I have a 6 year old son who is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Although he is high functioning and has already met his reading goals at the kindergarten level, he does have difficulty with reading comprehension. I have the opportunity to provide ideas for reading software that will be used in the new learning center being developed by his school. I would like to bring ideas to the table for software that has been shown to be successful with struggling readers. Do you have any suggestions?
TheTechMatrix(opens in a new window)can help you become an informed consumer of technology tools and resources. This matrix is intended to serve as a resource that matches technology tools with supporting literature on promising practices for the instruction of reading for students with disabilities. With the matrix, you can examine the features of reading software for students who struggle with various aspects of reading, as well as the research on which such products are developed and used. PowerUp WHAT WORKS(opens in a new window) is also an excellent free, online resource for teachers who are looking for strategies to incorporate technology tools and software to help struggling readers. PowerUp’s Teaching Strategies cover a range of topics related to reading, including fluency, context clues(opens in a new window), word analysis(opens in a new window), and more.
There are a growing number of reading software programs that can help students who struggle with reading. Before you select a tool, read some of the following articles on how to select the tool that best fits the student’s particular needs. Education Week’s article on Finding the Right Reading Program(opens in a new window) explains the importance of selecting an evidence-based reading program, intervention strategies, and suggestions of technology tools. Learning to Read with Multimedia Materials(opens in a new window) is another great article if you are lookingfor some suggestions about selecting tools and identifying resources.