Technology to Help Struggling Students
by Heidi Silver-Pacuilla and Steve Fleischman
Feb 2006 | Vol 63 | No. 5
Helping Struggling Students Pages 84 - 85
Many technology features that were originally developed to help people with specific sensory impairments are now widely in use. We have begun to take for granted the ability to zoom in on small print or to have written text speak to us. Closed captioning of video programs, originally developed to support viewers who are hard of hearing, also has mainstream uses, allowing us to “tune in” to a program across a noisy room by reading the captions.
Such accessibility features, particularly text-to-speech and speech recognition, are increasingly available in educational technologies as well. Although schools commonly use them to support students with sensory impairments and learning disabilities, these features can help a broad range of students. Research is beginning to show the benefits of giving all students access to these capabilities.
What We Know
Research in psychology has shown the power of simultaneous, multiple modes of input to gain and hold a person's attention and to improve memory. Lewandowski and Montali (1996) conducted a study that compared the learning of poor readers and skilled readers who were both taught through a text-to-speech application with simultaneous on-screen highlighting of the spoken word. This study showed that experiencing the text bimodally (visually and aurally) enabled poor readers to perform as well as skilled readers in word recognition and retention. Research by Allinder, Dunse, Brunken, and Obermiller-Krolikowski (2001) and Meyer and Felton (1999) confirms that highlighting text as it is spoken can help learners pay attention and remember more.
Text-to-speech also relieves the burden of decoding for struggling readers, allowing them to focus on comprehension (Wise, Ring, & Olson, 2000) and improving their endurance in completing reading assignments (Hecker, Burns, Elkind, Elkind, & Katz, 2002). Research has also shown that students with learning disabilities identify and correct more errors in their compositions when they use text-to-speech for proofreading (Higgins & Raskind, 1995).
The inverse of text-to-speech is speech recognition, in which the technology takes spoken words and translates them into type. Speech recognition provides access to computers not only for users who have physical disabilities, but also for those who have constraints related to fatigue, poor handwriting, spatial organization, or spelling. Speech recognition also provides immediate constructive feedback, as users see their own words transformed into written text with correct formatting and grammar (Silver-Pacuilla, in press).
Early research conducted with previous versions of the technology, which had considerable problems with accuracy, indicated that the strategic use of speech recognition improved users' literacy skills (Higgins & Raskind, 2000). The researchers attributed these benefits to the heightened, strategic engagement with print and language that users experience while dictating and correcting errors.
A third technology application that has received research attention is computer-based graphic organizers. These tools facilitate brainstorming, concept mapping, and outlining in much the same way that teacher-led instruction does, but with the advantages of providing word processing and text-to-speech support and the ability to rearrange elements or switch between outline and map view. In one study (Sturm & Rankin-Erickson, 2002), middle school students with and without disabilities were taught concept-mapping strategies and then were asked to write descriptive essays using either no map, a hand-drawn map, or a computer-drawn map. Students who constructed concept maps during the prewriting stage—either by hand or with the computer—produced significantly more sophisticated and complete essays. Students who used computer-based mapping also reported a more positive attitude toward the writing process.
What You Can Do
Educators should not hesitate to integrate technology features into instruction for students who struggle with academic tasks. These approaches can support learning by building literacy and language skills and independence.
Text-to-speech. You can use text-to-speech to increase the amount of reading that struggling readers do. For early readers and young English language learners, use digital storybooks as a fun and interactive way to engage with books. Encourage older readers to use text-to-speech to access motivating, content-specific texts on the Internet. For students who struggle to read classic literature, consider downloading the texts as e-books that students can read with text-to-speech. Much e-book software includes annotation, highlighting, and linked dictionary tools to facilitate studying. To help with writing, have students proofread their compositions as the software reads them aloud. You can install free, downloadable text-to-speech programs or find this feature bundled in many operating systems and stand-alone applications.
