Your child doesn’t have to wait until reading catches up to start learning.
A reading disability can make the words on the page inaccessible without making the ideas inaccessible. Audiobooks, text-to-speech, accessible ebooks, speech-to-text, and other assistive technology can help close that gap. Some tools are built into devices you already own. Some can be provided through an IEP. And some national programs give qualifying students access to enormous libraries of accessible books for free.
The hard part is knowing any of this exists. Start here.
Pick what you’re trying to solve.
Start hereMy child can’t independently read books they can understand.
Start with Reading AccessI want to know what technology could help.
Explore Assistive TechnologyI want the school to provide it.
Go to AT & the IEPI need something that can help tonight.
Show me the free toolsAccess and remediation are two different jobs.
Access ≠ remediationGiving a child with dyslexia an audiobook does not mean giving up on teaching them to read.
They need both.
Remediation addresses the reading disability. Explicit, systematic reading instruction builds the decoding, encoding, and automatic word-recognition skills that aren’t developing efficiently on their own.
Access makes sure the reading disability doesn’t also become a science disability, a history disability, a vocabulary disability, or a reason your child stops loving books.
A child may understand The Wild Robot long before they can independently decode every word in it. That’s not cheating. That’s the point.
Ear reading and eye reading are teammates, not rivals.
Free & accessible books
Books & reading accessYour child’s reading disability may qualify them for book services you’ve never been told about.
Nearly 1.4 million accessible ebooks
Full Bookshare guide coming soonFree human-narrated audiobooks
Guide coming soonHuman narration + highlighted text
Guide coming soonThe right tool depends on the barrier.
Reading printed text
Text-to-speech, accessible ebooks, audiobooks, synchronized highlighting.
Getting ideas onto the page
Speech-to-text, word prediction, spelling support, and alternative keyboards.
Keeping up and staying organized
Digital notes, audio recording, reminders, visual schedules, and task supports.
Assistive technology is bigger than text-to-speech.
AT can support reading, writing, spelling, note-taking, memory, attention, and organization. The goal is not to collect apps. It is to identify the barrier, choose the smallest useful support, and teach the child how to use it independently.
Coming next: a parent field guide to assistive technology for dyslexia, ADHD, and learning disabilities.
Assistive technology, accessible materials, and the IEP
School accessDoes your child need a device or service (such as text-to-speech, speech-to-text, or accessible reading software) to access instruction?
If standard printed instructional materials are inaccessible, how will the school provide the same content in a usable format, on time?
Important distinctionThese issues overlap, but they are not interchangeable. Ask the team to address both the tool your child needs and the format of the materials they must access.
Free tools you may already have
Use tonightiPhone & iPad
Spoken Content can read text aloud and highlight words as it goes.
Chromebook
Select-to-Speak and built-in reading supports can make webpages and school materials easier to access.
Microsoft tools
Immersive Reader offers read-aloud, line focus, spacing, and other reading supports.
Keep the jobs separateThese tools provide access. They do not replace explicit, systematic reading instruction.