Evidence of dyslexia in special schools in south africa and a proposal of assistive technology

The aim of this study is to investigate and examine the rate of dyslexia in dyslexic learners at special primary schools in Tshwane municipality in Gauteng province and to propose a new integrated intelligent assistive system for them. A sample collected consisted of 24 learners aged between 10 and 19 years, who speak English as a second language. Different literacy skills assessments were carried out in the following areas: reading letters of the alphabet, copying letters of the alphabet, reciting letters of the alphabet, handwriting skill, reading English paragraph and writing letters of the alphabet. Our findings show that there are some evidence of dyslexia in the target group and their learning level are below the expected standard for their age; it was like that of learners in grade one of primary school mainstream. Because of this evidence, we suggest a newly proposed integrated assistive model combining simultaneously phonological, reading and writing skills.