REACH

Regional Assistive Technology Connection to Higher Education (Reach) 

Overall Objective of Reach:

• To widen participation and access to lifelong learning.
• To increase equity of access, participation, retention and progression through the transfer of expertise and resources from third level to second level and further education colleges.

The project specifically aims to:

• Extend the benefits of using assistive technology in third level to facilitate students in second level and further education in reaching their potential.

What we do:

Reach provides teacher and student training, advice and support for the use of assistive technology by students with SpLD in second level and further education.

Who benefits:

Students with SpLD that experience difficulty with note-taking, writing, reading, spelling, grammar, organization and time management may benefit from the service by learning how to use technology to overcome these difficulties and to achieve their true potential in the learning tasks which they must complete successfully in order to progress.

SpLD includes Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, and A.D.H.D.

The partners:

Reach was established in February 2008 by Athlone and Letterkenny Institutes of Technology.

Four of the six counties with the lowest participation rates in 3rd level are in the catchment areas of the institutes, both institutes have strong links to second level and further education institutes in their regions and both college partners are linked to the ‘Ascent’ Regional Assessment and Resource Centre for students with Specific Learning Difficulty.