Generative AI Assistive Technology for Dyslexic Students

AI assistive technology tools to help students with dyslexia:

"Generative AI: A Game-Changer for Dyslexia Assistive Technology Tools"

With recent advances in generative AI, there are exciting new possibilities for developing assistive technology tools to help students with dyslexia and other reading disabilities. Generative AI systems can understand spoken language, generate written text, describe visual information, and even translate between modalities like speech and text. This multisensory capacity aligns well with recommended instructional strategies for dyslexia that emphasize connecting reading with hearing and vision. This article explores how generative AI could be integrated into assistive technologies to provide personalized support and academic accommodations for students with dyslexia across reading, writing, and comprehension tasks. Potential applications, implementation considerations, and future research directions are discussed.

For students with dyslexia, generative AI could be a true game-changer in terms of assistive technologies for reading, writing, and comprehension. Up until recently, assistive tools have been limited to specific capabilities like text-to-speech or speech-to-text. But new generative AI systems can seamlessly combine listening, speaking, seeing, and text processing.

This multisensory integration is ideal for aligning with recommended strategies for dyslexia instruction that emphasize connecting the auditory with the visual. A generative AI assistant could listen to the student read aloud and provide feedback, describe images and visual information, transcribe spoken words to text, and even generate written content from spoken descriptions.

Imagine a dyslexic student working on a book report. Instead of struggling to read chapters of text, they could simply describe the book's plot and characters aloud to the AI assistant. The assistant would then generate a draft written summary that the student could review, edit with their own voice commands, and incorporate quotes by describing relevant passages from the book.

For writing assignments, the student could dictate an outline or rough draft, and the assistant could render it as text while suggesting edits for grammar, spelling, and clarity. The assistant could also analyze writing for areas to improve and provide customized exercises targeting the student's needs.

When tackling new reading assignments, the AI could first summarize key points by describing accompanying illustrations, graphs, charts, and other visuals. It could also read passages aloud, pausing to check for comprehension by asking the student questions.

Beyond academics, generative AI assistants could help with life skills like scheduling, email writing, filling out forms, and more by bridging between speech, text, and visuals. For the first time, dyslexic students would have an "always-available" aid connecting the different modalities they need across all subjects and activities.

Of course, the technology will require extensive refinement, testing, and implementation planning at school and district levels. Privacy, safety, and accessibility will be critical considerations. But the potential is immense for generative AI to truly revolutionize the classroom experience and level the playing field for students with dyslexia.

The tide has turned with this new frontier in assistive technology enabled by generative AI. Students with dyslexia may soon enjoy seamless, multisensory support customized to their needs like never before imagined.