AI technology helps level playing field for students with disabilities

For Makenzie Gilkison, spelling is such a struggle that a word like rhino could come out as “rineanswsaurs” or as sarcastic as “srkastik.”

The 14-year-old from suburban Indianapolis can pronounce words, but her dyslexia makes the process so exhausting that she often struggles with comprehension.

“I just assumed I was stupid,” she recalled of her early school years.

But assistive technology powered by artificial intelligence helped her keep up with her classmates. Last year, Makenzie was named to the National Junior Honor Society. She credits a custom AI-powered chatbot, word prediction program and other tools that can read for her.

“I probably would have given up if I didn’t have them,” she said.

New technique; countless possibilities

Artificial intelligence promises to help countless students with a range of visual, speech, language and hearing impairments complete tasks that come easily to others. Schools everywhere are grappling with how and where to incorporate artificial intelligence, but many are rapidly developing applications for students with disabilities.

Putting the latest technology in the hands of students with disabilities is a priority for the US Department of Education, which has told schools they must consider whether students need tools like text-to-speech and alternative communication devices. The new Justice Department rules will also require schools and other government agencies to make apps and online content accessible to people with disabilities.

There are concerns about how to ensure that students who use it – including those with disabilities – continue to learn.

Students can use AI to condense jumbled thoughts into an outline, summarize complicated passages, or even translate Shakespeare into plain English. Computer-generated voices that can read passages to visually impaired and dyslexic students are becoming less robotic and more natural.

“I see a lot of students kind of do their own research, almost feeling like they’ve found a cheat code to a video game,” said Alexis Reid, an educational therapist in the Boston area who works with students with learning disabilities. But in her opinion, it is far from cheating: “We meet students where they are.”

The programs reinforce classroom instruction

Ben Snyder, a 14-year-old freshman from Larchmont, New York, who was recently diagnosed with a learning disability, is increasingly using artificial intelligence to help with his homework.

“Sometimes in math, my teachers will explain a problem to me, but it just doesn’t make sense,” he said. “So if I plug that problem into AI, it gives me more different ways to explain how to do it.”

He likes a program called Question AI. Earlier in the day, he had asked the program to help him draft a book report—a task he completed in 15 minutes that would normally have taken him an hour and a half due to his writing and organizational issues. But he thinks using artificial intelligence to write the entire report is crossing the line.

“It’s just cheating,” Ben said.

Schools weigh the pros and cons

Schools have been trying to balance the benefits of technology with the risk of doing too much. If the special education plan makes reading development a goal, the student must improve that skill. AI can’t do that for them, said Mary Lawson, chief counsel at the Greater City Council of Schools.

But technology can help level the playing field for students with disabilities, said Paul Sanft, director of a Minnesota-based center where families can try out different assistive technology tools and borrow devices.

“There are definitely going to be people who use some of these tools in nefarious ways. That’s always going to happen,” Sanft said. “But I don’t think that’s the biggest concern for people with disabilities, who are just trying to do something they couldn’t do before.”

Another risk is that AI will follow students to less rigorous courses. And because it’s so good at pattern recognition, AI might detect that a student has a disability. If it’s the AI ​​that detects it, rather than the student or his family, it could create ethical dilemmas, said Luis Perez, head of disability and digital inclusion at CAST, formerly the Center for Applied Specialized Technology.

Schools are using technology to help students who struggle academically, even if they don’t qualify for special education services. In Iowa, a new law requires students who are deemed not proficient—about a quarter of them—to receive an individualized reading plan. As part of that effort, the state Department of Education spent $3 million on a personalized tutoring program driven by artificial intelligence. When students struggle, a digital avatar intervenes.

Teachers expect more tools

The US National Science Foundation funds research and development of artificial intelligence. One company develops tools to help children with speech and language difficulties. Named the National AI Institute for Outstanding Education, based at the University at Buffalo, which did pioneering handwriting recognition work that helped the US Postal Service save hundreds of millions of dollars by automating processing.

“We are able to solve the postal application with very high accuracy. When it comes to children’s handwriting, we have failed miserably,” said Venu Govindaraj, director of the institute. He sees this as an area that needs more work, along with speech-to-text technology, which is not as good at understanding children’s voices, especially if there is a speech impediment.

Sorting through the vast number of programs developed by education technology companies can be a time-consuming challenge for schools. Richard Culatta, executive director of the International Society for Technology in Education, said the nonprofit launched an effort this fall to make it easier for districts to verify what they’re buying and make sure it’s available.

Mother sees potential

Makenzie wishes some of the tools were easier to use. Sometimes the feature will inexplicably turn off, and she’ll be without it for a week while the tech team investigates. The challenges can be so overwhelming that some students resist technology altogether.

But Makenzie’s mother, Nadine Gilkison, who works as a technology integration supervisor at the Franklin Township Community School Corporation in Indiana, said she sees more promise than flaws.

In September, her district launched chatbots to help special education students at the high school. She said teachers, who have sometimes struggled to get students the help they need, became emotional when they heard about the program. Until now, students have relied on someone to help them, and have not been able to move forward on their own.

“Now we don’t have to wait any longer,” she said.