My name is James Northridge. I’m a researcher in assistive technology. I am from Ireland. I 
am based in Boston for a fellowship.
I have dyslexia. I battle with it daily. It is a challenge when working in research. There is a level of expectation. Mainly that everyone should have a certain ability. I use technology to help me overcome these challenges.
I’m going to discuss technology to help with reading and writing. I will give you some Apps that can help with dyslexia.
There are many famous people that have dyslexia. Examples are Tom Cruise, Richard Branson, and Steven Spielberg. I look at my dyslexia as a super power. It enables me to think differently. It gives me the ability to consider possibilities. It also gets in the way. It makes life hard at times. Like all superpowers I guess!
We are in a time when many people have access to a smartphone or a tablet. I really do believe it’s a great time to have dyslexia. There is so much technology that can help. It’s easy to get.
5 technologies that can make the difference
- Voice Dream Reader on the App Store – iTunes – Apple. This is a Text to Speech reader. It is one of the best available.
- Claro ScanPen Reader on the App Store – iTunes – Apple. With this app, you take a picture of a page and it reads to you.
- Notability on the App Store – iTunes – Apple. Useful for taking notes in class. It records the class. It matches any notes you take in class or images from the board.
- SnapType Pro on the App Store – iTunes – Apple. Useful for filling in a form digitally.
- Prizmo – Scanning, OCR, and Speech on the App Store – iTunes – Apple. Use this to scan larger documents that you have to read. You can save them to review or read later.
Bonus App: Flat Tomato (Time Management) on the App Store – iTunes – Apple. This is an app that helps you manage your time. It uses the Pomodoro technique.