Learning Disabilities

According to themoralliberal.com there are over ten million students in the United States with learning disabilities affecting their writing skills. Neil MacGregor, VP of Learner Development for WordQ+SpeakQ assistive software, explains that the growth of diagnosed learning disabilities is not because there are suddenly more children with disabilities, but because we have become more attuned to them. In the past if a child was falling behind, it was assumed that he was just lazy. Now we know that a child having trouble in school may have a learning disability.

MacGregor lists several factors that hinder the writing skills of students with learning disabilities. He thinks that right now it is accepted to teach to the students without disabilities and give special classes to the students who need help. MacGregor believes that the students with disabilities should be treated as part of the norm. He also says that multiple choice, true/false and fill-in-the-blank tests contribute to writing disabilities in that they do not encourage critical thinking or written expression. Furthermore, MacGregor believes that technology can contribute to the success of people with learning disabilities. 

A useful tool that can help people with writing disabilities is WhiteSmoke 2011 with the WhiteSmoke Translator. WhiteSmoke can be used with nearly any text-based application. It checks the text for spelling, grammar and style mistakes. In addition to offering suggestions for improvement, WhiteSmoke shows where the writer most commonly errs.