A Silicon Bullet for Dyslexia

(This article appeared in Exceptional Parent Magazine, November 2000, pages 52-56.)

A Silicon Bullet For Dyslexia: A New Solution For An Old Problem

by Mike Matvy, EdS, NCSP

Introduction

This article has been adapted and reprinted with permission of the author from one that first appeared in "Closing The Gap," October / November, 1998.

While assistive technology for accommodating people with "print-disabilities" has been available for years, most students who have dyslexia are still limited to futile attempts at bringing their visual reading up to grade level with remedial training. People who have dyslexia cannot do visual decoding of print at a rate and comfort level so the print language can be understood as it was intended by an author. They may sound out words but they cannot decode language visually at the same high rate that they can decode language orally. Yet, when it comes to learning from print, educators who are not aware of alternative methods continue to tell these students to only use visual reading.

With fourth or fifth grade reading and writing skills, bright students with dyslexia usually graduate from high school passing all subjects, but they are not learning up to their ability and achieving excellence. They are not reading assigned work. They are not taking classes that challenge their high intellect. They are not learning how to communicate their good ideas in writing. While these bright students usually perform well in class discussion and on material that is read aloud or discussed in class, teachers often place them in lower level classes, abbreviate academic requirements, and usually are satisfied when these bright students score as well as low average students on tasks that require visual reading or paper and pencil writing. The most these students can expect is graduation from high school with a recommendation from teachers to keep "sounding out those words" and working on their reading and writing. Unfortunately, they do not leave high school with the reading and writing skills needed to pass college classes.

The educational community is not aware that it has the opportunity to teach students with dyslexia how to make full use of print; therefore, it is not using the technology that will enable these students to "read," "write," and succeed in college programs. Educators mistakenly view this assistive technology as futuristic, extravagant, expensive, and impractical.

One Tennessee school system, however, is proving them wrong. Since 1993, Knox County Schools has been implementing Alternative Methods of Reading and Writing, a comprehensive program employing high- and low-tech solutions to accommodate the daily reading and writing needs of students with severe dyslexia in grades 3 through 12. Despite inadequate visual reading and inadequate handwriting ability, students use print for "reading" and "writing" in regular classes and they excel using print rather than just cope with it. These assistive technology methods and emerging technology will revolutionize the way our schools teach students with dyslexia.

The program: Alternative Methods of Reading and Writing

This accommodation approach has three main goals: (1) students make full use of their intellect in "reading" print and "writing" print; (2) students maximize their ability to use print independently; and (3) students gain access to the same mainstream educational experiences and standards as peers with comparable mental ability.

Reading

Using (1) audio-tape recorded books, (2) text-to-speech voice synthesis with computer, (3) reading assistance, and (4) modified visual reading, students from Knox County are completing all the reading requirements for high school and college classes.

Audio-tape recorded books

Students "read" books recorded on audio tape using their ears rather than their eyes for decoding the print. While using this aural reading method, they follow along in the book visually looking ahead for headings, highlighted words, captions, photos, and other visual information. Using a specially-designed player, they can "read" fast or slowly, quickly skip ahead or back to study the text thoroughly. All textbooks are available from Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic to registered borrowers who only pay $25 per year for all the books they need to borrow. People registered for Library of Congress taped books get access to fiction and nonfiction books at no charge.

Text-to-speech voice synthesis with computer

Using voice syntheses and screen reader software, students "read" words, sentences, and passages by having the computer speak text aloud. By controlling the voice with key strokes, they quickly "read" anywhere on the screen "reading" from worksheets, dictionaries, encyclopedias, letters, magazines, and newspaper articles, and any other text that can be displayed on a computer screen. As a practical matter, expensive and impractical resources are avoided in favor of easy-to-use ones. For instance, worksheets have only been available when a teacher happens to prepare his worksheets on a computer and can save the file for reading with the screen reader before printing the worksheets for the rest of the class. While use of a print-to-text scanner is possible for getting worksheets onto the computer screen, it has not been practical because of the cost of extra equipment, the labor to prepare documents, and the logistics required to make these scanned documents available to the student on time in a regular class setting. On the other hand, all the text from the Internet can be read aurally using this voice system. With a standard computer and an Internet connection, students gain access to a wealth of literature, research articles, e-mail communications, and many other resources that are free and readily available.

This fact and the rapid improvement in text-to-speech technology is making this approach a "gold mine" for students who need to read aurally. Voice synthesis/screen reading is also an important tool for enabling inadequate readers to write by letting them hear each word as it is typed, read completed sentences, reread previous sentences, and review writing for editing.

