Steve Redgrave in call to increase awareness of legal rights
16th Nov, 2006
‘Education of dyslexic and visually impaired students held back unnecessarily’, says Sir Steve Redgrave
Five times Olympic gold medallist, Sir Steve Redgrave, is calling for greater efforts to increase awareness of the legal rights of visually impaired and dyslexic school children to have text books in formats other than standard print.
Sir Steve is speaking out on the issue after new research suggests that 89% of dyslexic students don’t know anything about the specialist software on offer to help with their studies before they reach further or higher education. The former rower, who is dyslexic himself, argues that this lack of awareness points to many other children not realising their full education potential at a great cost both to themselves and the economy – a point recently acknowledged by the Commons education committee in its report on special education needs.
The availability of ‘altformat software’ is vital because 70% of communication and learning materials are visual, yet only 5% of books published in print in the UK are available in alternative formats.
Software tools have been developed to convert text into alternative formats including audio and DAISY (Digital Accessible Information Systems) talking books. A large document can be transformed, in three key strokes, into a digital file of combined audio and text. The student can then view the document, hear it, move from section to section or search on words – an invaluable aid to anyone who has difficulty with reading.
Sir Steve Redgrave said today:
“There is an assumption among a lot of educationalists that there is only one way to learn, i.e. by reading. More research needs to be done to explore alternative methods such as video, but I’ve seen research from America, which shows that if students with literacy problems are exposed to learning materials as combined audio and text, their test scores can increase by almost 40%. This is staggering and it’s time everyone knew about it.
“I recognise that schools have competing priorities for their resources, but I would like to see a much greater effort on the part of the Government, LEAs and schools to raise awareness among parents that these alternative format solutions exist and that their children have a right to use them. The Scandinavians, the Dutch and the Americans are all ahead of us in recognising the exciting possibilities which have opened up and we should act now.”
Sir Steve added: “If teachers and parents feel strongly that not enough resources are being directed to supporting visually impaired and dyslexic children, I would urge them to write to their local MP about the issue.”
Learning with MP3 players
Sir Steve Redgrave has teamed up with Worcester-based Dolphin Computer Access Ltd to highlight the fact that there are a wide range of innovative software solutions which enable students who have reading and writing difficulties or vision problems to excel in the classroom. Latest innovations include converting text into audio on MP3 players with the conversion enhanced by a format that is easy to navigate, for example, by jumping to a desired numbered section on a document.
Legal grey area
According to Dolphin, a legal grey area on the obligations of schools may explain why young disabled students are not getting the support they need. The law does not require schools to provide auxiliary aids and services although new duties mean that LEAs and schools must gradually implement access to learning for disabled children, including providing information in a range of formats. Students have the right to receive text in an alternative format and parents can make representations under the Disability Discrimination Act if they feel that their children are being discriminated against through a lack of support.
Schools can use e-learning credits as part of the Government’s Curriculum Online scheme to purchase accredited altformat software, but Dolphin has found that other ICT priorities often have first call.
Support from local MP
Backing Sir Steve Redgrave’s call, Dolphin’s local MP Mike Foster, said:
“While the Government has done an excellent job in promoting the use of ICT in schools, there is clearly an issue to address concerning software for special needs and increasing awareness about their availability. I’ll be asking ministers what steps can be taken to improve the situation.”
New information resource online – www.altformat.com
To help raise awareness, Sir Steve Redgrave is promoting a new website (www.altformat.com), launched today in partnership with the RNIB, the British Dyslexia Association and other organisations, to show teachers and students how software based on the DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) standard can transform the delivery of educational material for people with visual and print disabilities. Incorporating a forum to enable the software suppliers and interest groups to exchange knowledge, the ambition is to make the website the authoritative information resource internationally for software used to convert text to alternative, accessible formats.
Noel Duffy, Dolphin Computer Access’s managing director, said:
“Disability legislation around the world has created new opportunity and entitlement to books and documents in alternative formats. With his motivation to ensure anybody with a vision or print impairment can receive information in their favourite format, having Sir Steve Redgrave on board our campaign to raise awareness about entitlement is a major boost.”
