AT Supports for Writing

Voice Typing/Dictation:

Voice typing can be a powerful support for struggling writers and can be used on most electronic devices. The accuracy of voice typing has vastly improved. Because the microphones of devices sometimes picks up side conversations and classroom noise, noise cancelling microphones/headphones can be helpful to enhance the accuracy of voice typing. Voice typing is a skill and requires instruction and modeling. Students with executive functioning challenges will require ample opportunities for practice, coaching, and modeling. Graphic organizers for writing help too!

• In Google Docs, Voice Typing is a built-in feature located in the “tools” toolbar. The microphone has to be enabled but after that, it is very simple to use. Here is link to a 3 min training video on how this feature can be accessed. All Chromebooks are equipped with microphones to access this feature.
• On an iPad, Voice Typing is a built-in feature located on the keyboard. This feature may have to be enabled in the ipad’s settings. Here is a link to a web page that describes how to enable and use this feature.
• On most Android Tablet/phones, Voice Typing is a built-in feature on the keyboard. However, on some Android devices, Voice Typing can be accessed only by installing a Google keyboard (gboard). Here is a link to a web page that describes the steps to installing this keyboard and using voice typing.
• For dysgraphic elementary-aged writers that have to complete worksheets, the FREE iOS/Android app Snap Type Pro can be a big help. This app allows students to take a photo of a worksheet, tap on the photo, and then use voice typing or the keyboard to type on to the worksheet photo. This photo can then be shared with a teacher as a PDF.
• PDF Expert and Scanner Pro are similar to Snap Type but is geared towards the professionals instead of elementary students. This could be a better fit for a high school student with dysgraphia.
• Voice Dream Writer is an iOS app for that offers robust proofreading of text and vocabulary support through a unique word finder feature. Text can be copy and pasted into other Word Processing applications such as Google Docs.

Subscription-Based Tools for Writing Support

There are a few subscription-based tools that can help struggling writers. These tools work on a variety of platforms (iOS, Chrome, etc), depending on the need. The cost of these tools depends on how many students/schools are using the tool. Individual licenses are usually available to be purchased by parents for students who need to use this tool at their home.

• CoWriter is a real-time writing assistant that works within the chrome browser and on an ipad. It allows students to quickly access a predictive word bank and voice typing feature. It also has embedded topic dictionaries to narrow the focus of the student writing and can read text aloud. Cost is $5 per student, per month (minimum of 20 student seats) or $750 per school. District-wide licensing is also available.
• Word Bank allows students to pull up a word bank for a writing topic to pull up key vocabulary associated with the writing topic.
• Read and Write for Chrome is similar to CoWriter and Snap and Read but has a few additional features such as text highlighting and Optical Character Recognition.