Jamie Coccarelli, M.Ed
Rebecca Sitton, ATP, RET

 You are a small disability services office and want to provide better accommodations for your students with
ADHD and/or Learning Disabilities.
 You want to learn more about technology to assist students with ADHD and/or
Learning Disabilities.

 Gain an understanding of the functional limitations of students with ADHD and
Learning Disabilities.
 Take away some free or low cost technology tools to accommodate those functional limitations in the classroom.

 Fall 2008: 584 students registered with
DSO on the 12 th day of class.=
 Fall 2013: 1021 students registered with
DSO on the 12 th day of class
78.4% increase in students with no increase in staff

 Share common functional limitations of:
 Organization & Executive Function
 Sustained Attention and Concentration
 Reading
 Writing

 Missing assignment/project due dates
 Setting unrealistic goals for assignment/project completion (i.e. one night for 10 page paper).
 Not following the given rubric
 Losing notes from lecture
 Missing class
 Missing registration dates

 Unable to focus in lecture
 Missing notes on the board/power point
 Not listening to the auditory portion of class
(lecture)
 Unable to focus while studying at home
 Get distracted by pictures in text, advertisements on websites
 Get distracted by roommates, TV, electronics

 Word reading (dyslexia)
 Reading fluency
 Reading comprehension
 Task persistence: a skill that is especially important for successful reading of expository text, such as history and science textbooks, newspapers, and voter pamphlets.

 Written expression
 Dysgraphia
 Visual-spatial difficulties: trouble processing what the eye sees
 Language processing difficulty: trouble processing and making sense of what the ear hears

 Laptops
 MacBook AIR
 Netbooks/PC’s
 Tablets
 iPads
 Kindles
 Surface
 Phones
 iPhone
 Android
 Windows

Come in the form of:
 Built in OS features



Software
Apps
Browser AddOn’s or Extensions

Accessibility features already in your technology that can assist students.

 Apple Accessibility
Features
 Dictionary
 Text to Seech
 Word Completion
 Voice Recognition
 Contrast
 VoiceOver

 Windows
Accessibility
Features
 Voice Recognition
 Narrator
 Contrast

 Chromebook
Accessibility
Features
 Speech to text



 iOS Accessibility
Features
 Speech to Text
Voice Over
Speech Selection

 Video and Auditory Engagement
 Apps and software for reading digital text aloud (with/without highlighting)

 Diagnosed LD – meet the requirements of organic impairment
 Bookshare

 Learning Ally
ADHD – and general assistance
 CourseSmart
 eBooks (Adobe Digital Edition)
 Kindle
 ibooks



Natural Reader
(Free)
Available in PC &
MAC Download, iOS,
Android, Google Play

 Speak Selection
(iOS) built into accessibility features






Voice Reading
IVONA :
Moon+Reader
CoolReader
Webpage Reader

 Voice Reading

 Webpage Reader



What are Extensions? Some of my Favorites:
Small programs that add new features to your browser and personalize


TLDR
Clearly
 SpeakIt your browsing experience .
 Cruxlight
Chrome Web Store


Grammarly
Readability

 Solutions for helping students capture content to process at a later time .
 Audio Recordings
▪ Livescribe Pen
▪ Recording Apps on Tablets
 Collaborative Notes
▪
Google Docs
▪
Evernote
▪
OneNote

 Every student can benefit from using this technology (exception could be student with significant hearing impairments)
 Visual and Auditory Tool


Ability to change playback speed to adjust for audio processing skills
3 pens currently on the market – Echo,
Sky, Smartpen 3

 Notability





App records audio
Imports PDF’s
Imports PowerPoints
Annotate on imports
Add pictures and web clippings



MindMapping Software
 An alternate to collect and visualize ideas.
Mindmeister –Cloud based, Google Play & iOS app available.
Xmind – MAC, PC, Linux
MindMaple – MAC, PC, iOS
Grammar Checking
 Tools to independently check for Grammatical errors.
▪ Grammarly – Cloud Based (also Chrome Extension)
▪ Grammarbase – Cloud Based (Dyslexia friendly)

 Voice Recognition is a good tool for students with Written Expression Disorders
 Allows a student to vocalize their thoughts and have them written out.
 Great tool for spelling issues and dysgraphia.
 Available in Windows , Mac , iOS , and Google

 How to set up
Windows Speech
Recognition

 How to set up Mac
Speech

 Build into iPhones/iPads

QUIZLET STUDYBLUE

 Paper Planners
 Digital Planners/Apps
 Mobile Alerts
 Focus Reminders
 List Apps/Features

 Cloud Based so accessible across devices.

• Studious
• Android App Only
• Phone silencer during class
• Manage study schedule.
• Reminders for assignments and tests

Apple App
 Note taking with Recording



Date Organizer for
Homework, assignments and exams, to do list with notifications
Import PDFs and other docs from the web and from email attachments
Generate and print your weekly class schedule

Assignment Calculators
University of Toronto

SELF CONTROL APP
•
•
MAC COMPUTER
ONLY
ONCE SET – NO WAY
TO GET ACCESS TO
WEBSITES UNTIL
TIME IS UP

Stay Focused – Chrome Extension

Cold Turkey - Windows