Speech recognition. Use speech recognition technology to help struggling writers and spellers get their ideas on paper. The immediacy of the dictation process reinforces the vocabulary and use of writing conventions and punctuation. Special programs can help struggling math students dictate and organize mathematical expressions. If you haven't tried speech recognition software lately, you'll find vastly improved capabilities, reduced training requirements, and better microphones available at very reasonable costs.
Graphic organizers. Many teachers now use graphic organizers to tap into students' visual and spatial abilities, strengthening the connection between these ways of knowing and academic tasks. You can use computer-based graphic organizers with whole-class instruction to show the connections among big ideas in the content areas, as well as to demonstrate writing and reading comprehension strategies. Encourage your students to try using graphic organizer programs for annotations during reading or prewriting brainstorming. The ability of most of the software packages to switch between map and outline views supports students' progress through the writing stages.
E-Resources. Today's Internet contains a plethora of reference and resource material. Encourage all your students to use these resources, which provide “just in time” and “just in case” support to help address vocabulary and background knowledge gaps. For English language learners or students struggling with reading and writing, provide extra training in using e-resources with text-to-speech software. Such support will give these students access to the same powerful knowledge base that their peers enjoy.
Technology to Help Struggling Students
by Heidi Silver-Pacuilla and Steve Fleischman
Feb 2006 | Vol 63 | No. 5
Helping Struggling Students Pages 84 - 85
Educators Take Note
Accessibility features in common technology applications can help struggling students make important connections—to the content, among ideas, among their own sensory modes of learning, and between their digital competencies and the curriculum. These technologies, however, will not automatically create success straight out of the box. Educators need to strategically integrate these features into sound pedagogy to help struggling learners achieve both academic and technological success.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Monday, December 19, 2011
Returning to the scene of failure. (click to listen)
Recently, I viewed the HBO Documentary, Journey into Dyslexia, it was a good view of all the aspects of the Gift, and it gave to most of our peers an understanding of the "Mysterious Gift of our Intelligence", but as for the person with dyslexia we were left with a "nowhere to go from here" feeling.
For me the person who has the Gift of Dyslexia I can tell you once you overcome the failure, there are still calluses to the world of the written word which need to be conquered and I still feel alone in the closed door world in which I live, but have not yet mastered.
The written world is like embarking on a new wilderness and I come across a guide who knows all of the trails and sources of water and danger. Turn this new world of reading with "assistive technology" and I now have my guide, but to get there is painful. Why because as Ron Davis's book The Gift of Dyslexia states, a person with dyslexia "to read seems life-threatening". Or another way to put it, is now that I have mastered my current environment, why return to the scene of my tragic accident of failure in consuming the written word. Internally you state, "I will have nothing to do with it, it is too emotional", but yet I still feel so left out and in the dark when it comes to the written word.
So we are caught in this closed loop of failure, if we continue on in our now well padded "Pseudocompetence" world I become harden to life. Life goes on and the once mastered skills come boredom, and I slip in to self condemnation.
My life was changed to a new life of beginnings, for me it was starting with going to church with the high school guidance counselor who told me I would never make it in college, I forgave him, and when I forgave him I forgave myself, one callus gone. Then a contract comes across my desk and I find Readplease (2001) on line, I use Readplease to read the contract in an hour, it was 30 pages, another callus gone. Then a librarian encourages me to become a member of Bookshare.org (2007) I read for the first time a book which I choose "The Preacher and the Presidents" and I'm starting to feel alive and look for another book. Before I know it, the life to the once closed door community opens and then I internally start to change. It is truly a freeing experience, it is life changing, because I was headed back to the life of failure because I "can't" read.
So for me a person with the Mysterious Gift of Intelligence", Dyslexia, I am now in a new wilderness world with an expert guide and the Frontier of exploration is on.
For me the person who has the Gift of Dyslexia I can tell you once you overcome the failure, there are still calluses to the world of the written word which need to be conquered and I still feel alone in the closed door world in which I live, but have not yet mastered.
