Assessing Student's Needs for Assistive Technology (ASNAT)

Chapter 5 – Assistive Technology for Reading, Studying, and Math
Learning and Studying
There are a variety of tools that can help a student who struggles with the basic tasks of learning and
studying. Things like organizing time, organizing information, and retrieving information can be critical
to a student’s success. Here are several suggestions that can help the student who struggles with these
problems.
♦ Print or Picture Schedule
For the student who doesn’t read or doesn’t read well, a picture schedule that uses symbols to remind
him of the activities of his day can be very helpful. This is especially true of students with Autism
Spectrum Disorder. If the student can read, then a printed schedule can be used. For the student with
short term memory problems, such as those resulting from Traumatic Brain Injury, checking off or
crossing out each activity as it is completed may be necessary.
♦ Low Tech Aids to Identify Materials
Items such as color coded folders, index tabs, color coded notebooks and other low tech aids can make a
real difference for some students. We have had great success with Hefty tabs from Lee Products
Company. They come in five different colors and are removable, so they do not damage textbooks.
Textbooks can be coded by placing one color of hefty tab in the Table of Contents of each text, another
tab for the index, another for the glossary and another floater tab to mark place in text.
♦ Highlighting Text
As described earlier in this chapter under Reading, the use of highlighters and Highlighting Tape can be
very helpful in identifying important information for later study. Different colors can be used for
different information, color coding information about specific dates in green and about specific people
in orange for example.
♦ Recording Material
Sometimes it helps to record important information such as dates, key facts, or questions that have been
identified as being on the coming test. If material is recorded, especially whole lectures, it is important
to identify the location of the information. Wanderman (2000) suggests using a digital tape recorder and
making at least minimal notes on a piece of paper which identify the location of significant information
by noting the digital number which was showing when that fact was recorded. Digital recorders can also
be used to record voice notes. The voice notes can then be downloaded into a computer and transcribed
into text using voice recognition software. Many cell phones and handheld computers offer a voice note
feature.
♦ Voice output reminders
There are a variety of voice output devices that can be used to record reminders, steps of a task, complex
directions, etc. There are many types of small voice message reminders available at places like Wal-
Mart and Target. They range in price from $6-$25. Some have better voice quality than others, so it pays
to check them out.
Slightly more expensive items can be useful for a student at a lower cognitive level. The Little Step-by-
Step Communicator from AbleNet, Inc. has a total of 75 seconds of recording time which can be spread
over several levels. Recording one step on each level allows the student to hear only one step at a time.
Assessing Students’ Needs for Assistive Technology (2004) 138