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Technology to Help with Learning Disabilities?
GotSanity asks: "I have a little brother who is now 18 and still can not read or do basic math. At an early age he was diagnosed with a level 10 mental handicap. I am curious as to what technology is available to help teach him to read. The major problems with most educational software I have found is that they both cater to younger minds (even though he has a learning disability he still is involved with everyday teenager activities like video games and music) and are often far to expensive for a working class family. I originally got him a copy of Typing of the Dead, and through it he has been learning to read and spell better. What novel education ideas can the Slashdot community suggest?"
I learned to read and type as a kid with Nintendo Power magazine and Mario Teaches Typing.
"All it takes to fly is to hurl yourself at the ground... and miss." - Douglas Adams
I have a little brother who is now 18 and still can not read or do basic math.
Get him a slashdot account, he will fit right in.
A good example of a Level 10 mental handicap can be found at this website.
Karma: Excellent Birds (mostly as a result of listening to Laurie Anderson)
Roll two d6 for any intelligence based roll, success only on an 11 or 12.
Linux IT Consulting and Domino Development in Michigan
I have a friend who is "mentally handicapped" to the point where he can't read or write at the age of 24. I've been testing the method of ridicule and public embarrassment in order to stimulate the motivation needed to learn which, have been fairly unsuccessful. So far in the past 3 years of testing, he has attempted the exercises of trying to get people to read books to him, attempting to learn french by listening to audio tapes, and self loathing. None of these attempts which he's tried have been successful, so I would say my experiment is failing... but on the other hand its REALLY funny so I think I'll continue with the experiment and see what happens.