The written world is like embarking on a new wilderness and I come across a guide who knows all of the trails and sources of water and danger. Turn this new world of reading with "assistive technology" and I now have my guide, but to get there is painful. Why because as Ron Davis's book The Gift of Dyslexia states, a person with dyslexia "to read seems life-threatening". Or another way to put it, is now that I have mastered my current environment, why return to the scene of my tragic accident of failure in consuming the written word. Internally you state, "I will have nothing to do with it, it is too emotional", but yet I still feel so left out and in the dark when it comes to the written word.
So we are caught in this closed loop of failure, if we continue on in our now well padded "Pseudocompetence" world I become harden to life. Life goes on and the once mastered skills come boredom, and I slip in to self condemnation.
My life was changed to a new life of beginnings, for me it was starting with going to church with the high school guidance counselor who told me I would never make it in college, I forgave him, and when I forgave him I forgave myself, one callus gone. Then a contract comes across my desk and I find Readplease (2001) on line, I use Readplease to read the contract in an hour, it was 30 pages, another callus gone. Then a librarian encourages me to become a member of Bookshare.org (2007) I read for the first time a book which I choose "The Preacher and the Presidents" and I'm starting to feel alive and look for another book. Before I know it, the life to the once closed door community opens and then I internally start to change. It is truly a freeing experience, it is life changing, because I was headed back to the life of failure because I "can't" read.
So for me a person with the Mysterious Gift of Intelligence", Dyslexia, I am now in a new wilderness world with an expert guide and the Frontier of exploration is on.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Pseudocompetence (click to read)
As a person with the Gift of Dyslexia before fully mastering the tools which I now use on a hourly and daily basis, I use to call Pseudocompetence, "survival". If I saw an article which I thought would be pertinent to my need to know knowledge, I would show the article to someone and tell them "here read this article I think you would be interested in the topic". Then later on I would ask them what they thought of the article and then gleam what I could from them without ever reading the article. But over a period of time what built up is the knowledge the data base I have in my head is totally dependent on others accomplishing what I can't do on my own. Then once I master this ability my heart is harden to someone else proposing something to me which I should know but it is too much to pick up a book or article and read it to gain the knowledge I need to understand. Then my sights became more and more narrow.
A "Receiver" , I pondered and then it became clear, my defensiveness and at times almost anger has vanished on new subjects. Why because if I don't know lets take some parenting skills, I can read about it, or develop a new idea then I can read about it. My knowledge base now comes from my efforts not someone else's, the knowledge gained by reading goes thru my filters, which is the way God created me to be, and why I am where I am, because someone saw those talents.
So now let's jump back to the reason for this List Serv. You all have students who struggle (as I have and failed) and as a teacher or advocate you want to make their life better by enabling them to read. Well all I can offer is my knowledge of the tools I use on a daily basis, which I discovered from my failure and my way to survive in a "real world", 'assistive technology' has contributed to my drive and I want to pass it on to you as an LD Veteran.
So now jump forward, Bookshare.org comes into my life from a librarian who advocated me to become a member and today I can read the Wall Street Journal on the way to work for today (not to mention Europe's WSJ, and Asia) or read any New York bestsellers or most books mentioned at conferences. These tools or the "dyslexic's eyeglasses" which enable me to read have changed my world. One day I was reflecting with one of my friends, and I was telling him how now with all the right tools I can read almost anything I want and how confident it made me feel, in addition it allowed me to contribute to my work, family life, parenting...... Then he said something which took me time to understand. He said Davis you know reading has also made you a better Receiver."
A "Receiver" , I pondered and then it became clear, my defensiveness and at times almost anger has vanished on new subjects. Why because if I don't know lets take some parenting skills, I can read about it, or develop a new idea then I can read about it. My knowledge base now comes from my efforts not someone else's, the knowledge gained by reading goes thru my filters, which is the way God created me to be, and why I am where I am, because someone saw those talents.
So now let's jump back to the reason for this List Serv. You all have students who struggle (as I have and failed) and as a teacher or advocate you want to make their life better by enabling them to read. Well all I can offer is my knowledge of the tools I use on a daily basis, which I discovered from my failure and my way to survive in a "real world", 'assistive technology' has contributed to my drive and I want to pass it on to you as an LD Veteran.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Special font helps dyslexic readers
New 'Font' outside of the walls of education seem a bit too much, what about "assistive technology".
