AI Tools for Special Education: Eight Options for Planning and Access

For special education teachers, AI is most useful when it addresses a specific barrier to learning: getting started on a written response, accessing a shared text, or breaking a project into manageable steps. The eight tools below support different parts of that work, from drafting classroom materials to helping students listen to text.

The key question isn’t which tool is “best” in general. It’s whether a particular support helps a learner participate in the task while preserving the skill the teacher intends to teach or assess. AI generated materials need review, and the student’s experience should guide adjustments.

Match the tool to the work

Drafting and adapting classroom materials

ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can produce first drafts of instructions, examples, organizers and possible task supports. Specific prompts tend to produce more useful starting points. Describe what the student can do and where the task becomes difficult, rather than relying on a diagnosis alone.

For instance, a student may understand a subject when explaining it aloud but struggle to plan a written response. A chatbot could draft a sequence of instructions, a planning organizer and a review checklist while leaving the argument and evidence to the student.

Sample prompt:

Adapt the assignment below for a Grade 6 learner who can explain ideas orally but needs support planning a written response.

Keep the learning goal unchanged. Provide a short set of instructions, a planning organizer, and a checklist for reviewing the response. Include optional sentence starters, but do not supply the argument or evidence.

Use age-appropriate language. Identify any information you need from me before making further suggestions.

Check that the draft supports the intended learning goal instead of doing the student’s work. Use school-approved services, and don’t enter identifiable student records, assessment reports or other sensitive information into an unapproved account.

MagicSchool offers an IEP Generator for drafting individualized education documents, plus lesson-planning and text-adaptation tools. Its Text Rewriter can help create a more accessible version of a classroom resource. Treat generated goals as proposals: check them against the learner’s current performance, the way progress will be observed and the support the team considers appropriate.

Brisk Teaching includes tools for adapting instruction, adjusting reading levels and translating materials. It also offers templates for IEPs, 504 plans and MTSS plans. These names reflect particular education systems, so use the format and terminology required by your school. When Brisk changes a text, compare the result with the original to make sure key information remains.

Diffit creates differentiated reading materials and activities. A teacher might provide background reading at different levels, then bring students together to discuss the same science or history question. That approach can lower barriers to accessing the topic while keeping the discussion shared.

The assessment goal still matters. If the lesson is testing science understanding, accessible background reading may let students show what they know. If it’s testing independent reading, changing the text also changes the evidence the teacher is collecting.

Eduaide provides an editable workspace for creating resources such as worksheets and graphic organizers. Teachers can add scaffolds, adjust reading levels and change question formats. A comparison organizer, guiding questions or targeted practice may be enough to support a particular lesson step.

Keep the resource focused. A student who needs help organizing ideas may benefit from a single clear organizer; adding more prompts and visual elements can make the page harder to navigate. The student’s response is a useful guide to what needs editing.

Planning supports and guided practice

SchoolAI pairs an IEP drafting tool with teacher-designed student Spaces. The document tool supports preparation, while a Space can create an interactive setting for guided practice, with instructions intended to encourage explanations and offer hints.

Before sharing an activity with students, try it yourself. Look at the feedback and check whether the system gives answers too readily. Interaction records can add context to classroom observations and student work when planning next steps. Confirm school approval and student access requirements before using a Space with a class.

Goblin Tools offers small utilities for tasks that can feel overwhelming. Its Magic ToDo feature turns a larger task into smaller steps, with a setting that changes how much detail appears. A presentation assignment, for example, could be broken into choosing a topic, collecting information, selecting key points and rehearsing.

Review that sequence with the student. Remove steps that don’t apply, use familiar wording and identify where help is needed. The tool can suggest a breakdown, but it doesn’t know the student’s skills, classroom routines or time available.

Supporting access to reading

Microsoft Immersive Reader is an accessibility feature found in several Microsoft products. Depending on the application, students may be able to hear text read aloud, adjust how it appears, translate it or use reading-focus tools.

This serves a different purpose from a chatbot: it helps a student work with text that already exists. A learner, for example, can listen to a passage while following the words on screen. Try the available settings with the student to find out which ones support access.

Consider the assessment conditions as well. Read-aloud support may fit a task focused on subject knowledge, while a task designed to assess independent decoding may call for different conditions.

Choose based on the barrier

Start by identifying what’s getting in the way of participation or progress in a specific task. Then try one support and observe whether it helps. MagicSchool, Brisk Teaching and SchoolAI can assist with document drafts; Diffit, Eduaide and chatbots can help prepare learning materials; Goblin Tools can organize a task; and Immersive Reader can support reading access.

Check current account requirements, costs and school approval before introducing a tool. The most useful measure is whether the learner can engage with the work, communicate understanding or act with greater independence. A focused trial with the student will reveal more than a feature list.

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