Please go and support Clusterfook! She is now in hospice care, and is still amazing me!
Assistive Technology-Yeah or Nay?
I keep going back and forth about giving Amy the use of assistive technology.
The cons: She may get too used to depending on it, and not progress in her skills for reading/spelling; Many types that are recommended to us are expensive, and we would have to buy not only the technology, but a laptop just for Amy (who is now 10); the school doesn’t want her to become dependent on technology
Pros: it would give Amy a way to write without being hindered by her spelling; there is a way for her to read along, while listening to the words, so that she can not only comprehend what she is reading, but also reinforce reading fluency; it will enable her to tackle more challenging reading material as she gets older; it will take away that “wall” that she faces while doing schoolwork (poor reading comprehension, difficulty spelling, reading fluency etc).
To me, the pro’s totally outweight the cons. We are still waiting for the IT guys at school to install the one program that her teachers were able to get approved for her to use. (it is called Co-Writer). I don’t have any experience or knowledge about it, but, am still anxiously awaiting for her to be able to use it, and see how it helps. If it does, I may get it for home use.
I still want her to experience the traditional way of reading/writing, and feel it is neccessary, in order for her to continue to progress. But, there are times, when her productivity could be improved, if she didn’t have to struggle with the reading/writing.
All in all, I do think that eventually, we will have to really depend on technology, to get through high school and college. She will benefit from the technology in a much more positive way, and make learning much easier and more fun for her.
