My students need tablets (with protective cases) and headphones to access audio books through Bookshare.org - reading support for children with learning disabilities.
Shouldn't all children be able to read? It seems like a basic right, but my students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities HATE to read!
My school is a rigorous, diverse, and inclusive school in downtown Brooklyn.
We are proud of both our rigor and our special education inclusion classes serving students with Autism and a variety learning disabilities.
My students all have IEP's for a variety of learning disabilities. They see me in the "Resource Room" because they are struggling with reading and writing.
In our "high achieving" school, they are usually very self-conscious about the fact that reading is so hard for them.
Some of them have learned to compensate by listening. Some of them "fake read": follow along when the teacher reads and then ask their friends what it is about. Others just refuse to read at all.
My Project
As the texts get harder, the reading gab increases! We have to start thinking out of the box: there is more than one way to read!
I recently learned about Bookshare.org: a nonprofit organization that provides free audio books to students with qualifying IEPs.
When students access bookshare, they can see the words highlighted on the screen while they are listening to the text - providing immense support.
One of my students, Gabby, hadn't read a book in two years. But with bookshare, she has now read 4 books in the last 2 months! She is completing her reading homework and participating in book club discussions in class. It is a whole new world for her!
I want to put tablets and headphones in my students' hands during reading time so they can all have the success that Gabby has experienced.
Gabby had her own tablet but most of my students don't have their own devices and our school doesn't have the technology resources for tablets in the classrooms. All I have is an outdated tape recorder and 4 books on tape.
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Nearly all students from low‑income households
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