Kurzweil Educational Systems Customer Profile Cindy Sherman Assistive Technology Coordinator and Teacher, Haysville, Kansas The Situation Cindy Sherman is the Assistive Technology (AT) Coordinator for the Haysville, Kansas school district outside of Wichita as well as a learning disabilities teacher in the high school. Cindy first became interested in assistive technology when a student with cerebral palsy was put in her classroom. The new student was able to communicate only by using a special computer activated by moving her eyes. Cindy was amazed and fascinated by what technology enabled this student to accomplish. “I realized that without her computer, that student would not be able to participate at all in the classroom. With it, she was a lively, active learner.” Cindy was introduced to Kurzweil 3000 by a speech and language specialist in the district. Both were concerned that so many students with learning disabilities were falling through the cracks. Too many were struggling readers unable to keep up with their coursework. Most were simply marking time until graduation with no hope of ever attending college. “Kurzweil 3000 seemed like an answer to our prayers,” Cindy recalls. “It was an ideal way to offer these struggling students access to the critical information they needed to succeed in their classes, but were missing because of their disability.” The Solution It didn’t take Cindy long to try Kurzweil 3000 with one of her students with learning disabilities - Jason Grissom. Jason improved so dramatically in his schoolwork that Cindy was inspired to write a successful state grant to put at least one Kurzweil 3000 in every school building in her district. Each building now has a cart that carries a scanner and a computer running Kurzweil 3000 software, so the program can travel with a student and be used throughout the school day. Members of the district’s Assistive Technology team, special education teachers and paraprofessionals were given training on how to use the program. “Perhaps the wisest thing we did,” recalls Cindy,“was offer students with learning disabilities in the high school a chance to receive credit for taking a special hands-on course on how to use Kurzweil 3000 and other AT software.” The course has become extremely popular and has been instrumental in getting students to actively use the software in their classes. The Results Cindy’s experience using Kurzweil 3000 with Jason has been inspiring. While Jason is extremely conscientious and has developed coping strategies that enabled him to pass his courses, these strategies were very time-consuming and depended on other people. The use of Kurzweil 3000 not only helped boost Jason’s grades from C’s to A’s, but his self-confidence as well. It also gave him the independence he desired, as well as more time for friends and school activities. Prior to using Kurzweil 3000, Jason had taken the American College Test (ACT) - used as a basis for admission to most colleges and universities in Kansas - and hadn’t made the cut. Cindy felt strongly that re-taking the exam using Kurzweil 3000 could make a difference in his test results, and she worked actively - and successfully - to gain approval for its use as an accommodation for the test. To her delight, Jason improved his score, and because of his success teachers who had previously been skeptical about the value of assistive technology began to look at their students in a new way. Cindy now receives regular invitations to introduce Kurzweil 3000 to struggling students in mainstream classrooms. Jason is a recent graduate from Campus High School. As a student, he’s had to face both physical and learning challenges. Recurrent ear infections as an infant left him with a hearing loss, and vision problems have made it difficult for him to read standard black on white text. From the beginning, Jason had difficulty with reading, and he still has a hard time getting meaning from the printed page. “Read it to me, and I’m fine. When I read it myself, though, I get so bogged down trying to figure out the words that I lose track of their meaning.”Teachers were aware of Jason’s strong intelligence, but his poor reading skills caused him to fall further and further behind his peers in school. He was almost ready to give up when he was introduced to Kurzweil 3000. Jason now scans whatever material he needs to read, listens to the text read aloud, and uses different on-screen highlighters to review and outline important ideas. His comprehension has improved significantly, and because he can change the text color and size, as well as the background color, he has less strain on his eyes. Perhaps the most dramatic academic improvement occurred when Jason took the ACT using Kurzweil 3000. The first time he took the ACT, he got a score of 15 out of a possible 36. A score of 20 is required for college admission, and Jason was convinced he would never qualify. However, by using Kurzweil 3000 as a test accommodation, he was able to improve his score the necessary 5 points. “I did so much better,” Jason notes,“because I could work faster and understand the questions more quickly.” Jason not only gained acceptance to the college of his choice, but also won a substantial scholarship. Captions “Without the use of Kurzweil 3000, many of my students with learning disabilities would never have dreamt of going to college. With Kurzweil 3000, they have the means to achieve their full potential.” Cindy Sherman Teacher “[With Kurzweil 3000] I did so much better [on the ACT test], because I could work faster and understand the questions more quickly.” Jason Grissom Student “Kurzweil 3000 seemed like an answer to our prayers. It was an ideal way to offer these struggling students access to the critical information they needed to succeed in their classes, but were missing because of their disability.” Cindy Sherman Teacher “Perhaps the wisest thing we did was offer students with learning disabilities in the high school a chance to receive credit for taking a special hands-on course on how to use Kurzweil 3000...” Cindy Sherman Teacher © 2003 Kurzweil Educational Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. All other company names and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.