Technology Tools for Visual-Spatial or Motor Control Difficulties

Students with disabilities may have trouble writing numbers, lining up digits, and creating visual representations (like shapes or angles) for a variety of reasons.  Many times, students have these difficulties because of fine motor control or visual spatial issues.  The result of this problem is often written work that is hard to read or illegible; digits written in the wrong spot, or even geometric shapes that may be totally unrecognizable.  It may be hard for these students to demonstrate their level of achievement or mastery of concepts.  There are many educational applications that address visual-spatial and motor control difficulties.  I will list and describe them below:

1) MathPad/ MathPad Plus (Cambium Learning)- is a talking math worksheet program that allows students to perform arithmetic computations with whole numbers on the computer just like they would using pencil and paper.  Students with fine motor difficulties can demonstrate their skill simply by using the keyboard or clicking the mouse, and students with severe disabilities can use MathPad's scanning feature.

2) Virtual Pencil (VP) Arithmetic/ Algebra (Henter Math)- designed for students who unable to use a pencil correctly.  Students who are "pencil impaired" may include those who are blind or have motor impairments or learning disabilities that interfere with writing.

3) Number Navigator (Oats Project)- does not have specialized features such as speech or scanning, but for those who need a simple "math processor" to enter and solve basic math problems on the computer, this free program could be a good solution.

4) Microsoft Word- can also be used as a math processor.  Microsoft Equation Editor allows students to make simple or advanced equations in correct mathematical notation.

5) MathType (Design Science)- for students in advanced math classes.  It offers additional symbols to create a wider variety of equations and the ability to enhance equations using color coding.

Reference:
 Dell, A., Newtown, D., & Petroff, J. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom.
               Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education Inc.