WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:05.500 [ Music ] 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.750 There's no way you can pick them out of a crowd. 00:00:19.750 --> 00:00:22.160 People with learning disabilities blend right in. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:24.470 Sometimes, they don't even know. 00:00:24.470 --> 00:00:29.230 I always struggled academically, 00:00:29.230 --> 00:00:32.840 since I can remember, since first grade. 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:37.630 And so I pretty much had convinced myself in my mind 00:00:37.630 --> 00:00:40.300 that school was really difficult for me, 00:00:40.300 --> 00:00:42.010 and that's just the way it was. 00:00:42.010 --> 00:00:45.330 Learning disabilities are invisible disabilities. 00:00:45.330 --> 00:00:48.300 A child may struggle with schoolwork for years before 00:00:48.300 --> 00:00:52.240 being diagnosed, years in which people don't understand why she 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:53.500 "just doesn't get it." 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:55.010 Most of my friends could 00:00:55.010 --> 00:00:57.440 study for about half an hour and get As. 00:00:57.440 --> 00:01:01.150 And I would study for, you know, in the beginning of the school 00:01:01.150 --> 00:01:03.740 year I'd study maybe for four hours and still get a D. 00:01:03.740 --> 00:01:07.030 Kristin, who will soon return to school 00:01:07.030 --> 00:01:10.680 for a graduate degree, didn't know she had dyslexia until college. 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:14.770 The first step is diagnosis. 00:01:14.770 --> 00:01:17.300 When academic achievement is significantly 00:01:17.300 --> 00:01:19.930 below intellectual ability, the cause 00:01:19.930 --> 00:01:21.730 may be a learning disability. 00:01:21.730 --> 00:01:25.150 Chris, a high school student with dyslexia and dysgraphia, 00:01:25.150 --> 00:01:26.864 was diagnosed in grade school. 00:01:26.864 --> 00:01:29.030 I didn't really find out until second grade, 00:01:29.030 --> 00:01:31.970 when my mom started making me go to all these places where they 00:01:31.970 --> 00:01:36.140 made me do tests for, like, hours and hours. 00:01:36.140 --> 00:01:37.787 And that kind of got me really bored, 00:01:37.787 --> 00:01:40.120 but then I finally noticed after they started telling me 00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:43.930 that I had slight problems in certain areas 00:01:43.930 --> 00:01:45.170 like reading or writing. 00:01:45.170 --> 00:01:48.810 There are various types of learning disabilities, 00:01:48.810 --> 00:01:51.440 and they affect individuals in different ways. 00:01:51.440 --> 00:01:53.720 What they all have in common is that they 00:01:53.720 --> 00:01:55.884 affect the way the brain processes information. 00:01:55.884 --> 00:01:58.300 I think what it means to have a learning disability 00:01:58.300 --> 00:02:00.210 is that the students in some way are having 00:02:00.210 --> 00:02:02.160 their processing interrupted. 00:02:02.160 --> 00:02:05.110 So they're not able to maybe assimilate information 00:02:05.110 --> 00:02:07.900 as easily as other students, and then again they're not able 00:02:07.900 --> 00:02:09.840 to express it as easily as other students. 00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:13.070 So even though they're trying very hard, 00:02:13.070 --> 00:02:16.340 their ideas may not get across as well as other students. 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:18.970 Or they may not be able to take in the information 00:02:18.970 --> 00:02:21.130 effectively in the first place. 00:02:21.130 --> 00:02:23.410 Sometimes I, like, will read a line, 00:02:23.410 --> 00:02:26.100 and then I'll start on the next line, and halfway through it, 00:02:26.100 --> 00:02:28.475 I'll jump up to that same line I've already read and keep 00:02:28.475 --> 00:02:30.140 reading the same sentence over again. 00:02:30.140 --> 00:02:31.680 Which gets annoying. