The Top Three Gifts for the Dyslexic College Student

Dyslexic college students face many struggles. Students are expected to take notes in class, remember when assignments are due, write papers, read numerous documents, and sometimes even drive to do research assignments. If you're a dyslexic student however, taking notes may prove difficult. Dyslexic people typically are not well organized either, so remembering assignments can be tough, and forgetting them can be quite embarrassing. Writing papers can take forever and prove to be quite challenging. Reading is often difficult and much more time consuming for the dyslexic college student. Driving can also be frustrating because map reading is next to impossible and even reading driving directions can be very confusing. You may not completely understand their challenges, but if you know a dyslexic college student, there are some gifts that you can give them that will help them to succeed in their studies.

School involves a lot of note taking, a ton of writing, and even more reading. You'd be surprised how much a laptop can help someone who is dyslexic to accomplish these tasks. Dyslexic people often have messy handwriting that is even difficult for them to re-read later. Typing notes can save time writing and also leave the notes looking much more organized. Better notes are easier to study from, which improves grades. Writing papers on a laptop can also be helpful, as many word processing programs contain spell checkers to save time looking up words.

If some basic reading software is installed, a laptop can also help a dyslexic college student to read documents they are given for class. Many times readings are posted online for students, and if the computer can read them, that is very convenient. In addition to helping with note taking, writing, and possibly even reading, a laptop can greatly help with organization skills. No more messy papers thrown into a backpack, no more messy notes, and you can even set up reminders for assignments. I would say that a laptop is the number one present a dyslexic college student wants.

Reading often poses the greatest challenge for dyslexic college students. Unfortunately, not everything is available in audio format, and not everything can be read by a computer. For those books and documents that the student must read themselves, there is some help. One of the biggest challenges while reading is when you come across an unfamiliar word. For most people, this would be something simple. You don't know the word, so you grab a dictionary and look it up. But for dyslexic students, this can be more difficult.

If you don't know the word, you just skip it and move on. If you are going to grab the dictionary, you are going to have to look up this word by alphabetical order. If you actually find the word, the pronunciation key isn't going to make any sense if you cared about knowing how to pronounce the word. All of this can be very time consuming as well, greatly adding time to your reading assignments. This is why electronic dictionaries can be so helpful to dyslexic college students. I would highly recommend an electronic speaking dictionary since it also pronounces the words for you. Most electronic dictionaries just involve typing in the word (many also have a spell check feature). If typing in the word might be a problem, there are now these wonderful new scanning dictionaries as well. A scanning dictionary such as Wizcom's Reading Pen allows you to just scan the pen over a word and then it reads the word and definition for you. Some type of electronic dictionary is nearly essential for the dyslexic college student.

While not all college students need to drive for research purposes, many do. For dyslexic people, reading a map can be next to impossible. Even with new programs out there for printing out driving directions, following those driving directions can prove difficult. Once I was sent out to a dairy for an animal feeds and feeding course. The professor gave us all directions out there. It was only supposed to be a half hour trip. I left an hour early just incase I got lost. Once I got off the freeway, I ended up making a couple wrong turns and getting very lost. Two hours after I was supposed to have arrived for the tour of the dairy, I was stuck in my car completely lost and crying because I had missed the assignment and still had no clue where I was (and it took a very patient person when I called information to get me home!). A global positioning system (GPS) would have been extremely handy that day. I wasn't trying to miss the assignment, but I was stuck with a zero for that day anyway. A GPS can be especially handy for a dyslexic student who does a lot of driving for research or work.

While dyslexic college students do face many challenges, there are many great products out there now to help. A laptop can be an invaluable tool for a dyslexic college student. If you're looking for something less expensive, an electronic dictionary is a great gift. If you're the friend who always gets the call begging for help with directions, maybe it's time to buy your friend a GPS. You have the opportunity to give a holiday gift that can change that student's life.