Duration: 2:44
Felix is a Year 5 student with dyslexia. He explains how he uses iPad apps like IWordQ to make the process of reading and writing easier.
Julia Christie:
And so because Felix has dyslexia this iPad class has been amazing for him. He gets to use apps like IWordQ, and that helps him with his writing and reading.
Kate Friedwald:
So Felix for instance likes to listen a lot, so he will listen to text on his iPad. He can listen to emails, he can listen to the reading work he needs to do, he can listen to what it is he needs to do for that day.
Felix:
If my teacher sends me something it’s easier to just double tap and click Select All and then click Speak – 'Will I use Inspiration?” – and this says it all for me. I use Inspiration for planning my writing. I like it because it corrects you, and your words actually are neater, and it's easier to do the speech bubbles.
Kate Friedwald:
He’s also using a special app IWordQ to help with his writing. So when it’s writing time, the students can choose whether they write in their book, whether they write using Google Docs, or, in Felix’s case, he chooses to write using IWordQ.
Felix:
Well, with my writing I go into Google Docs or I go into IWordQ. It kind of does the same thing, except, if you write something in it, like if I write this and say something, it's, if I spell 'going' like this 'g.o.n.g.' and then it says that (pointing to word 'going' displayed on iPad screen) and you can, quick space of that goes ah! or you can click any of these (pointing to other displayed options 'go', going to', 'get' 'good') and go 'gone' so it could be 'gone' (points to 'gone' and word is read back, display words change, points to 'going' and word is read back) so it's really really easier. With it you can also listen to it, like, if you write it and forget what you wrote and you can’t really read it then you just listen to it and if there's a mistake...
Kate Friedwald:
Once he’s finished his writing he can actually start to listen to the text, and he can make sure that his grammar’s right, his full stops are in the correct place and it makes sense.
A lot of content for Felix if he can listen to it as well as he reads it is quite handy. So things like maths, he will come to watching a maths video rather than reading the understanding of how it works from a book.
Felix:
When I do maths, my teacher sometimes gives me these videos to watch to explain the strategies what I am meant to do, and it’s really easier to listen to it, than just read this massive boring pile of instructions.
Kate Friedwald:
When we are doing research for inquiry he can listen to what information says on a website. So it means that he’s working and doing the same work as the rest of the class in a medium that works for him.
Felix:
Last year I had dyslexia and I felt different, and this year I don’t feel different. It’s much easier.