Moments ago I received a 23 page contract from a new Healthcare Provider Network, I have the "Gift of Dyslexia" and I have to read this contract before I put my signature on the agreement. No special font, I just highlight and copy to ReadPlease 2003 Plus add my footnotes to the document and send it back with my questions in the footnotes and move on.
Or if the contract is too wordy I will then paste the contract into Balabolka because it reads up to 510 words a minute, so I don't lose my comprehension by my mind drifting; most contract contain a lot of fluff.
The key to unlocking the Gift of Dyslexia is to create an environment which enables me or the person with dyslexia the ability to read. Who wears glasses, this is in someone's world assistive technology. Who and what gave Stephen Hawking the ability to pour out new insight to the Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics departments at the University of Cambridge and the world?
We are on the edge of the digital age where we can power up all students by advocating technology, but as it stands we are asking students in most academic settings to "power down". Who can bring it better than those who have mastered it, through achievement.
Bookshare.org is doing such, all should embrace it with passion, and if you want to know the outcome, ask me or visit My travels with the "gift of dyslexia: www.manateediagnostic.com/davisgraham.aspx and my blog at www.mygiftofdyslexia.blogspot.com
All who touch a child with the Gift of Dyslexia have the ability to send them to the boardrooms or prison cells, I was blessed with compassionate ears and hearts, so my path has placed me in the boardroom.
"Once I was lost now I am found, once was blind to the written word, now I read."
Sincerely,
Davis W. Graham
Moments ago I received a 23 page contract from a new Healthcare Provider Network, I have the "Gift of Dyslexia" and I have to read this contract before I put my signature on the agreement. No special font, I just highlight and copy to ReadPlease 2003 Plus add my footnotes to the document and send it back with my questions in the footnotes and move on.
Or if the contract is too wordy I will then paste the contract into Balabolka because it reads up to 510 words a minute, so I don't lose my comprehension by my mind drifting; most contract contain a lot of fluff.
The key to unlocking the Gift of Dyslexia is to create an environment which enables me or the person with dyslexia the ability to read. Who wears glasses, this is in someone's world assistive technology. Who and what gave Stephen Hawking the ability to pour out new insight to the Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics departments at the University of Cambridge and the world?
We are on the edge of the digital age where we can power up all students by advocating technology, but as it stands we are asking students in most academic settings to "power down". Who can bring it better than those who have mastered it, through achievement.
Bookshare.org is doing such, all should embrace it with passion, and if you want to know the outcome, ask me or visit My travels with the "gift of dyslexia: www.manateediagnostic.com/davisgraham.aspx and my blog at www.mygiftofdyslexia.blogspot.com
All who touch a child with the Gift of Dyslexia have the ability to send them to the boardrooms or prison cells, I was blessed with compassionate ears and hearts, so my path has placed me in the boardroom.
"Once I was lost now I am found, once was blind to the written word, now I read."
Sincerely,
Davis W. Graham
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Steve Jobs impressions.
Blogs - Ron Hutchcraft's Blogs
When you're a kid, you're wet cement. Impressions get written so easily - and so deeply. Then they harden into the beliefs - or unbeliefs - of that kid-become-adult. Apparently, Steve Jobs was no exception.
Apple's communications genius/revolutionary, has been described as "intriguing, yet inscrutable." But as he battled cancer, he opened some windows into his mind and soul to the author writing his life story. According to the new biography that bears his name, Steve Jobs studied Zen Buddhism for years. A recent article in USA Today said, "He never went back to church after he saw a photo of starving children on the cover of Life and asked his Sunday school pastor if God knew what would happen to them. He was 13 at the time."
In a separate article, USA Today includes this near-the-end spiritual observation from Steve Jobs' biography: "The juice goes out of Christianity when it becomes too based on faith rather than on living like Jesus or seeing the world as Jesus saw it."
None of us knows exactly where Steve Jobs finally landed in his spiritual journey. But in his words about Jesus is a glimmer of the bedrock truth that answers so many spiritual questions: It's all about Jesus.
