Text Reading Technology

I saw a presentation on the Kurzwil 3000 last weekend. Now, I have no personal experience with the product but….you can try it FOR FREE before you buy with a trial. So, google it and see what you think. I have a disk here but can’t find the website. It looked good but…..can’t speak about it from experience.

I also have a disk for SecondGuess Software DyslexiWrite 2.17. Somehow I went to a conference and I have it. I have not even opened it but again, you could google it.

Michelle

http://www.simonmidgley.co.uk/software/literacy/electronic.htm

Eddie Carron’s electronic library may be what you have in mind?

Here’s one you can check out for free: www.readplease.com I don’t remember what features are included, but it has been upgraded since I used it last. I was trained in the Kurzweil program by our district but found it somewhat cumbersome to use and most beneficial in an institutional environment where there would be many people scanning documents and putting them into a library that all could access.

The most versatile text-reading software I have seen for INDIVIDUAL use is one called WYNN Wizard or something like that — it was much more user-friendly than Kurzweil, cheaper (I think) and could also read websites, etc. or just selected passages (so, a student could read normally, and only click when s/he needed a specific word or phrase read aloud). It’s worth checking out.

Eddie Carron’s Electronic Library provides reading practice on passages already on the CD but you can’t enter your own. Most of the selections are far too difficult for a fourth-grader reading at a second grade level — I used it with seventh graders reading at a second grade level and they could not read the texts with even 75% accuracy except for the very easiest level, which were too low in interest level. I think the UK students must advance in reading skills much more quickly than ours do, because I did a readability check on some of Eddie’s passages at the second-easiest level and they were 4th-5th grade according to the readability index. It would be a great resource for a student at a fourth grade level or better who could work independently and was motivated to practice; there are a number of very high-interest selections.

SUsan S.
Ontario, Canada

Susan S.
Ontario, Canada

May I ask what testing was done? If it was school testing, just because he didn’t qualify as “LD” does not mean he doesn’t have a reading disorder or dyslexia. Having him listen to books is not the answer, although it is a nice thing to do to help him access text he can’t read yet.

But whatever you do, getting remediation for the reading disorder should be the very top thing on your list! Contact your state International Dyslexia Association branch for qualified testing and tutoring.

Janis

He was tested by both the school and I hired a psychologist who did a test (it took four two hour visits, can’t remember the name). I don’t know if the psychologist was really certified to test for dyslexia. The psychologist’s test showed ADD, while the school’s tester stated he was not ADD or LD.

My plan is to do the to, with and by technique where I read a page to him, then we read it together and then he reads it to me.

We are doing Harry Potter 1- 3 this way. I have the books, the unabridged audio cds and the movies. He has to watch the movies as many times as he wants to (he thinks it is really funny when I tell him this is home work). While we read he stops me here and there and tells me how that part of the book was different from the movie. I hope this will help him visualize while he reads.

We also listen to the CDs in the car and at home following along with the text. When I bought the CD’s I was worried they would be too slow, but we can actually follow along with a chapter quicker than I could read it out loud.

We don’t do the entire book to with and by.I usually read five pages for every one he reads, but he must follow along with his eyes the entire time. This is just something I have made up and really hope it helps him. It seems to so far. We joke about how I am forcing him to read the Harry Potter books and how I am forcing him to watch the movies. It makes it funny for him and not seem so much like I am making him study.

The reason I want a screen reader is so we can do something similar with his school text books. I could scan them in and then he could read along with the computer when I am not home. I believe the hearing is helping him with his comprehension and bringing the text alive for him. I am hoping to help him connect the verbal and visual. Having the screen reader highlight a block of words at a time, in my opinion, will help him learn to read in blocks instead of a word at time.

The talking computers are not nearly as good at making text ‘come alive’ as a real, live human reading it. However, it can make the big words in texts comprehensible (and even a real, live human can only do so much with some texts :-)).

There are lots of options - I would be inclined to think long-term here, and invest in something that will be useful in years to come, with high school and college material (because if they don’t even think there is a *problem* now, it’s extremely unlikely that they’ll teach him to read; he needs to open other channels to get the infomration in, while the language is still reasonably easy and the gap between him and the otehr students isn’t too wide).
http://www.okstate.edu/ucs/stdis/at/atlinks.htm has a list of some of the options.
http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_textrans.html has some interesting research summaries on text-to-speech (I think they refer to it as one of several “speech transformations” possible.) If I get a chance I”ll try & scope out one the the articles that gives quicker reviews of some of the different options out there & post ‘em.

http://www.readonsoftware.com/

I heard about this on another listserv I am on. I read that it was developed by a primary teacher and her computer buff husband for their dyslexic daughter. I have not seen it myself or know anyone who uses it.

