Special education teacher Cheryl Graff was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia at a young age. She remembers the sting of being written off. "As a student, I felt I had to work 10 times harder than everybody else," says Graff, who now teaches at Chicago’s Lake View High School. Her students are diverse learners struggling with dyslexia, ADHD, and other executive functioning skills. Graff wants to be the teacher she never had: one who can adapt the curriculum to her student’s strengths and help them find the path to become an independent, confident adult. Assistive technology is central to that approach. Graff uses AI and other innovative strategies to keep her students on track. For one student, it’s dictating ideas through speech-to-text instead of struggling at the keyboard. For another, it’s breaking down complex assignments into smaller, achievable goals. “Technology helps make content accessible for diverse learners,” she says. Through Verizon Innovative Learning HQ’s professional development resources, Graff has refined how she blends tech and traditional teaching methods. “With the Verizon model, you’re not using technology every single day. You’re gradually building technology into your classroom so that students who need a blend of using technology and using paper-based materials can have that,” she says. “It’s all about meeting students where they are,” she explains, "Utilizing supports such as graphic organizers, sentence starters, and visuals paired with text help reach all learners no matter if they have a disability or not.” Verizon Innovative Learning is a key part of the company’s responsible business plan to help move the world forward for all. As part of the plan, Verizon has an ambitious goal of providing 10 million youth with digital skills training by 2030. Educators can access free lessons, professional development, and immersive learning experiences to help bring new ways of learning into the classroom by visiting Verizon Innovative Learning HQ.

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