With ADHD diagnoses increasing across the UK, and a better understanding of the condition emerging from the work of advocates on social media, it’s about time that ADHD challenges are taken seriously in higher education, so that people with the condition are given the support and tools they need to thrive.
ADHD often gets a bad rep, with stereotypes in modern media often showing only a one dimensional representation of this condition, usually a ‘badly behaved’, hyperactive boy who can’t sit still. But for many ADHD people, the condition can present in a much more complex way: obsessive, ruminating thoughts, impulsivity, distraction and time management and stimulation issues. These challenges mean that reading dense, academic texts can be a barrier to learning at uni.
That’s where Tailo comes in – Tailo offers a consistent reading environment for neurodivergent students, including those with ADHD, relieving stress and saving valuable time.
What is Tailo?
Tailo is a web-based platform that transforms the way that neurodivergent students read and comprehend key knowledge, providing tailored support and tools to help them succeed. By using intelligent extraction technology, Tailo creates a neuroinclusive experience that supports the strengths of different minds, eliminating the cognitive stress of ridgid PDFs and long word documents.
How does Tailo help ADHD students?
Transforms hard-to-read PDFs into a clear, concise document
People with ADHD can struggle with concentration levels, especially if the task at hand isn’t presented in a particularly stimulating way. Academic texts are often lengthy, wordy, and not interesting to look at or process for an ADHD brain. Tailo helps with this by offering a more stimulating visual environment for reading, with clearer breakdowns of sections of text, summaries, text-to-speech options and customisable elements.
Creates a customized reading environment to enhance focus
Academic papers are often presented in busy columns with diagrams in black and white, making it difficult to find your place and focus. Tailo offers a customized reading environment which means that you can change background colours, fonts and spacing to make the text more engaging and easy to digest.
Helps to determine the relevancy of a text
If your ADHD means that you can struggle with information processing, time management and organization, then working out if a document is worth reading or not can waste so much time and energy. Tailo solves this issue by pulling out key information and summaries, as well as offering an advanced search tool, so that you can quickly determine if a text is relevant to your studies by inputting key words and phrases.
Where can I get access to Tailo?
Tailo is now available completely for free through Disabled Students’ Allowance. Disabled Students’ Allowance is a grant that helps with the costs of studying with a disability, providing access to things like one to one support, travel allowance, equipment and technology.
DSA is available for all UK students in higher education level 4 or above, with a diagnosis of a disability defined under the Equality Act of 2010.
You can apply for DSA using our guide, which includes an eligibility checker, and ask for Tailo in your needs assessment.