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:35.180 And sometimes, like, words change places 00:02:35.180 --> 00:02:41.550 or go upside down, and it makes it kind of hard in that sense. 00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:44.740 Learning disabilities can appear in any one or more 00:02:44.740 --> 00:02:47.160 of these four categories: 00:02:47.160 --> 00:02:48.840 Spoken language – listening and speaking; 00:02:50.790 --> 00:02:54.740 Written language – reading, writing, and spelling; 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:58.570 Arithmetic – calculation and concepts; 00:02:58.570 --> 00:03:03.100 Reasoning – organization and integration of ideas. 00:03:03.100 --> 00:03:06.040 Individuals may be affected in more than one category. 00:03:06.040 --> 00:03:09.040 Within those categories, there are specific types 00:03:09.040 --> 00:03:10.830 of learning disabilities. 00:03:10.830 --> 00:03:11.330 For example: 00:03:11.330 --> 00:03:14.330 People with dysgraphia may have difficulty 00:03:14.330 --> 00:03:16.420 forming letters and words, as well as 00:03:16.420 --> 00:03:19.360 producing legible handwriting. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:21.310 Those who have dyscalculia find it 00:03:21.310 --> 00:03:25.790 difficult to understand and use math concepts and symbols. 00:03:25.790 --> 00:03:28.850 With dyspraxia, language comprehension 00:03:28.850 --> 00:03:30.680 does not match production. 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:33.700 A person with dyspraxia may mix up words and sentences 00:03:33.700 --> 00:03:35.870 while talking. 00:03:35.870 --> 00:03:38.880 Someone with dyslexia may mix up letters within words, 00:03:38.880 --> 00:03:41.430 and words within sentences, while reading. 00:03:41.430 --> 00:03:45.000 This person may also have poor spelling skills. 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:48.460 The way that a learning disability 00:03:48.460 --> 00:03:51.640 affects each individual and their learning style is different. 00:03:51.640 --> 00:03:55.190 For example, in my situation, my learning disability 00:03:55.190 --> 00:03:57.350 really affects my reading comprehension. 00:03:57.350 --> 00:04:00.250 And I really have high math skills, or I did, 00:04:00.250 --> 00:04:01.780 when I practiced. 00:04:01.780 --> 00:04:04.790 But for others, math is really difficult for them, 00:04:04.790 --> 00:04:07.400 and their reading comprehension is up to par. 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:08.957 Imagine like you're sleeping, 00:04:08.957 --> 00:04:11.290 you're getting really sleepy, and you're reading a book; 00:04:11.290 --> 00:04:13.850 you start to–your eyes start to wander on the page, 00:04:13.850 --> 00:04:17.170 and you start seeing things moving; you read the same line. 00:04:17.170 --> 00:04:20.037 Well, it's about the same thing, except that I'm wide awake. 00:04:20.037 --> 00:04:21.620 They can have problems reading, 00:04:21.620 --> 00:04:24.116 they can have problems with auditory information, 00:04:24.116 --> 00:04:26.490 maybe they only hear every five words that you're saying, 00:04:26.490 --> 00:04:30.360 instead of every word; and we have some students that process 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:32.240 every word singly as they hear it, 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:34.760 instead of the entire sentence or the concept. 00:04:34.760 --> 00:04:38.750 And then we have other students who can take in information 00:04:38.750 --> 00:04:41.610 just fine, but they're not able to get it back out. 00:04:41.610 --> 00:04:43.390 People can develop strategies 00:04:43.390 --> 00:04:46.280 to compensate for the effects of learning disabilities. 00:04:46.280 --> 00:04:49.190 Computer technology has played a vital role 00:04:49.190 --> 00:04:52.460 in helping people achieve academic and career success. 00:04:52.460 --> 00:04:57.080 Taking more time to study, outlining my textbooks; 00:04:57.080 --> 00:05:01.600 using a word processor, spell check, grammar check. