7 Ways to Destigmatize Assistive Tech in Your Classroom
Assistive Tech that supports reading can be the gateway to the curriculum: for learners who learn and think differently due to neurodiverse differences like dyslexia, it can be the best way of ensuring that they’re going into learning feeling confident, supported and able to show the world what they can do.
Unfortunately, whilst feeling happier on the academic side of things, Assistive Tech can lead to learners feeling ostracised and singled out because they’re learning a little differently to everybody else in their peer group. They may develop a sense of being ‘different’ to their friends, or feel that by learning differently, they’re missing out on parts of the classroom experience that their friends all get to share. On the opposite side of things, other learners in the class might feel that students learning via Assistive Technology are receiving an unfair advantage or they’re getting a head start when it comes to exams and tests. This can lead to victimisation, isolation and bullying in extreme cases— and this can lead to Assistive Tech users abandoning vital parts of their support framework in order to avoid the scrutiny.
It’s not just as simple as implementing an Assistive Tech solution and saying ‘let’s go’ - we need to make sure that tech is embedded in the classroom and in the learning process, de-othering it and making it a recognisable part of how all learners learn, not just those with dyslexia and literacy differences.
We need to break down the barriers that surround Assistive Tech and reading support in 2023 because it’s such an important part of promoting inclusion and making sure that every learner, regardless of Special Educational Needs and neurodivergent differences, can access the curriculum. To do this we need to support everybody in the classroom in developing a better understanding of Assistive Technology, how it can change the learning experience without affording some learners extra advantages, and how it can benefit each and every learner as they develop and grow.
7 Ways to Destigmatize Reading Support Tech in Your Classroom this Semester
1. Remember that some of the stigma against assistive tech comes from a lack of understanding. Where there are Assistive Tech users in the classroom or even the school, take the time to explain in a whole-class way what these devices do and why they’re important— and how they don’t constitute an unfair advantage. Explain that Assistive Tech is more like a pair of glasses than a calculator: it’s levelling the playing field, rather than giving them the answers.
2. You could also explore low-tech forms of Assistive Technology with your learners to help establish high-tech devices in context that they understand. Bring reading windows, thumb grips and reading slopes into play to help them understand the nature of an assistive change to what they think of as ‘normal reading procedure’, and then gradually build out understandings of some learners using things like text-to-speech reading aids from what they know about these low-tech or no-tech solutions.
3. Use Assistive Tech in group and whole-class as a way of gamifying learning or learning through play. The word game format can help devices and programmes feel less insular in their effects and less odd or unusual within the classroom space, and it can create a great platform for later implementing some kinds of Assistive Tech in a whole-class way.
4. You can also build on developing Assistive Tech knowledge by taking a deeper and more comprehensive look with learners at some of the reasons why it might be used and fostering better understandings of neurodiversity within the classroom space. Knowing more about how dyslexia can impact an individual can open up understandings of why Assistive Tech such as reading aids are important, and not something to be thought of as alien. Getting involved with neurodiversity awareness initiatives and campaigns can help learners better understand why it matters, and connect the idea to life outside of the classroom, too.
5. Assistive Tech isn’t only for the learners in the classroom who have Special Educational Needs or who are neurodivergent: many learners will benefit from the introduction of assistive devices, especially in settings where they’re developing literacy and taking their first steps on the reading journey. Across-the-board implementation of personal devices or team usage of whole-class devices can break down the stigma and support learners in garnering both skills and confidence, as well as establishing Assistive Tech as something normal, and helpful. In doing this we can address the idea that these devices are for ‘learners who struggle’— now, they’re for everybody.
6. You can support this further by introducing in-class resources that are specially designed to promote and bolster the use of the Assistive Tech devices you use. Chat to Assistive Tech providers about their resources and their recommendations— and for use with our C-Pen Reader 2, make sure to check out The Helping Hand Detective Agency.
7. Set a precedent in using Assistive Tech as a class leader: where learners can observe an adult using Assistive Tech as a standard part of how they approach texts, it has the power to break down barriers that render it unusual or something specific to learners with additional needs. Use Text-to-Speech when addressing new materials with a class, or reading through things like lesson objectives or instructions when a task is being set.
To find out more about our award-winning reading support device that can transform the literacy learning experience in your classroom and to claim your 30-Day Free Trial for Schools, check out The C-Pen Reader 2.