News about Bookshare: an ebook library for people with reading barriers
In Part 2 of 2, Ben Griese, special education teacher at Chief Ivan Blunka School in rural Alaska, discusses the benefits of digital voices and other features, books guaranteed to entice reluctant readers, and advice for parents and teachers to foster a love of reading and support students on their journey to reading independence.
3 CommentsIn Part 1 of 2, Ben Griese, special education teacher at Chief Ivan Blunka School, uses Bookshare, assistive technology, and creativity to engage reluctant readers in a Southwest Yup’ik community in New Stuyahok, Alaska.
2 CommentsJolene Nemeth is a Vocational Rehabilitation Technologist and Bookshare member who helps blind students use technology to succeed in college and pursue meaningful employment as adults.
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Assistive technology tools and online resources like Bookshare can help students with disabilities during this time of distance learning.
Leave a CommentTiffany Jenkins is a Certified Academic Language Therapist who helps students with dyslexia use accommodations like Bookshare to improve reading success.
9 CommentsAmy Ratajczak, a speech-language pathologist, explains how assistive technology helps students with reading comprehension, decoding, and fluency so they can access grade-level text independently.
4 CommentsScott Richards, Occupational Therapist and Assistive Technology Specialist, shares the low-to-high tech solutions and strategies that help students with disabilities reach their potential.
1 CommentKim Mountjoy, lead teacher for vision services in Metro Nashville Public Schools, is an itinerant supervisor who supports teachers who serve students directly. She shares how teachers in her district help students with reading barriers and other challenges.
Leave a CommentIn Part 1, we learned how Mystie Rail, Executive Director of Assistive Technology of Alaska, provides resources for Alaskans with disabilities. In Part 2, we learn how high school student LenaMarie leverages Bookshare, Voice Dream Reader, and other resources to succeed in her classes. LenaMarie is seventeen and lives in Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) which lies 320 miles north of the Arctic Circle. She was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia and also experiences anxiety. School was very challenging, and she often felt like a failure. Her parents urged the school to provide more accommodations like assistive technology (AT) and accessible instructional…
Leave a CommentThis two-part blog describes Alaska’s approach to providing assistive technology resources to support reading and the positive effect on people with disabilities In 2000, Mystie Rail moved to Anchorage, Alaska, for what she thought would only be one year. Nineteen years later, she still resides in Alaska administering assistive technology support services throughout the state. Mystie is the Executive Director of Assistive Technology of Alaska (ATLA), a nonprofit organization that provides accessible and cost-effective technology solutions that promote independent living and success for residents with disabilities “from twinkle to wrinkle,” says Mystie. Alaska’s geographic, linguistic, economic, and cultural diversity present challenges to…
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