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Mid-level
Assistive Technology
Tools
to speak text. Simply highlighting or color coding
may not be enough to help some struggling readers. They may
need to have text spoken so that they can understand it. The
following Assistive Technology tools may be helpful.
Single
word scanners. Hand held scanners such as the Reading
Pen by Wizcom (http://www.wizcomtech.com) are helpful for a
person who needs to have a word pronounced or to hear the definition.
They are useful if a person knows almost all of the words in
the passage to be read. They are not helpful if the reader
struggles to decode or understand numerous words in a passage.
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Hearing
something read is not the same as reading!
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 The
use of recorded text can be helpful if the student hears
the book read and he or she follows along with
a print copy at the same time. Used this way, students’ comprehension
and vocabulary skills have been shown to significantly
improve.
However,
just listening without visual text has not proven effective
for improving reading. If the goal is to improve the
student’s reading ability, provide print versions
along with the recorded version and check frequently
to ensure that the student is looking at each word as
it is being spoken.
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Recorded
text. There are several sources of audio recorded
textbooks and trade books; these allow a student to listen
to them instead of reading them. They can be enjoyed using
a standard tape player or CD player. Here are some sources:
Books
on Tape. A variety of books are available from http://www.booksontape.com.
They have a large collection of both fiction and non-fiction
books. These are new books and must be purchased.
Recordings
for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFBD) at http://www.rfbd.org is another source of audio books on tape or CD. This is an
educational library and contains textbooks as well as other
books, both fiction and nonfiction. Individuals must join
in order to access the collection. This may be done individually
or through the school. They have a large collection and provide
players for students who qualify as either blind or dyslexic.
BookShare.org at
http://www.bookshare.org is another online resource. It was
designed to compile the collections of thousands of individuals
who have scanned (digitized on a computer scanner) books for
use by others. It is designed to eliminate duplication of effort
and make scanned text more widely and readily available for
playback in audio form. Individuals must join Book Share in
order to access their books and sign an agreement that includes
documentation that the individual has a print disability and
therefore is eligible to receive scanned books without violating
copyright. Scanned documents from Bookshare.org may not be
as high quality as those form RFBD.
MP3
Players. Recorded books can also be downloaded to
MP3 players either from audio recording or by scanning text
and translating it to audio using TextAloud or Text-to-Audio
from Premiere Assistive Technology (815-722-5961, http://www.readingmadeeasy.com).
Specially
designed books. The Start-to-finish books are a
high-interest, controlled-vocabulary series that can help
struggling readers follow a story read aloud word for word
using the CD version where each word is highlighted as it
is spoken. The books are recorded voice (note text to speech)
with excellent inflection. Each “book” contains
a CD, audiotape and bound book. The audio tape allows the
student to listen to the spoken text and follow along in
the bound book when not using the computer. The print books
feature larger font with wider spacing. Don Johnston, Inc
(1-800-999-4660, http://www.donjohnston.com).
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