Week 5

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    The PowerPoint and readings this week provided important insight into the many different writing disabilities and the different assistive technologies and supports that can help students. Regardless of whether you are looking for a high assistive technology, like Grammarly, or a low assistive technology, such as a pencil grip, these tools are guaranteed to help a student requiring extra support in writing.

As mentioned, pencil grips can be a wonderful low assistive technology for students who may be struggling with writing, or may have what is known as a "Graphomotor Problem". This means that the student struggles to use the small muscles in their fingers, which makes it difficult to move a pencil and write. This will be noticeable if the student is seen to be frustrated while writing, may be lacking motivation to write, or is seen to have messy handwriting. Therefore, with this issue, the right decision would be to offer the student a pencil grip. These make it easier for the student to hold onto the pencil, as they make the pencil slightly wider in the spot you would hold onto it, and are rubbery. Another option to assist a student dealing with a Graphomotor Problem is to offer wide/thick markers or pencils for them to write with. Using these assistive tools can definitely ease a student's frustration with writing.

On the opposite end of the low to high assistive scale, an example of a high assistive technology is Grammarly. Grammarly is a digital writing assistant that anyone can download to use on any Google website that allows you to type. Grammarly assists with spelling, sentence formation, and sentence clarity, and can even tell you if your paper matches the tone you are trying to convey. This program can be helpful for all ages and grades, and even though I began using it in the later grades, and mostly in post-secondary programs, I feel as though I would've appreciated it the most in middle school. Even though I would suggest Grammarly for everyone, it could also best support students who may be struggling with disabilities such as dyslexia and Sequential-Ordering Problems.

Both of the supports listed above can be used inside and outside of school, which allows students to have assistive technologies that can support them with homework and any other extracurricular activities that involve the activity of writing. Any of these tools, and the other tools that were listed in the readings and PowerPoint, can help reduce frustration and provide every student, regardless of whether they do or do not have any disability, with the same experiences and opportunities. 

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