By Brandi Vesco, Government Technology The Tribune Content Agency
Tools that leverage artificial intelligence for tasks such as time management and personalized learning may be especially useful for students with learning disabilities and executive function challenges, which tend to affect skills such as planning, focus, communication and comprehension, according to a webinar this week.
Hosted by CAST, a nonprofit organization that created the Universal Design for Learning teaching approach, Tuesday's webinar featured Michelle Deal, director of learning technologies research and development at a college for students with conditions such as dyslexia, attention hyperactivity deficit disorder and autism.
Located in Putney, Vt., Landmark College is designed to offer the personal support and accommodations these neurodiverse students may need to succeed in school and beyond, according to its website. Deal said she is hopeful that AI tools can provide additional assistance to students.
Among the potential uses of generative AI for neurodiverse students, Deal listed its ability to create content according to individual student needs. For instance, a student could ask an AI tool for a basic summary of complex text and even request that it be read in text-to-speech. She also cited the availability of AI-driven feedback and tutoring, which could help students improve important skills, such as written communication. AI assistance with time management tasks such as planning and staying focused was another area where Deal said students with learning disabilities and executive function challenges stand to benefit.
"The goal is to work with the student to be more mindful of what it is that they need and then how to ask for that help from the chatbot, so in that way it's encouraging self-advocacy as well," she said in the webinar.
Deal listed a few specific AI resources for neurodiverse students, including a cut-and-paste AI prompt library and a collection of tools that help with tasks such as determining the tone of content, getting a "crash course" on any topic and estimating how long a particular task might take. She said the key is to help students understand where they need help the most, so they can search for appropriate AI tools and write effective prompts.
During a question-and-answer period at the end of the event, one person asked Deal whether professors should give students with learning disabilities leeway to use AI as an accommodation, and mentioned that it's starting to show up as such in some individualized education programs.
"I think AI should be an accommodation that can be used with students, but at the same time, professors are still new to this just like the rest of us," Deal said. "Work with your disabilities services at the college that you're at to see if you can help explain to, say, a faculty member who's a little leery of using AI that the student would be using it as a learning support and not as a means to cheat in their class."
Another attendee asked whether the goal is for each student with learning disabilities to have their own AI assistant. Deal said the technology is currently "a long way from that," but affirmed that she is trying to teach neurodiverse students how to create their own AI-driven support systems.