Christianity, the religion, never has been the issue - although many have been unable or unwilling to separate Jesus from the religion that is about Him. But Jesus made it all about Him, and Him alone, in the simple two-word invitation He extended over and over again - "Follow Me." Jesus never said "follow My religion" or "follow My followers." And He didn't say "follow My rules" or "follow My leaders." No, the only reason to turn away from Jesus is if you have a problem with Jesus.
As for "seeing the world as Jesus saw it," He saw it broken because people walk past the wounded, absorbed with themselves - as in His story of the Good Samaritan. He saw it cold and lonely and twisted because every man has chosen to ignore the Manufacturer's instructions and become our own god for our life. And that has brought us a world of bleeding families, greedy hoarding that produces global hungering, and an endless drama of people being used, abused and walked on.
And what about those starving children? Jesus said when we reach for them to help them, "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me." And, "whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me" (Matthew 25:40 , 45/). Jesus is so personally identified with the hurting people of our world that He takes our treatment of them as our treatment of Him. With eternal consequences.
This Jesus that's it all about came here as "a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering...pierced for our transgressions...crushed for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:3 , 5). This is the God who leaves the Throne to die on the Cross. He's a God you can believe in. A God who stands alone above all the wannabe gods of earth's spiritual pantheon. And ultimately, we find in Jesus the only man of the billions who've lived who has come back from the grave - and promised eternal life to all those who would "follow Me."
Behind all the fog of all the "sophisticated" spiritualities and dueling religions of our world stands one real God. One real Savior. The God who hung on a cross.
USA Today - October 21, 2011, 1B; "Jobs biography pulls back web of privacy;" Rachel Metz, Associated Press.
USA Today - October 25, 2011, 2B; "Jobs lived intriguing, yet inscrutable life;" by Jon Swartz and Scott Martin.
When you're a kid, you're wet cement. Impressions get written so easily - and so deeply. Then they harden into the beliefs - or unbeliefs - of that kid-become-adult. Apparently, Steve Jobs was no exception.
Apple's communications genius/revolutionary, has been described as "intriguing, yet inscrutable." But as he battled cancer, he opened some windows into his mind and soul to the author writing his life story. According to the new biography that bears his name, Steve Jobs studied Zen Buddhism for years. A recent article in USA Today said, "He never went back to church after he saw a photo of starving children on the cover of Life and asked his Sunday school pastor if God knew what would happen to them. He was 13 at the time."
In a separate article, USA Today includes this near-the-end spiritual observation from Steve Jobs' biography: "The juice goes out of Christianity when it becomes too based on faith rather than on living like Jesus or seeing the world as Jesus saw it."
None of us knows exactly where Steve Jobs finally landed in his spiritual journey. But in his words about Jesus is a glimmer of the bedrock truth that answers so many spiritual questions: It's all about Jesus.
Christianity, the religion, never has been the issue - although many have been unable or unwilling to separate Jesus from the religion that is about Him. But Jesus made it all about Him, and Him alone, in the simple two-word invitation He extended over and over again - "Follow Me." Jesus never said "follow My religion" or "follow My followers." And He didn't say "follow My rules" or "follow My leaders." No, the only reason to turn away from Jesus is if you have a problem with Jesus.
As for "seeing the world as Jesus saw it," He saw it broken because people walk past the wounded, absorbed with themselves - as in His story of the Good Samaritan. He saw it cold and lonely and twisted because every man has chosen to ignore the Manufacturer's instructions and become our own god for our life. And that has brought us a world of bleeding families, greedy hoarding that produces global hungering, and an endless drama of people being used, abused and walked on.
And what about those starving children? Jesus said when we reach for them to help them, "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me." And, "whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me" (Matthew 25:40 , 45/). Jesus is so personally identified with the hurting people of our world that He takes our treatment of them as our treatment of Him. With eternal consequences.
