Success Strategies &
Assistive TechnologyNeil Cottrell
BDA International Conference, 11th March 2016
Timing and Questions
Overview
• Personal Perspective
• Assistive technology as success strategies
• How I chose strategies• Reading
• Organisation
• Memory
• Spelling
• Practical examples
Background
• Dyslexic
• Age 15:
• Reading speed: 7 years, 3 months
• Spelling: 8.5-9 years
• Support and success strategies
• Cardiff University
• Graduated top of my class in psychology (2009)
Background
• Founded LexAble
•
• British Dyslexia Association
• Young achiever of the year (2010)
• Technology committee (2012-)
• Cardiff University
• Entrepreneur in residence (2014-)
• I rely on assistive technology
Why Success Strategies
• Specific learning difficulty
• Important to work on key skills
• But don’t let higher level skills get left behind
Example: Critique a journal article
Example: Critique a journal article
Why Success Strategies?
• What’s important in:• Education?
• The workplace?
• Individual• Strengths and weaknesses
Assistive Technology
• Tackling a specific issue for the individual
• Simplicity
Assistive Technology
Individual Success
Strategies
Stress/Worry Independence/Confidence
Last time …
Errands (iOS) Livescribe
Reading
• My issues• Reading is slow and stressful
• Text-to-speech on laptop is great
• Handouts in the middle of a seminar
• What I needed• Access all written information
• Independent
• Instant
KNFB Reader (iOS & Android)
• Alternatives:
• Prizmo (iOS)
• ClaroSpeak (with “Capture Text From Photo” add-on) (iOS)
• Capturatalk (iOS & Android)
Staying on top of things (email)
• My issues
Staying on top of things (email)
• My issues• Stressful to maintain things in my head
• Remembering to follow-up people who don’t reply to
emails
• Re-reading email subjects each time I log-in
• What I needed• Only being presented with things that need dealing
with
• Not have to maintain anything in my head
Inbox by Google
Inbox by Google
Staying on top of things (email)
Email notifications
Memory
• My issues• Unrelated but potentially important thoughts
• Focus on the thought: Lose the flow in current task
• Focus on the task: Lose the thought forever
• What I needed• Quickly note down my thought
• Without getting distracted
• Get straight back to the task in hand
Do Note (by IFTTT) (iOS &
Android)
Also see: Do Camera & Do Button
Outsourcing short-term memory
iOS: Siri
Android: Google Now (“OK Google”)
Spelling
• My issues• Distracted by spelling mistakes and typos
• Red underlines
• Reports and emails weren’t well written
• Spell-checking was long & disheartening
• What I needed• Stop worrying about spelling
• Focus on content
• Less time spellchecking
No Solution
• Failed strategies
• Ignoring mistakes
• Spell-checking was long and disheartening
• AutoCorrect
• Not for email, mind maps, online
• At age 15
• Frustrated while writing
• Developed my own assistive software
In 2009, 6 years later …
Global AutoCorrect
• How it helped me• Focus on content
• Fewer red underlines
• Reduced workload
• Less time spent spell-checking
• Learning spelling
• I knew which words to work on
• (Subject-specific terminology from Oxford University
Press)
• My best strategy yet!
Global AutoCorrect
• Cardiff University (Dr Trevor Humby)
• Dyslexic participants
• Remembered 18% more of what they had written
• 10% more confident in the accuracy of their answers
There was a significant interaction between group (dyslexia / non dyslexia) and condition (told to work normally / told to ignore
spelling / Global AutoCorrect activated) (F2, 94= 3.83, p<0.025, 97.5% statistical certainty). This was driven by the effect of condition
in the dyslexia group (F2, 42=3.34, p<0.05, 95% statistical certainty), which was due to increased recall between the "Work Normally"
and the "Global AutoCorrect" conditions (p<0.033, 96.7% statistical certainty, Bonferroni post-hoc test). The graph illustrates
statistically significant effects. Mean scores for the "Work Normally" and "Global AutoCorrect" conditions, +/- standard error.
Assistive Technology
• Tackling a specific issue for the individual
• Simplicity
Assistive Technology
Individual Success
Strategies
Stress/Worry Independence/Confidence
Resources
• Getting around my dyslexia: A personal evaluation of coping strategies• Published in the PATOSS Bulletin (Winter 2010)
• http://www.lexable.com/getting-around-my-dyslexia-a-personal-evaluation-of-coping-strategies
• Choosing, evaluating and using assistive technology• Published in British Dyslexia Association’s book, “Dyslexia and Useful
Technology” (October 2012)
• http://download.LexAble.com/articles/BDA_Chapter-Choosing_Evaluating_Using_Assistive_Technology.pdf
• Ability Magazine article• My story
• http://download.LexAble.com/articles/Ability_Magazine_Autumn_2012-Neil_Cottrell_Interview.pdf