Instructional HLPs by Emily Blake

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-01 16:08:04 UTC

My name is Emily Blake. The article I chose to write about is "Assistive Technologies to Support Students With Dyslexia" by Kara Dawson, Pablo Antonenko, Holly Lane, and Jawed Zhu.

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-01 16:09:42 UTC

I chose this article because we read about dyslexia and other learning disabilities in our textbook, I wanted to learn more about them.

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-01 16:14:18 UTC

Assistive technologies (AT) refer to "services and devices that enable people with disabilities to accomplish daily living tasks " (Dawson, Antonenko, Lane, and Zhu). The IDEA states that schools must provide AT and accessible instructional materials (AIM) to students with disabilities, such as dyslexia.

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-01 16:39:28 UTC

Dyslexia is a neurological disability that causes challenges such as inaccuracy with reading and spelling and an inability to decode and recognize words. According to the article, "AT can be used to compensate for a disability, such as when nonverbal students use communication devices, or to mediate a disability, such as when students with print disabilities use text-to-speech programs" (Dawson, Antonenko, Lane, and Zhu)

Finding the right AT

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-01 16:48:02 UTC

One key teaching practice is to help students find the AT that works best for them. A recent study shows that there are about 500 apps for mobile devices that were identified that relate to dyslexia. However, not every app works the same for every student. According to Bjorklund (2011), "Students with dyslexia have been shown to exhibit different preferences... despite being identified with the same learning needs" (Dawson, Antonenko, Lane, and Zhu).

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-01 19:33:52 UTC

There are many different ways that teachers can help students find the AT that works best for them. These include, letting the students test the ATs to see which ones they like best, testing them yourself to get an understanding of them, and involving parents in the proccess inf possible.

Multifunction AT

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-01 19:43:47 UTC

Another key teaching practice is the use of multifunction AT. Amultifunction AT, such as 'Read&Write' (Texthelp, 2016), is an AT that combines multiple features into one tool. According to the article, "Read&Write is widely adopted in K-12 schools because of its multiple features, its compatibility with multiple devices... and its simplicity (Dawson, Antonenko, Lane, and Zhu).

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-02 01:50:57 UTC

An at can be helpful in supporting children with disabilities because its multiple features makes it more likley to be successful in aiding students. According to the article, not every student with dyslexia benefits from the same ATs (Dawson, Antonenko, Lane, and Zhu). So, an AT with multiple features will most likely benefit more students than other ATs.

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-02 01:56:56 UTC

This information will help me promote inclusion because I can ensure that every student succeeds in school. This article gave me information about assistive technologies (ATs), which are services and devices that help support people with disabilities. I can use this information about ATs to ensure that my students with disabilities, such as dyslexia, can be supported in the classroom.

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-02 01:58:05 UTC

It matters that teaching practices are evidence-based and inclusive in order to ensure that every student gets an ambitious and progressive education.

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-02 02:01:58 UTC

Learning about instruction has not changed my thinking about students with disabilities that much. The only thing that has changed is I now know about ATs and how they can help students with disabilities.

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-02 02:04:09 UTC

This information relates to my experience as an education major, and as a future educator, because I will use this information to make sure every student is supported.

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-02 02:05:35 UTC

In order to be more inclusive in my career, I will use the information I used in this assignment to make sure all of my students get the support they need to have a successful education.

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-02 02:09:04 UTC

Dawson, k.; Antonenko, P.; Lane, H.; Zhu, J. (2018). Assistive Technologies to Support Students With Dyslexia. Volume 51( Issue 3), #226–#239.

Turnbull A.; Turnbull H. R.; Wehmeyer M.; Shogren K.; Burke M., 2023. Exceptional lives 10th edition, Pearson.

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-02 02:41:15 UTC

This article connects with the textbook because they both discuss how to support students with dyslexia. The article discusses ATs, while the textbook discusses theaching methods.

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-02 02:44:58 UTC

According to the article, ATs are devices that are used to support students with disabilities, such as a text-to-speech programs to aid students with dyslexia (Dawson, Antonenko, Lane, and Zhu).

eblake11_1 — 2025-10-02 02:48:34 UTC

This is similar to the methods discussed in the textbook. A method like "words to read" helps students with learning disabilities by having them focus on a small group of words to practice different vowel sounds (Turnbull).

Both the article and the textbook discuss ways to aid and support students with disabilities.