older students
Given the wide range of products now available, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Focus on two or three most pressing problems in your school, and look for easy to use products that address these needs. Buy well before school starts to give him time to catch up. If it is slow going, or if he is frustrated, consider hiring an expert tutor in technology.
Use this guide as an introduction to the tools that can help with organization, time management, reading and writing - and allow your child to experience the exquisite pleasure of learning.
Staying organized and punctual
I forgot. Disorganization. Chronic tardiness. If these added features are keeping your child learning two products can make a huge difference.
Personal digital assistant. A PDA - essentially a mini-computer pocket - can be helpful for children 12 years of age. Standard features include a planner to keep track of tasks and activities, a task list, a notepad, and alarms to keep your child on schedule. A stylus allows you peck an onscreen keyboard or write directly on the screen.
Most basic models - such as the $ 99 Palm Z22 - have a color screen and enough memory to hold additional assistance technology software (AT).
Visual timer. Lacking an internal sense of time, snakes need external help to not be late. The $ 25 Time Timer uses a decreasing red disc to graphically illustrate the passing of time. Younger children, such as the $ 37 Time Tracker, a tower with colorful lights and sound effects that signal when the time is up. Free PDA software called BigClock offers a striking display of the time, a stopwatch function, and four alarms. Find it on Download.com.
Reading, unencumbered
Most academic knowledge is imparted through the written word. AT tools to translate text to speech enable students to use listening skills in place.
Audiobooks. Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic maintains a library of over 100,000 recorded text books covering all grade levels. The books are narrated by specialists in each field, making charts, graphs and illustrations are described accurately.
For a modest fee ($ 100 the first year, $ 35 each year thereafter), a student can borrow up to one year texts.
Audio books are written in specialized formats to meet U.S. copyright law, so you will not be able to play on a regular CD player. Players, priced at $ 199 to $ 895, and special software, priced at $ 45 to $ 129 specially equipped, are available on the Group website. These tools allow you to move digital playback through an audio text almost like a normal book, jumping ahead, going back, bookmarks, and "read" your desired pace.
Register
for a free copy of the ...
9 Ways to succeed in school
For materials other than textbook reading - fiction, nonfiction, magazines - check out the National Library Service. This free government program is available to anyone with a medically documented reading disability and people with impaired vision or physical disabilities. The NLS provides playback equipment required at no cost and electronic recordings to you. You do not even have to pay postage when they are returned.
Text to speech software. If the book your child has to read is not available in audio, you can scan to a computer and use the text to speech software that reads back in a synthesized voice. For this, you need a scanner (sold at electronics stores for about $ 75), and text to speech software.
ReadPlease 2003 is a free download that reads the scanned pages, wrote documents and Web pages. An advanced, ReadPlease Plus 2003 ($ 60) version offers more human-sounding voices and additional features. Both products are for PC only.
More sophisticated, such as reading and writing 8 Gold ($ 595) and ClaroRead Plus ($ 395) for PC, literacy or Gold ($ 645) for Macs, combining a function of reading aloud programs a dictionary and other tools to help with both reading and writing.
Scanning pencil. Perfect for library research and other reading that does not involve a computer, this handheld device scans text as it is dragged along the page. The pen shows the words in an easy-to-read them spoken aloud, and provides definitions. ReadingPen Basic Edition ($ 279) is designed for elementary students. ReadingPen II ($ 249) is for older students
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