Vocational School of Justice
Mobile app for Dyslexia
Entrepreneurial students of Izmir University of Economics (IUE) came up with solutions for people with “dyslexia”, a common learning difficulty that can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling. The “DysApp” titled application, developed by Esra Ablak, Deniz Öztürk, Büşra Bektaş, and Öykü Demirhan, students from IUE Department of Psychology, and İnan Evin, student from IUE Department of Software Engineering, will help children with dyslexia to increase their reading and writing speeds, and minimize the error rates. The app brought in third prize at TUSIAD’s “Bu Gençlikte İş Var!” contest.
IUE young entrepreneurs will help people with dyslexia to overcome the difficulties with games thanks to their mobile app project. Esra Ablak, who is also struggling with dyslexia herself, gave information about their project. “Dyslexia is mainly a problem with reading accurately and fluently, it’s not a problem of intelligence. Dyslexia can create difficulty with other skills such as reading comprehension, spelling, writing, and math. 80% of learning disabilities in elementary school aged children are related to dyslexia. Early assessment and intervention result in the best outcome, as late diagnosis may cause up to 3 years of age difference among peers in terms of development. Children with dyslexia cannot reveal their full potential due to problems they face. We wanted to help future generations to reach and reveal their full potential for their sake and for the sake of our country,” said Ablak.
‘Personal development will be monitored’
Ablak stated that DysApp was a mobile app that turned exercises, created by experts, into a game. Ablak said, “The games were designed as 3D graphics in order to solve the focus problems of children with dyslexia. It also increases their attention span with stimulation supports. It provides directives and positive and encouraging feedback based on the answers. The game was designed by using Easy Reading Font. Through web reporting system, the developmental follow up of the child will be shared with the family or an expert if desired.” Ablak also reported that the Turkish Dyslexia Association also supported their project, and they were working to transform their project into a usable platform.