In an age when students are increasingly expected to demonstrate technology-based writing proficiency, fluency challenges with word processing programs can pose a barrier to successful writing when students are asked to compose using these tools. The current study was designed to determine whether differences existed in typing fluency and digital…

A multiple baseline design investigated the effects of computer graphic organizers on the persuasive composition writing skills of four Hispanic students with specific learning disabilities. Participants reviewed the elements of persuasive writing and then developed compositions using a word processing program. Baseline planning was done with a…

In this article, I discuss research on the use of technology to support the writing of students with learning disabilities. Struggling writers can benefit from a wide range of computer applications for writing. Word processing, spelling checkers, word prediction, and speech recognition offer support for transcription and revision. Word processing…

Based on a study of eight LD students learning to use word processing, the paper makes recommendations for evaluating word processing software and designing instruction that is sensitive to students' difficulties. (Author/CL)

Addition of a word processing component to a study skills program for eight learning disabled freshman students in a community college resulted in higher term paper grades and positive student and faculty evaluations. (CL)

The author reviews software programs in creative writing for students with learning disabilities. In addition to processing programs, software that focuses on story building, revising, poetry writing, and narrative and expository writing is considered. (CL)

A teacher of learning disabled students discusses use of the computer to free students from the constraints of their disability. Recommended are learner controlled utilities including word processing, data banks, and the LOGO programming language. (DB)

The article describes an approach by which word processing helps to solve some of the writing problems of learning disabled students. Aspects considered include prewriting, drafting, revising, and completing the story. (CL)

The article considers the research basis for use of word processing with learning disabled fourth grade students, notes the special demands word processing makes on teachers and students in the initial learning stage, and suggests instructional approaches. (DB)

The study compared stories written on either a word processor or handwritten by 15 children (ages 8-12) with learning disabilities. Use of the word processor resulted in fewer spelling errors for children with severe spelling problems and longer stories for children having problems with the mechanics of the writing task. (Author/DB)

Writing strategies encourage beginning writers to collect, explore, and focus ideas. This paper presents a rationale for fusing the word processor with the writing process and offers a series of pre-writing strategies, such as brainstorming, clustering and chunk writing, to help learning-disabled writers begin writing. (Author/PB)

The article describes typical kinds of writing problems found in fourth grade learning disabled students and discusses ways in which the computer makes the child's planning and composing problems more accessible to teacher help. Similarly, pitfalls of such accessibility are also cited. (CL)

The article describes ways in which learning disabled students can use simple database management and word processing programs as active users. Involvement in these types of computer applications allows the user to be an active, creative communicator. (CL)

Describes implementation of a word processor in an elementary school, focusing on instructional strategies used with learning-disabled students aged 7-13. Objectives, materials, activities, evaluation, and rewards are summarized for six modules covering hardware, disk care, software, initializing and saving on disk, word processing modes, and…

Describes how all of a teacher's students diagnosed with autism (ages 5 to 21 and thought to be severely retarded in their ability to learn or communicate) not only learned to read without formal instruction but could--and did--communicate their very normal thoughts while using a computer or pencil and paper. (SR)