Skip to main content
HeyOtto!for Schools

Special Education

AI for Special Education and Inclusive Learning

AI learning support designed to meet students where they are—with accessibility features and flexible learning tools for neurodivergent students, students with disabilities, and learners with different needs.

Teachers set supports per student, from text-to-speech and dyslexia-friendly formatting to step-by-step focus support, so they can match an IEP or 504 plan.

Request a demoExplore HeyOtto for Schools
  • Read aloud
  • Easier to read
  • One step at a time
NG

Natalie Gibson
Updated

  • Read aloud

    Text-to-speech for supported content.

  • Easier to read

    Dyslexia-friendly font, spacing and layout.

  • One step at a time

    Focus support that breaks tasks down.

Quick answer

How can AI support special education?

AI can explain a concept another way, break a task into smaller steps, read text aloud and adjust how text looks, giving students more than one way into the same lesson. In HeyOtto, teachers turn these supports on per student, so they can match what's in an IEP or 504 plan, and AI supports the plan rather than replacing it.

  • Teachers set accessibility and learning supports per student
  • Text-to-speech, dyslexia-friendly formatting and focus support are built in
  • Supports can align with IEP and 504 plan accommodations
  • AI complements assistive technology and specialized instruction
  • Does not replace special educators or required services

AI for special education: support that starts with the student

Students don't all learn, read, process information or show understanding the same way.

A student may benefit from hearing instructions aloud, working in smaller steps, seeing a concept explained differently, or having more time to process. AI gives educators more ways to adapt materials, and gives students another way to ask questions and practice at their own pace. HeyOtto brings these supports into a school-managed AI, so teachers choose what each student gets.

  • Support for students who are neurodivergent or process information differently
  • Support for students who have ADHD (sometimes called ADD)
  • Support for students who are autistic
  • Support for students who have dyslexia or other learning disabilities
  • Support for students who benefit from reading, language or comprehension support
  • Support for students who need instructions in smaller steps
  • Support for students who are ready for extra challenge
  • Support for students who have accommodations in an IEP or Section 504 plan

Learning support

Learning support for different needs

Pick a need to see what support can look like. Combine them as the student needs.

Students with ADHD

Shorter instructions, clear priorities and tasks in manageable steps.

Support can include

  • break complex tasks into smaller steps
  • instructions in a clear, structured format
  • help deciding what to work on next
  • one problem step at a time
  • examples when a concept is hard

What it looks like

"Step 1 of 4: Read the question and underline what it asks for. Tell me when you're done."

Built-in accessibility and learning features

Included in HeyOtto for Schools and set by the teacher.

  • Text-to-speech

    Listen while reading, or on its own when appropriate.

  • Dyslexia-friendly formatting

    Font, spacing and layout students can adjust.

  • Focus support

    Long tasks become smaller steps in a clear order.

  • Literal communication mode

    Direct explanations and predictable formatting.

  • Scaffolded learning

    Hints, examples and steps instead of a finished answer.

  • Differentiated explanations

    Another way to explain, at a simpler or deeper level.

  • Multilingual support

    Help for English learners, matched to their reading level.

  • Enrichment

    Extension work teachers can assign.

Text-to-speech reads supported content. Check that each feature meets your instructional and accessibility requirements.

Set supports once, per student

Teachers can personalize Otto for an individual student, so the right supports are on every time that student logs in.

  • Turn accommodations on or off per student
  • Match settings to an IEP or 504 plan
  • Memories keeps what works between sessions
  • See how a student responds to a support over weeks
  • Change settings anytime

Same objective

One classroom. Different ways to learn.

Inclusive teaching doesn't mean a separate lesson for every student. It means different ways into the same objective.

Today's objective: explain how plants make food.

One learning goal for the class. Students get there with different supports—listening, smaller steps, another example, guided questions, or an extension.

  • Listens to it

    Text-to-speech reads the explanation aloud so students can listen while they work.

  • Shorter steps

    Focus support breaks the objective into a clear sequence of smaller tasks.

  • One more example

    Tutor chat offers another explanation when the first one didn't click.

  • Guided questions

    Tutor chat asks guiding questions so students show understanding in their own words.

  • Extension question

    Creative project work for students ready to go deeper on the same topic.

How teachers use HeyOtto for inclusive learning

  1. 01

    Start from the learning objective

    What should students understand, and what might get in the way?

  2. 02

    Choose a support

    Focus steps, text-to-speech, reading-friendly formatting, extra examples or guided practice.

  3. 03

    Review and adapt

    Is it working, and does it match the student's goals and documented accommodations?

  4. 04

    Keep meaningful oversight

    Use the teacher dashboard and class settings, with student privacy in mind.

  5. 05

    Reassess

    Needs change across subjects and over time. Keep checking with the student and their team.

Complements, not replaces

Designed for inclusive classrooms, not just individual tools

HeyOtto works alongside what your school already does.

Visit the Trust Center

  • Assistive technology

    Keep using the tools a student relies on.

  • Specialized instruction

    Services from qualified specialists stay in place.

  • IEP and 504 plans

    AI settings support documented accommodations.

  • Classroom differentiation

    Your intervention strategies come first.

  • Privacy and AI policy

    Same student-data protections as the rest of HeyOtto for Schools.

What AI can't replace

The professional judgment, relationships, individualized instruction and services of special educators and specialists. HeyOtto is one more way to support a student, chosen and overseen by the people who know them.

FAQ

Special education questions, answered

Next step

Make AI-supported learning more accessible

Student-facing AI, per-student learning supports and teacher oversight, in one school-managed platform.

Request a demoExplore HeyOtto for Schools