Assistive technology can be the difference between burnout and healthy productivity. It can be the difference between success and failure for neurodivergent people. Getting the right support shouldn’t be hard – but there’s not always a great amount of accessible education about what’s out there.
Plus, assistive technology is only useful and supportive if it suits the needs of the individual, and they actually know how to use the tools provided. Solutions need to be tailored to the needs of the individual.
Here are some pieces of software and hardware that our clients have found very useful. Take a look and see if any of these might benefit you as a neurodiverse person in the workplace!
- Jamworks.
This software helps students predominantly – but does have functions that are beneficial in the workplace. It includes assistive note taking, live captioning and transcription of lectures and videos, as well as automatic highlights. This is great for neurodivergent people who have to wade through a wealth of information, but also for those who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- reMarkable.
reMarklable is an E-ink writing tablet that helps you write and draw just like you do on paper. It’s great for taking notes, drawing pictures, and even reading books and PDFs. It’s like having a digital notebook that feels like the real thing.
- Texthelp
TextHelp is a literacy, accessibility and dyslexia software developer for employees & students with reading and writing difficulties.
It has many fantastic features that you can choose from based on your needs, such as:
3a) Read&Write – The easy-to-use toolbar makes documents, files and web pages more accessible. Read&Write is a big confidence booster for anyone who needs a little support with their reading and writing in the workplace. It’s also useful for those with mild visual impairments.
3b) Browsealoud – This innovative support software adds speech, reading, and translation to websites facilitating access and participation for people with dyslexia, low literacy, English as a second language, and those with mild visual impairments.
3c) Equatio – Takes the pain out of creating mathematical expressions digitally. Equatio lets everyone create mathematical equations, formulas, Desmos graphs and more on their computer.
3d) CopyCert – Measures the readability of your website. It highlights mature words based on unique research, and long sentences and jargon based on UK government guidelines. It’s a great way to assess how accessible your website is – which is really important!
- TextAid by ReadSpeaker
This helpful tool reads text out loud. It’s really great for neurodivergent people because it makes reading easier, especially for those who struggle with words or need extra support. You can listen to articles and any other long bodies of text made for reading. Definitely a win for accessibility, as those with visual impairments also find it useful.
- Mindmeister
This piece of software allows people to mind map online. This helps them to collate their ideas, concepts and any information they may find to help them make connections and gain a greater understanding.
- Inspiration
Another simple but powerful visual thinking tool for easily creating concept maps, mind maps, diagrams, graphic organisers, outlines, and presentations.
- Grammarly
A classic, most of us have heard of it. It provides users with ai powered suggestions wherever they write across multiple platforms and devices. It also checks spelling and grammar. This helps people communicate with confidence in what they are writing, improving their correctness, clarity, engagement and delivery of their writing.
- Dragon Naturally Speaking
This handy dictation software that types out what you say into a microphone. You will also have to say ‘comma’ and ‘full-stop’ to add in any punctuation to what you are saying. It has been said that it is really straightforward and easy to use.
- Immersive Reader
This tool assists people with reading and comprehension. It can read text aloud for you to listen to, alternatively you can change the font size, style and colour, line spacing and even background colour to make things easier to read.
- Lunatask.
Lunatask is built with ADHD brains in mind, remembering things for you and keeping an eye out for your mental well-being. It is an all-in-one encrypted to-do list, mood and habit tracker, journaling and notes app.
- Lightkey Typing Redefined
This clever software learns your writing patterns and predicts up to 18 words ahead, including punctuation, for you to produce content faster but with confidence.
So, there you have it. 11 pieces of software that have been helping disabled and neurodivergent people in the workplace for the last several years. Some of them you may have heard of, some of them you may already be using… Some of them might sound like they’d really benefit you, but you need to find out some more info.
If that’s the case for you, don’t hesitate to get in touch for:
👍 A full workplace needs assessment.
👍 Installation and setup of appropriate assistive technology based on your needs.
👍 Training on the software so that you can get the most out of it.
We’d be happy to help!