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:06.860 When writing papers, I can use my NaturallySpeaking 00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:10.280 program, which allows me to talk into a computer and it will 00:05:10.280 --> 00:05:14.010 write what I say, 'cause I have problems–my handwriting's 00:05:14.010 --> 00:05:15.620 really bad and sloppy. 00:05:15.620 --> 00:05:19.350 It takes time to choose hardware and software, 00:05:19.350 --> 00:05:21.870 to get the right fit for each person. 00:05:21.870 --> 00:05:24.020 But generally, these accommodations 00:05:24.020 --> 00:05:25.286 are not expensive. 00:05:25.286 --> 00:05:27.660 A lot of the software they?re using comes standard 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:28.690 with the computer now. 00:05:28.690 --> 00:05:31.020 Spell check and grammar check are often built right 00:05:31.020 --> 00:05:34.059 into the program, or they come with programs; 00:05:34.059 --> 00:05:38.350 when you buy your dictionary, they're already in there. 00:05:38.350 --> 00:05:40.050 We'll show you some of the computing tools that 00:05:40.050 --> 00:05:41.910 people with learning disabilities have found effective. 00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:45.670 Again, these are some of the possibilities; 00:05:45.670 --> 00:05:48.410 you may find something else that works best for you. 00:05:54.340 --> 00:05:57.680 Many people with dyslexia use only standard built-in word processing features. 00:05:59.140 --> 00:06:01.270 Spell checking, grammar checking, 00:06:01.270 --> 00:06:04.570 and the ability to change font size and color are all that's needed. 00:06:05.760 --> 00:06:09.230 Those tools allow the student to stay focused on what she's writing, 00:06:09.230 --> 00:06:12.760 instead of bogging down in spelling errors. 00:06:12.760 --> 00:06:15.080 I think that for people with disabilities 00:06:15.080 --> 00:06:18.180 computers are really useful because they have spell check 00:06:18.180 --> 00:06:21.560 and grammar check and you can use those for writing an essay 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:24.580 and you don't need to take more time consulting a dictionary. 00:06:24.580 --> 00:06:28.360 Finally, many word processing programs 00:06:28.360 --> 00:06:32.730 include options for color-coded text or outlining capabilities. 00:06:32.730 --> 00:06:34.620 These are useful for people who have 00:06:34.620 --> 00:06:37.320 difficulty sorting and sequencing thoughts and ideas. 00:06:46.380 --> 00:06:48.090 Reading systems are useful for people 00:06:48.090 --> 00:06:50.290 who understand things better through listening 00:06:50.290 --> 00:06:51.500 than through reading. 00:06:51.500 --> 00:06:53.550 For them, speech output is effective. 00:06:56.100 --> 00:06:59.970 Software allows the computer to read aloud text, email, 00:06:59.970 --> 00:07:03.620 or Web pages?basically, anything on your computer. 00:07:03.620 --> 00:07:06.560 Adding a scanner gives access to printed text. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:08.820 When I have to, like, read books, 00:07:08.820 --> 00:07:12.110 I just scan those so they can read the books to me so I don't 00:07:12.110 --> 00:07:14.660 have to spend 2 hours reading one page or something. 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:18.030 A scanner converts printed text into a format 00:07:18.030 --> 00:07:19.920 that the computer recognizes. 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:22.520 Then the computer reads the information aloud, 00:07:22.520 --> 00:07:24.570 at the same time that the words appear on the screen. 00:07:25.070 --> 00:07:27.460 A tall fellow in a Batman costume 00:07:27.460 --> 00:07:29.320 comes soaring out of the winter sky... 00:07:29.320 --> 00:07:31.370 Reading systems may include options 00:07:31.370 --> 00:07:34.070 for using contrasting colors to highlight words, 00:07:34.070 --> 00:07:36.460 or to make the words bigger on the screen. 00:07:36.460 --> 00:07:43.050 The second tier? 00:07:43.050 --> 00:07:44.950 Concept mapping software 00:07:44.950 --> 00:07:48.340 offers visual representation of ideas and concepts, which 00:07:48.340 --> 00:07:51.020 helps people who have difficulty organizing and integrating 00:07:51.020 --> 00:07:52.040 thoughts while writing. 