Page 47 - SEN113 SEN Magazine July-August 2021-V3

Dyslexia The role of intuitive tech solutions Tsachi Moshinsky discusses tech support for dyslexia. COVID-19 has impacted nearly every part of daily living , including extensive effects on education. For many months, educators, parents and students throughout the UK faced extraordinary challenges as schools resorted to near-total closures to slow the pandemic’s spread. Teachers scrambled to adapt to long-term online learning, parents juggled work responsibilities with caring for and educating their children, and students grappled with isolation combined with anxiety about the future, while striving to maintain their learning. Most pupils returned to the classroom in March, and we are still reflecting on the ongoing impact of school closures on students with learning difficulties. As of 8th June 2021, school closures globally have impacted approximately 11.3% of all enrolled learners, a figure of 198,613,483 individuals affected (UNESCO). Unfortunately, during the transition from face-to-face learning to virtual platforms, accessibility for students with learning disabilities was not adequately addressed. Under typical circumstances, the bustling environments of the classroom and playground can be difficult for any child. Adjusting to a rigorous curriculum, social forces, learning new skills, and the nuances of the classroom, are just a few of the many pressures that students face. But for those with dyslexia and related language processing difficulties, these struggles are amplified even in “Learning disabilities were not adequately addressed.” the most ideal learning environments, and the adjustments to COVID-19 posed additional challenges for these students, as they were required to spend additional time reading and writing independently. Identifying and supporting students with dyslexia Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading, writing and spelling difficulties, impacting between 6.6 and 9.9 million people in the UK who may have symptoms as varied as word recognition, reading fluency, and spelling and writing difficulties (All Party Parliamentary Group for Dyslexia and other SpLDs). While many people go through life with undiagnosed dyslexia, finding methods to adapt to their condition, students often struggle with various aspects of academic learning. senmagazine.co.uk SEN113 47