I think listening to books on CD is great when the child can’t access the text by reading because of the difficulty level. However, this is not an effective technique for improving reading skills. I think he’d get more content and enjoyment from Harry Potter just listening to it as opposed to trying to follow along looking at text that is sigificantly above his grade level. I would not recommend this.

It is ok to have a child listen to text and follow along at his independent reading level for the purpose of building reading fluency. But I think you indicated earlier (if I am not mistaken), that your son is reading around 2nd grade level. I think Harry Potter books are written at a much higher level than that. A child who cannot read at the level of the CD is not likely to be able to process words at the pace an adult would be orally reading on a CD anyway.

Children in 4th grade reading at second grade level need decoding instruction. He likely does not know the advanced code which consists of vowel digraphs and other letter patterns.

If he is reading at mid-second grade level or higher, a good thing to try would be REWARDS Intermediate (manual and student workbook) from Sopris West. If he is reading at beginning second grade level, I really like ABeCeDarian Levels B1 and B2 www.abcdrp.com. But with either of these, it would be important for the parent to understand the phonics themselves to some extent to be able to teach it. Some people prefer to use an experienced tutor instead.

Again, it is wonderful for children to be read books or to listen to books in CD. But this never is a substitute for appropriate remedial reading instruction.

Janis

Yes, HP is significantly higher, and the ‘real’ reading lvel is higher than how it clocks out on the automated ones because of the fantasy nature and the general sophistication of language (even before taking into account the cultural UK/US differences). The struggling reader will get the gist, but miss out on SO MUCH of rich language.

Janis,
You said, “Again, it is wonderful for children to be read books or to listen to books in CD. But this never is a substitute for appropriate remedial reading instruction.”

In my son’s case, it’s not just wonderful - it is the only way that he has access to grade level material. This is a required accommodation on his IEP. His social studies text book is available online so that he is able to use text to speech software to access the curriculum independently. He just attended his most recent annual IEP meeting and was able to advocate for himself very effectively at this meeting.

[quote:7ea9dda350=”KTJ”]Janis,
You said, “Again, it is wonderful for children to be read books or to listen to books in CD. But this never is a substitute for appropriate remedial reading instruction.”

In my son’s case, it’s not just wonderful - it is the only way that he has access to grade level material. This is a required accommodation on his IEP. His social studies text book is available online so that he is able to use text to speech software to access the curriculum independently. He just attended his most recent annual IEP meeting and was able to advocate for himself very effectively at this meeting.[/quote]

Hi all,

Janis is right on. There are still some school districts that advocate the “Whole Language Approach” to reading versus phonics. Schools that do this have students that suffer from not being able to spell well among other disadvantges. Anoka, MN is a large district example… California switched back to adding phonics in their curriculum and so has most of the country. NCLB advocates the 5 pillars - Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary & Comprehension (learn more here: http://www.ncrel.org/rf/components.pdf). Here is an awesome US Dept of Education (free) teacher training site you might benefit from - even as a parent: www.paec.org/teacher2teacher

Problem is, teaching reading is complicated and different students learn to read differently so just reading to some kiddos might not be enough.

Here is another website of interest (I’m not affiliated with them) www.dorecenters.com

I would advocate use of technology for teaching the core skills - best solution I have found is the Academy of Reading by Autoskill = www.autoskill.com

Reason is that it doesn’t have lots of animation between questions that wastes the time of the little guys and offends older students yet it is comprehensive enough to go down to the very basics like rhyming sounds in phonemic awareness, etc. This is something your school would have to purchase (not available for indivdual purchase)

A better technology based fluency tool (actually the best from what I have found) is Soliloquy Reading Assistant - www.reading-assistant.com This is a solution where the student listens to a story (great literature) and then reads to the computer. The computer listens to the studnet and actually intervenes if he/she gets stuck on a word. There are quiz question at the end and all data is recorded for you. Probably get it for $230 - up to $450 with all the stories.

These are all scientifically based…successful at lots of schools, reading first approved, etc.

Hope this helps!
Tony