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Coping Strategies & Assistive Technology

Coping Strategies & Assistive Technology. Neil Cottrell ADSHE Annual Conference, 28 th May 2013. Timing and Questions. Overview. Personal Perspective Assistive technology as coping strategies How I chose strategies Reading Memory Organisation Spelling Practical examples

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Coping Strategies & Assistive Technology

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  1. Coping Strategies & Assistive Technology Neil Cottrell ADSHE Annual Conference, 28th May 2013

  2. Timing and Questions

  3. Overview • Personal Perspective • Assistive technology as coping strategies • How I chose strategies • Reading • Memory • Organisation • Spelling • Practical examples • Developing, adapting and sharing strategies

  4. Background • Dyslexic • Age 15: • Reading speed: 7 years, 3 months • Spelling: 8.5-9 years • Support and coping strategies • Cardiff University • Graduated top of my class in psychology (2009)

  5. Background • Founded LexAble • British Dyslexia Association • Young achiever of the year (2010) • Technology committee (2012-) • AbilityNet • Technology4Good award (2012) • Run workshops internationally • I rely on assistive technology

  6. Why Coping Strategies Specific learning difficulty Important to work on key skills But don’t let higher level skills get left behind

  7. Example: Analysing a Poem

  8. Example: Analysing a Poem Someone reads aloud Scan and use text-to-speech

  9. Why Coping Strategies? • What’s important in: • Education? • The workplace? • Individual • Strengths and weaknesses

  10. Assistive Technology Tackling a specific issue for the individual Simplicity

  11. Reading • My issues • Reading speed • Stressful • Almost everything relies on reading • What I needed • Access all written information • Independent • Instant

  12. People Reading to Me • Traditional strategy • Not a primary strategy • Slow, embarrassing and a burden • Occasional (e.g. film subtitles) • Please don’t paraphrase • (except with permission)

  13. Text-to-speech Most important strategy for me Learning curve I could “read” faster than my peers

  14. Prizmo (iOS app)

  15. Memory • My issues • I forget very quickly • Franticly scribbling notes in seminars • Couldn’t focus properly at the same time • What I needed • Think and contribute in seminars • Write very little • Remember what was said

  16. Dictaphone • I didn’t like it (personal opinion) • Hours of un-sorted audio • Too much time and energy

  17. Livescribe

  18. Organisation: preparation • My issues • Psychology experiments, sports competitions, orchestra concerts • Preparation / packing was stressful • Always forgot something • What I needed • Lists • Always know where they are • Tick things off as I packed them

  19. Errands (iOS app)

  20. Organisation: tasks & thoughts • My issues • Forgot what I was thinking • Where and when • Irrelevant thoughts • What I needed • Store irrelevant thoughts • Be told where to be and when • Quick to input system

  21. (Smart)phone • Always with me • Jotting down thoughts • Quick • Organise later • Calendar & alarms • Tips • Sort to-do’s by urgency/importance • Sync with computer (e.g. Google calendar) to visualise day/week/month • Automatic backups

  22. Spelling • My issues • Distracted by spelling mistakes and typos • Red underlines • Reports and emails weren’t well written • Spell-checking was long & disheartening • What I needed • Stop worrying about spelling • Focus on content • Reduce workload • A solution that worked in all of the programs I use

  23. No Solution • Failed strategies • Ignoring mistakes • Spell-checking was long and disheartening • AutoCorrect • Not for email, mind maps, online • At age 15 • Frustrated while writing • Developed my own assistive software

  24. In 2009, 6 years later …

  25. Global AutoCorrect • How it helped me • Focus on content • Fewer red underlines • Reduced workload • Less time spent spell-checking • Learning spelling • I knew which words to work on • My best strategy yet!

  26. Global AutoCorrect • Cardiff University (Dr Trevor Humby) • Dyslexicparticipants • Remembered 18% more of what they had written • 10% more confident in the accuracy of their answers

  27. Global AutoCorrect Released in 2009 Now 7 of us in the team Used in the UK and internationally

  28. Coping Strategies • Specialist • Simple • Discreet • Wacky • Mainstream • Complex • Overt • Common sense • Tackling a specific issue for the individual • Simplicity

  29. Assistive Technology Tackling a specific issue for the individual Simplicity

  30. Resources • Getting around my dyslexia: A personal evaluation of coping strategies • Published in the PATOSS Bulletin (Winter 2010) • Choosing, evaluating and using assistive technology • Published in British Dyslexia Association’s book, “Dyslexia and Useful Technology” (October 2012) • Ability Magazine article • My story

  31. Conclusions Keep up the good work!

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