Page 1 - Kelsey Hall and Diana Petschauer FLIP HTML5 Plug in

Supporting Learners
with Dyslexia: Technology and Intervention CAN Play Nice!
You know these learners; you work with them every single day. The kindergarten- er who slightly mispronounces words and has a di cult time acquiring sound and symbol (letter) correspondence. The quiet third-grader who works hard, completes all of his or her assignments, but just can- not seem to read single-syllable words (e.g., cat, dog, bug) uently. The brilliant ninth-grader who excels at art and music, yet struggles to e ectively and e cient- ly sound out novel words, making higher level curriculum di cult and frustrating to access. The twelfth-grade, stellar ath-
lete who has di culty completing read- ing and writing assignments, but is an in- telligent and valuable participant during classroom discussions.
Each of these students struggles. The root cause may not be immediately known, but an educator or family mem- ber, acutely aware of their struggles, may refer them to special education - the sooner the better. These students endure hours of psychological and educational testing, perhaps more if other areas are impacted (i.e., speech and language, oc- cupational therapy, behavior). When test-
ing is complete, the team (including the parents or caregivers and student, if ap- propriate) gathers around a table to dis- cuss the evaluation results. When testing is reviewed, it often becomes apparent that reading skills are impacted.
After reviewing eligibility criteria to determine the appropriate educational disability, the meeting may become more complex. It is at this point that many stu- dents who experience challenges with reading qualify for a “speci c learning disability” (SLD) in one or more sub areas, such as basic reading skills, reading com-
literacy
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Kelsey Hall,Ed.M.,M.S.,CCC-SLP,AAC/ATSpecialistisacerti edTeacheroftheDeaf(TOD)andSpeech- Language Pathologist (SLP), as well as an AAC (Augmentative Communication) & AT Specialist. Kelsey is currently the Assistive Technology Coordinator at the University of Massachusetts, as well as a consultant for AT for Education. She continues to present nationally with AT for Education regarding AAC, literacy, dyslexia and AT for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. For the last 10 years, she has held a variety of roles in public education as a TOD and SLP throughout New England with students Pre-K through 12th grade, as well as post-secondary. Kelsey is a certi ed Orton Gillingham instructor. During her graduate schooling, she focused on language and literacy disabilities and early childhood language disabilities. In addition, she wrote her master’s thesis on the e ect of training SLPs in the use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and related student language/AAC use outcomes.
Diana PetscHauer,M.Ed.,ATP,isaRESNAcerti edAssistiveTechnologyProfessionalandfounderofAT for Education, ATforED.com, and Access4Employment.com. Diana has over 20 years of experience in Special Education and Assistive Technology, PreK-12, post-secondary and adult services. She presents nationally and internationally, including at conferences such as FETC, ATCNE, Closing the Gap, CSUN, ACTEM, ATIA & ARATA. Diana is a faculty trainer for the Center on Technology and Disability (ctdinstitute.org), as well as ATinNH at the UNH Institute on Disability. Diana manages her multi-disciplinary team of consultants who provide AT and AAC evaluations, training, professional development workshops and webinars, consultation and accessibility services for students and adults to access education, the workplace and community. Consultation and services regarding website testing/audits, 508 compliance and accessible design is also provided.
April / May, 2017 | www.closingthegap.com/solutions/articles 23 ClosingTheGap © 2017 Closing The Gap, Inc. All rights reserved.