which mini laptop/notebook for dyslexic child yr 5?

[nettlefairy]

Hello - my dd has just started using a laptop at school for some of her written work and is learning touch typing and I want to get her a smallish laptop so she can practice and use at home. I'm totally useless with this sort of thing and don't know where to look. I'm hoping to get something smallish/portable but not too mini and costing no more than £250 - any recommendations would be so great. Thanks.

[SanityClause]

DS (10) has used a small laptop all this year, which has made an enormous difference to his written work. It's also easy for him to be organised, as he saves the files in folders for the various subjects.

I just went to a well known computer outlet, and asked them. We bought an Acer, and it has hardly missed a beat.

I wanted something not too desirable, so it would have less chance of being stolen. I wanted it to be quite light to be easy to carry back and forth. I wasn't fussed about Internet speed, etc, as he can use a home computer for research and minecraft and actually, I think it's better if he can't use the computer for using the Internet. It stops it from distracting him from homework, and again, makes it less desirable for ore children.

Does that help a bit?

[MrsShrek3]

ds1 is severely dyslexic and used a netbook for year 5&6, but found he really needed a laptop for high school (now going into yr9). For him, the main considerations are the clarity of the keys, and whether the screen is shiny or dull. We also got "dragon naturally speaking" software which the Ed Psych taught him to use to great effect, we also worked on Nessy Fingers to teach him to touch type in a dyslexia friendly way. Let your dd go and try a few out in a computer retailer, far more use than recommendations. FWIW remember to show her how to change the background and font colour on word documents, whilst she's trying out as the right colour combos can make a huge difference for some people (sadly not for everyone, but for a good number!)

[MrsShrek3]

Sorry if that sounded like recommendations aren't worth considering... Sanity makes some brilliant points about choosing something basic and not desirable to pinch... spot on, we did the same ;-)

[nettlefairy]

thanks so much both of you - I'd actually been looking at Acer so that's great and will look into dragon naturally speaking - sounds good!

[sashh]

Don't forget to claim the VAT back. Equipment 'necessary' for a disability is VAT exempt.

You can also get a key board with a small window for less than a laptop portabletechnology.co.uk/AlphaSmartNEO2/AlphaSmart-NEO2