Best Assistive Learning Apps for Students with ADHD

If your child or teen has ADHD then you might be researching tools that make their life easier when learning.  Whether they need help with time management or reading, these smart digital tools include everything from free downloads to digital to-do lists. ADHD platforms, apps and gadgets can help them succeed in the classroom and beyond.

For those suffering from attention deficit disorder (ADHD or ADD) or learning difficulties, assistive learning tools can make a significant difference. Students who are struggling with reading, writing, math, time management, and other issues can benefit from learning apps.

These ADHD assistive tools can help students from preschool to college access their curriculum, better understand the course material, and organize ideas and schedules. Academic success could be as simple as an app download away.

TEXT-TO-SPEECH APP FOR ADHD

Voice Dream can read text from any origin, including Microsoft Word and PDF files, as well as web sites. Users can listen to text in one of 36 available voices while pausing, rewinding, or fast-forwarding. While reading text, you can easily adjust your voice and reading speed. Voice Dream makes it easy to navigate text and begin reading anywhere, and users can highlight and take notes in the app while listening.

READING APP FOR ADHD

Rhyme to Read is an app, created by two expert educators, provides kids and parents with access to a library of high-quality, controlled texts (short, simple stories that use a combination of patterned words and sight words). Controlled texts aid in the development of fluency, automaticity, and confidence in young children. The series is so well-crafted that even kids who are easily discouraged will persevere. Readers can hear target words by tapping them, and previously learned words will appear in later books in the series.

MATH APP FOR ADHD

When children struggle with math, it's tempting to give them a stack of flashcards, but students with poor attention benefit more from improving their number sense than from rote memorization. MotionMath, which is based on research, can help with this. Hungry Guppy, which teaches basic numeracy using both objects and number symbols, is a good place to start for preschoolers. There are numerous more difficult games available as students advance. 

WRITING APP TO HELP ADHD STUDENT

Students with learning challenges often find writing difficult, so poor spellers will appreciate SpellBetter as a word processor. Word prediction and auto-completion features allow writers to concentrate on writing rather than spelling. SpellBetter can correct even the most jumbled spelling, and its text-to-speech feature makes it simple to listen to suggested words in the word bank or proofread one's writing. SpellBetter's spell checker takes phonetics and context into account, and it exports completed pieces to other formats (PDF, e-mail) for sharing.

TASK SETTING APP FOR ADHD

Sometimes simplicity is beautiful, and it doesn't get much simpler than Any.do. Any.do is the ideal solution for managing a busy life for those who get lost in options and details. Create a to-do list and set the app to send reminders. That's all. The Cal version (also free) combines iCal and the Any.do task list because it's sometimes easier to plan out an agenda while looking at a calendar.

TIME MANAGEMENT FOR ADHD

When you add a task to Finish (iOS; free), you can choose between three due dates: "Short Term," "Mid Term," and "Long Term." You get to choose how many days each of those phrases represents. Finish, rather than telling you when something is due, tells you how much time you have to complete it. When something approaches its due date, the app will notify you and move it from one time category to another. Focus Mode, which is ideal for people with ADHD, displays only the most important tasks on your list while hiding the others.

SAIMA OMAR DECEMBER 20, 2022

Saima Omar