Usefulness of an Assistive Technology Training Program for Adolscents With Dyslexia

Usefulness of an Assistive Technology Training Program for Adolescents With Dyslexia: Pilot Study

Specific Written Language Disorders (SWLD) are severe and lasting impairments in the development of written language that affect approximately 10% of the school-age population.Concerned patients don't have any intellectual disability.

Speech therapy help them to improve their language skills but also to compensate for their difficulties.

School environment is one of the places where these disorders can constitute a real handicap.

Given the prevalence of disorders, governments but also supra-governmental authorities have promoted educational integration of the concerned patients around the world. In France, different systems exist to help these patients with SWLD to follow an education that allows them to update their capacities as much as possible. School facilities are proposed such as attribution of Assistive Technology (AT). Nevertheless, these facilities have some limitations.

Concerning AT, several studies have shown the benefits for patients with dyslexia such as a better use of them. However, there were some limitations in their use and their usefulness.

The lack of use training is one of the barriers cited by patients and caregivers (parents and teachers).

Assistive Technology training exists for patients with dyslexia but very few studies have measured their influence on their performance in written language. Moreover, these studies did not take into account the previous level of computer practice nor the natural appropriation of the AT (ie: anyone can appropriate themselves). It is therefore difficult to affirm the specificity of the training's influence.

This study aims to assess the usefulness of AT training on the written language performance of adolescents with dyslexia. This work will study teenager's autonomy and how they use these tools.

Inclusion Criteria:

• adolescents with dyslexia
• normal schooling (not in a specialized establishment)
• with attribution of assistive technology less than 3 months or planned soon or low usage

Exclusion Criteria:

• oral disabilities hindering intelligibility
• physical disabilities (hands) hindering use of AT
• auditive and visual disabilities