As a disability officer, one of the most frustrating things is the
inconsistency in needs assesments.
Some of ths Dyslexic students I meet are hugely, vocally eloquent but
could not attempt to express themselves in writing in the same way. For
these students, voice activation is a real blessing, they tell me it has
changed their lives. Whilst I do not think anything should be prescribed
for the sake of it, I do believe that all students should have the
opportunity to comment at their assesment.
Real problems occur when a student talk to others and find out that
someone has VA, whilst it was never even mentioned to them. (Especially
when an educational psychologist has made a specific recommendation that
it be used.)
Sometimes this appears to be dependent on who did the assesment rather
than on need. If a student will not be best served by this technology
then fine, but it should be at least discussed and the decision
unaffected by the assesor's feelings on it' s usefulness.It is impossible
to generalise in this way.Student's opinions on what will help them are
really valuable.
I have students who have paid for VA themselves, I believe this is unfair
when others have it included. If any software enables students to perform
to the best of thier ability then it's worth having. It may not be ideal
but if it helps even a little and boosts just one persons confidence then
I'm all for it! Sorry, I seem to be going off on one, I'll stop now.
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