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:53.890 Writing is one of my strengths, 00:07:53.890 --> 00:07:57.370 but it does take me some time to get my thoughts together. 00:07:57.370 --> 00:08:00.510 With concept mapping, ideas can be linked, 00:08:00.510 --> 00:08:02.530 rearranged, and color coded. 00:08:02.530 --> 00:08:05.970 Concept maps can then be turned into a traditional text outline. 00:08:06.960 --> 00:08:09.370 This can be used to start and organize 00:08:09.370 --> 00:08:13.590 a variety of writing projects, 00:08:13.590 --> 00:08:14.884 including poetry, term papers, resumes, or schedules. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:25.780 Word prediction software is helpful for people 00:08:25.780 --> 00:08:27.060 who are poor spellers. 00:08:27.060 --> 00:08:28.300 It prompts users with 00:08:28.300 --> 00:08:31.290 a list of most likely word choices, based on what 00:08:31.290 --> 00:08:32.909 has been typed so far. 00:08:32.909 --> 00:08:35.890 The person using the program can refer to the list, 00:08:35.890 --> 00:08:38.450 choose a word, and continue writing. 00:08:38.450 --> 00:08:42.350 Speech output is often combined with word prediction. 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:50.030 Most peoples' lives... 00:08:50.030 --> 00:08:51.930 Speech recognition software allows 00:08:51.930 --> 00:08:54.560 people to dictate into their computers. 00:08:54.560 --> 00:08:58.550 They may use this for email, Web browsing, or word processing. 00:08:58.550 --> 00:09:02.350 It helps me write. I can think and write faster 00:09:02.350 --> 00:09:05.060 and don't have that problem where I'll have that thought 00:09:05.060 --> 00:09:06.270 and it will go away. 00:09:06.270 --> 00:09:08.020 It requires a significant amount of training and practice. 00:09:09.780 --> 00:09:12.950 The person using this software speaks into a microphone. 00:09:12.950 --> 00:09:15.940 The user has to have fairly good reading comprehension 00:09:15.940 --> 00:09:18.430 to use this effectively, because you have 00:09:18.430 --> 00:09:19.739 to correct some of the words. 00:09:19.739 --> 00:09:20.530 Scratch that. 00:09:20.530 --> 00:09:23.690 The computer doesn't always recognize exactly what 00:09:23.690 --> 00:09:24.420 you meant. 00:09:24.420 --> 00:09:27.900 It sometimes doesn't translate words quite right. 00:09:27.900 --> 00:09:30.420 My favorite one was one of the first papers I wrote on; 00:09:30.420 --> 00:09:31.580 it was on space. 00:09:31.580 --> 00:09:33.910 And it translated "cosmonaut" 00:09:33.910 --> 00:09:36.240 to "cow snot." 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:38.670 Other technology-related products include: 00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:41.020 Talking calculators 00:09:41.020 --> 00:09:42.570 Phonetic spellers and 00:09:42.570 --> 00:09:44.120 Electronic organizers 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:47.480 And don't forget the low tech tools. 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:50.460 Post-it notes, highlighter pens, and Daytimer notes 00:09:50.460 --> 00:09:53.310 can be effective in organizing tasks and ideas. 00:09:53.310 --> 00:09:57.130 They can be used in combination with computer-based tools. 00:09:57.130 --> 00:10:00.750 Whatever you choose, the most effective strategies 00:10:00.750 --> 00:10:02.460 are the ones you develop yourself. 00:10:02.460 --> 00:10:04.430 I have to just write everything down; 00:10:04.430 --> 00:10:08.070 I have to be really organized; I have a Daytimer which I kind 00:10:08.070 --> 00:10:13.700 of live out of; and I just have to keep organized and on top 00:10:13.700 --> 00:10:16.430 of things, and be in regular communication with the people I 00:10:16.430 --> 00:10:19.460 work with to make sure that I understand the project 00:10:19.460 --> 00:10:23.440 correctly and that I'm working up to the expectations that I... 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.080 that are expected of me.