There’s a lot of enthusiasm about technology for dyslexia, and a fair amount of scepticism too. Some people treat a gadget as a magic fix; others worry it’s a crutch that stops children learning to read. I’ve spent time on the actual evidence, including running my own study, and the truth sits somewhere more useful than either extreme.

Here’s what the research shows, and why I think assistive technology, used well, is one of the most powerful and under-used tools we have.

Start with the problem it solves

Most dyslexic children in mainstream schools don’t have funded, statutory support. When they do get help, it’s often an adult reading for them, either in class or in a withdrawal group. That helps with the immediate task, but it comes at a cost I’ve written about repeatedly: it makes a child dependent on an adult to access the curriculum, which runs directly against what the SEND Code of Practice actually asks for.

And there’s a subtler cost. In my research, young people consistently say they want to work alongside their peers with discreet support that doesn’t draw attention to their difficulty. Adult-led support, however kind, can do the opposite. It marks a child out as the one who needs someone sitting with them. That visibility has a real effect on wellbeing, as I’ve explored in my work on protecting the wellbeing of dyslexic learners.

Assistive technology offers a way through: access to the curriculum, and independence, without the spotlight.

What my study found

I wanted to move this beyond opinion, so I ran an effectiveness study, published as Impact of OrCam Learn on reading comprehension (Ross, 2024) in Support for Learning. It looked at a reading-support device used by students aged 10 to 13 across three different schools, and measured their reading comprehension with and without it.

The results were striking. Students’ reading comprehension improved by a mean of 8.31 standard points, a statistically significant change with a medium-to-high effect size. That’s a meaningful jump on a standardised measure, not a rounding error.

But the numbers I return to most are the ones about how the young people felt. Ninety-four per cent preferred reading with the device to reading without any support, and 84 per cent preferred it to being read to by a person. Given everything I know about how much young people value independence and dislike being singled out, that finding matters as much as the comprehension scores. The technology didn’t just help them read. It let them do it themselves.

In the interests of the transparency I care a great deal about, that study was funded by the device’s manufacturer, and the paper says so openly. I’ve written separately about why that kind of disclosure matters in evaluating EdTech honestly.

What the wider evidence says

My study sits within a broader picture, which I reviewed for the Council for Science and Technology (Ross, 2020). A few things stand out from that wider body of work.

Most learners with specific learning difficulties genuinely enjoy using technology, and there’s good evidence for its impact, particularly for dyslexia, which is the most-studied SpLD. There’s also a helpful link worth knowing: where young people enjoy reading, they tend to rate their own skills more positively, and better attainment feeds more enjoyment. Technology that makes reading feel achievable can start a virtuous circle.

The reviews also raised a sensible caution. In one study, a child felt uncomfortable using a device in front of classmates, a reminder that the stigma of looking “different” is real for some young people. Technology reduces the spotlight far more often than it creates it, but how it’s introduced matters. This is why teacher knowledge is the quiet key to all of it: staff need to be comfortable with the tools, and alert to any discomfort a child might feel.

The bottom line

Assistive technology for dyslexia is not a crutch, and it’s not a magic wand. On the evidence, including my own, it’s an effective way to improve reading outcomes while giving young people something they value enormously: the ability to work independently, alongside their peers, without their difficulty on display.

The barriers aren’t really about the technology, which is often cheaper and more available than people assume (something I unpick in choosing dyslexia technology for your classroom). The barriers are knowledge and confidence. Get those right, and this is some of the highest-value support a school can offer.

If you’d like help evaluating or introducing assistive technology, whether you’re a school or an EdTech company, that’s part of my research and consultancy work.

Questions people often ask

Does assistive technology actually improve reading, or just make it easier in the moment? Both, on the evidence. In my study, students’ reading comprehension improved significantly on a standardised measure while using a reading-support device, not only their immediate access to text.

Isn’t it a crutch that stops children learning to read? That’s a common worry, but it misunderstands the goal. For many dyslexic learners, technology provides independent access to the curriculum they’d otherwise get only through an adult. It supports learning and dignity rather than replacing skill-building.

Won’t it make my child stand out? Usually the opposite. Young people overwhelmingly prefer working independently with technology to having an adult read for them, which is far more conspicuous. How a tool is introduced matters, though, so staff awareness is important.

Do we need to buy expensive specialist kit? Often not. A great deal of effective assistive technology is already built into everyday software. I cover the practical and cost side in a separate article.

References and further reading

See the full list of publications.

Dr Helen Ross is a dyslexia and SEND specialist, researcher and qualified diagnostic assessor based in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. She holds a PhD from the University of Bath, is a 2025 Churchill Fellow, and is the author of Literacy Learning Journeys: Dyslexia Across the Ages, 0-18 (Speechmark/Routledge). She has published peer-reviewed research on assistive technology and reviewed technology-led interventions for the Council for Science and Technology. She works with schools and EdTech organisations across the UK and internationally. Talk to me about assistive technology.