This Jesus that's it all about came here as "a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering...pierced for our transgressions...crushed for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:3 , 5). This is the God who leaves the Throne to die on the Cross. He's a God you can believe in. A God who stands alone above all the wannabe gods of earth's spiritual pantheon. And ultimately, we find in Jesus the only man of the billions who've lived who has come back from the grave - and promised eternal life to all those who would "follow Me."
Behind all the fog of all the "sophisticated" spiritualities and dueling religions of our world stands one real God. One real Savior. The God who hung on a cross.
USA Today - October 21, 2011, 1B; "Jobs biography pulls back web of privacy;" Rachel Metz, Associated Press.
USA Today - October 25, 2011, 2B; "Jobs lived intriguing, yet inscrutable life;" by Jon Swartz and Scott Martin.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Thank you Steve Jobs and hello to Read2Go
Thank you Steve Jobs and hello to Read2Go:
Steve Jobs was to us like baseball was to the great depression. We as the American public and the world watched the big west coast Apple waiting for the next homerun.
Steve Jobs was fun to watch, he was fun to talk about as we waited his next up to bat and talk to each other about what it is like to experience his last homerun. The field of technology was changed forever as was the field of baseball when Babe Ruth called his shot in the 5th inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series.
We have been blessed; Steve Jobs creations have touched the world of communication, the world of children, artist from musician to software writers and touched the person who has the print disability who was given Read2Go. We have now all been put into the mainstream of the amphitheater of life to discover, express and read in valleys and places we thought our minds would never have been able to go before.
As his life light has been blown out he has left this world his creative light, like Edison. He has given us a table to place our reading light which has changed hearts and encouraged minds to the next generation.
Steve Jobs gave us a new image to technology just as Babe Ruth gave an everlasting image to baseball; we all have been given a new view in our inning of life.
Thank you Steve Jobs, and to your wife and family and your creative team who forever changed our lives. We will pass our given light on to our children as we read on.
In Christ service,
Davis Graham
Steve Jobs was to us like baseball was to the great depression. We as the American public and the world watched the big west coast Apple waiting for the next homerun.
Steve Jobs was fun to watch, he was fun to talk about as we waited his next up to bat and talk to each other about what it is like to experience his last homerun. The field of technology was changed forever as was the field of baseball when Babe Ruth called his shot in the 5th inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series.
We have been blessed; Steve Jobs creations have touched the world of communication, the world of children, artist from musician to software writers and touched the person who has the print disability who was given Read2Go. We have now all been put into the mainstream of the amphitheater of life to discover, express and read in valleys and places we thought our minds would never have been able to go before.
As his life light has been blown out he has left this world his creative light, like Edison. He has given us a table to place our reading light which has changed hearts and encouraged minds to the next generation.
Steve Jobs gave us a new image to technology just as Babe Ruth gave an everlasting image to baseball; we all have been given a new view in our inning of life.
Thank you Steve Jobs, and to your wife and family and your creative team who forever changed our lives. We will pass our given light on to our children as we read on.
In Christ service,
Davis Graham
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Dyslexia the Mysterious Gift of Intelligence: (Click to listen)
The key to unlocking the Gift of Dyslexia is to create an environment which enables me or the person with dyslexia the ability to read. Many times I have heard the call for help and desperation for those parents, adults and children who have dyslexia. There is crying for direction and what will it be like at the end of the road.
Today I read with not boarders or hurdles to the written word at speeds of 340 to 510 words per minute with 90+% comprehension. Bookshare has changed my life and Bookshare® is free for all U.S. students with qualifying disabilities, thanks to an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Bookshare has 125,000 digital books and textbooks of which are awaiting access to those who struggle with the printed word.
Read:OutLoud is the text to speech software which comes with the membership (free for students or $50 for non-students who qualify) and can take any textbook and turn it into a virtual book. For instance when I read if I come to a person, place or thing, I don't know who, where or what the subject is all I have to do is with one click of the mouse I can surf the net to find out who it is with a picture, or where it is on the map and then read on.. If I was in the class room without this and other tools I would never had raised my hand nor would I have ever gotten to the point where I would look up a subject as I do today.
