NSF-FUNDED SEARCH GATHERS COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY TO HELP TEACH
LEARNING-DISABLED STUDENTS

March 11, 1994 -- Try reading this: "No wyouk now how ha rdrea ding canb ef
or so me peop lew it hl ear nin gdisa bili ties."  Whew.  Try again: "Now
you know how hard reading can be for some people with learning
disabilities."

Fortunately, for the millions of persons with dyslexia and other learning
disabilities, creative applications of computer processing can help them
overcome their deficits in auditory or visual processing.

Some of the applications were uncovered in a national search led by
researchers at the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, MCI Communications Corp., and
Microsoft Corp., the search yielded more than 800 computer-based
inventions that provide greater independence to persons with various
disabilities (including hearing, speech, vision and neurological
impairments).

The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) was among the
project's advisors.  At the LDA international conference in Washington,
D.C., March 16-19, Johns Hopkins University researchers and others will
present recent computer applications designed for the learning disabled.
(For details about the conference, to be held at the Washington Hilton,
call 412/341-1515.)

According to search director Paul Hazan, of the Johns Hopkins University,
"In a similar search in 1982, most of the entries focused on physical
disabilities, where you could see what the problem was, and the entries in
the cognitive areas were not very prevalent. But that effort prompted a
decade of very intense activity concentrating on the cognitive areas."

Hazan has seen another shift occur.  Previously, advanced technology tended
to be developed for the larger marketplace of the general classroom and
then "spun off" into curriculum for the learning disabled. "Now with
multimedia applications the reverse happens," he said.  "Engaging
technology developed for learning disabled students makes its way into the
general curriculum, where it motivates many kinds of students."

Along with the two searches, NSF funding has fostered a handful of other
projects affecting the learning disabled:

** Tools such as raised-line "haptic" diagrams and auditory tapes to
provide primary students hands-on geology and biology lessons; and
Intellikeys, a large-format keyboard with interchangeable and adaptable
overlays.

** An effort to expand, gather and make consistent "Reading for the Blind"
science materials, which are also used by other "print-disabled" students
who have difficulty reading.

** Two separate three-year programs to train middle-school teachers in
effective ways to teach science and math to learning disabled children (as
were Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein).

** Research into how the left and right hemispheres of the brain's cortex
contribute differently, but complementarily, to our perceptions, cognition
and actions. (Some researchers hypothesize that some disabilities, such as
dyslexia and attention-deficit disorder, may stem from difficulty in
coordinating the activities of the left and right hemispheres).

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The National Science Foundation is an independent agency of the federal
government established in 1950 to promote and advance scientific progress
in the United States.  NSF accomplishes its mission primarily by
competitively awarding grants to educational institutions for research and
education in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

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