Recently, I finished reading The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, when I came to the "Dust Bowl", I knew a tiny bit of what the Dust Bowl was but with a few clicks of the mouse I found out the facts.
Below is my testimony and my life travels with the gift of dyslexia but I know it would be encouraging to many millions of students and then parents or adults, to know the tools are here and ready to use.
As a point of insight we (dyslectics) are way ahead of the dawn of the "digital textbook" era, and we have a great chance of being the navigators of how it can change the life of a student and family, if not a nation.
From a recent blog post comment I made:
Yesterday I read "Dyslexics are overrepresented in board rooms and prison cells", and yet our archaic education system remains. Today, like ‘many who have the Gift of dyslexia’ my life has changed with the "Gift" of Dyslexia. The mountainous boarders of books which blocked my self-esteem has been all but flattened. Bookshare free for all United States students with qualifying disabilities (dyslexia being one of them) has changed who I perceived myself to be and who I am today (Jesus is the biggest part of this change). Now when a book is mentioned at a conference, the waves of failure which use to wash over me are now a wave of anticipation of reading the book. Text to speech software, like Readplease, Balabolka and Read:OutLoud combined with Bookshare digital books have made reading a decision not a chore or dreaded thought of me thinking I'm a failure.
Today, in this awesome digital and software landscape for a dyslectic I am free to read. Thank you for your inside look into your road of freedom. The journey I have experienced has been similar and can be read at: www.manateediagnostic.com/davisgraham.aspx
If any one has dyslexia they are living in a technical dream come true world which can equip the 10-20% of those who have the Gift of Dyslexia with tools such as Balabolka, Readplease, Xmind (note taking tool), Read2Go and Bookshare.org which will change the landscape of their future outlook. It is my hope nobody has to go through what I went through in high school, grade and middle school, but the word needs to get out to the public.
Today I read with not boarders or hurdles to the written word at speeds of 340 to 510 words per minute with 90+% comprehension. Bookshare has changed my life and Bookshare® is free for all U.S. students with qualifying disabilities, thanks to an award from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Bookshare has 125,000 digital books and textbooks of which are awaiting access to those who struggle with the printed word.
Read:OutLoud is the text to speech software which comes with the membership (free for students or $50 for non-students who qualify) and can take any textbook and turn it into a virtual book. For instance when I read if I come to a person, place or thing, I don't know who, where or what the subject is all I have to do is with one click of the mouse I can surf the net to find out who it is with a picture, or where it is on the map and then read on.. If I was in the class room without this and other tools I would never had raised my hand nor would I have ever gotten to the point where I would look up a subject as I do today.
Recently, I finished reading The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression, when I came to the "Dust Bowl", I knew a tiny bit of what the Dust Bowl was but with a few clicks of the mouse I found out the facts.
Below is my testimony and my life travels with the gift of dyslexia but I know it would be encouraging to many millions of students and then parents or adults, to know the tools are here and ready to use.
As a point of insight we (dyslectics) are way ahead of the dawn of the "digital textbook" era, and we have a great chance of being the navigators of how it can change the life of a student and family, if not a nation.
From a recent blog post comment I made:
Yesterday I read "Dyslexics are overrepresented in board rooms and prison cells", and yet our archaic education system remains. Today, like ‘many who have the Gift of dyslexia’ my life has changed with the "Gift" of Dyslexia. The mountainous boarders of books which blocked my self-esteem has been all but flattened. Bookshare free for all United States students with qualifying disabilities (dyslexia being one of them) has changed who I perceived myself to be and who I am today (Jesus is the biggest part of this change). Now when a book is mentioned at a conference, the waves of failure which use to wash over me are now a wave of anticipation of reading the book. Text to speech software, like Readplease, Balabolka and Read:OutLoud combined with Bookshare digital books have made reading a decision not a chore or dreaded thought of me thinking I'm a failure.
Today, in this awesome digital and software landscape for a dyslectic I am free to read. Thank you for your inside look into your road of freedom. The journey I have experienced has been similar and can be read at: www.manateediagnostic.com/davisgraham.aspx
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