Reading assistance

Reading assistance is having another person read text out loud and is thought of as translating the language from visual to oral form. It is not an opportunity to have a partner, tutor, or leader; it is a service where the student with dyslexia directs the assistant on what to read, when to read, to reread, to pause, and to stop. This assistance is often performed by a teacher on tests and other required reading, but can be done by a peer who is informally asked to read a short passage.

Modified visual reading

Modified visual reading requires recognizing the limitations that visual reading places on students with dyslexia, modifying unrealistic expectations, and making better use of visual reading for completing daily tasks. The result is that students (1) make better decisions about when to attempt visual reading and when to employ other methods of reading; (2) make realistic estimates about what can be accomplished using visual reading skills; and (3) perform visual reading in order to cope with reading situations where alternatives are not practical to use. But, when visual reading is used, students with dyslexia modify their expectations by recognizing that (1) visual reading will only give part of the needed information contained in the text, and (2) visual reading will require energy and mental processing which distracts from the intellectual task of processing the meaning of the text.

Writing

With four "writing" methods-(1) dictate and edit procedure; (2) computer-assisted writing; (3) writing assistance; and (4) modified handwriting-students are completing all the writing requirements for high school and college classes.

Dictate and edit procedure

With the above method, oral language is turned into written language by (1) students dictating into a standard dictation device; (2) teachers or assistants typing the dictation into a computer in lower case with no punctuation; (3) students "reading" the text with the screen reader; and (4) students adding capitalization, punctuation, and any other editing changes before printing the work. For now, this procedure is the best way to get students' good oral language into print, but it will be replaced by voice-recognition programs on computers, as soon as computers can accurately and efficiently take dictation from students and print it directly to the screen. The current voice-to-text systems have been found to be impractical for students with dyslexia because they require the student to have sixth grade or above reading and spelling ability and proficiency with complicated computer commands.

Computer-assisted writing

This procedure uses a computer equipped with voice synthesizer/screen reader and conventional software tools to enable students to overcome the reading, spelling, and handwriting barriers that keep them from getting their ideas onto paper. Students (1) type and hear their words pronounced; (2) use a trial and error approach after hearing misspelled words; (3) run the spellcheck and "read" the alternative spelling words from the spell check list using the computer voice; (4) "read" the text from thesaurus and dictionary programs when checking questionable words; and (5) print a draft and ask a proofreader to make a final check. Initially, students are not as fluent using this method, but they are more independent since they correct most of their errors on their own. This accommodation makes use of, reinforces, and complements phonemic awareness, spelling, and other language skills the student has learned in remedial reading and spelling instructional programs. For instance, to use the "trial and error" spelling approach, the student must know the correct phonetic spelling or be able to come close to the correct phonetic spelling. If he or she fails on the first attempt he or she must break the word down into syllables and attempt to spell the syllables using trial and error with the voice feedback, etc., to get a closer-sounding word. Often students who have many phonics skills cannot visually recognize an improved spelling when they make it but can recognize it when they hear the screen reader say the word they spelled. This process leads to a spelling that is close enough to the desired word to get a spell check program to produce the correct standard English spelling for that word.

Writing assistance

Students dictate to a person who writes what the students say. As in the use of Reading Assistance, this is best viewed as translating the language from one form to another. Being effective with this method not only requires ability to concentrate and organize language while dictating, but it also requires social skills, task commitment, and self confidence. While the level of independence in performing this method of writing is low, it requires simple technology that is widely available: pencil and paper, a typewriter, or a word processor.

Modified handwriting

Students use their limited handwriting ability to their fullest advantage by (1) making better decisions about when to attempt handwriting and when to employ other methods of writing; (2) making realistic estimates about what can be accomplished using handwriting skills; and (3) accepting less-than-perfect handwriting in order to increase functioning in critical writing situations where alternatives are not practical to use.

Using Alternative Methods of Reading and Writing bright students with dyslexia start "reading" on or above grade level in days. Quickly and effortlessly, they can "read" their favorite novels, magazines, and newspapers as well as all their grade level textbooks. Soon, they are using alternative methods of writing letters and papers. The power and information that is available through print is theirs.

After starting the program, one Knox County student returned from spring break with an attitude of empowerment. She had earlier reported that she felt sad because she was unable to go to the beach, lie in the sun, and read a book like her friends do. This time it was different. She said, "I used the tapes and I lay on the beach and read a novel. I feel like an intellectual." She went on to become president of her class, take the ACT on audio tape, and achieve a high college placement score. Another student, using these methods, recently completed his first year at The University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, making the Dean's List.

Using this program, students with dyslexia are completing high school classes having "read" all the class assignments and "written" all the required papers. They are achieving excellence in high school and they are going on to college so they can become statisticians, lawyers, biologists, teachers, journalists, and intellectuals.

Mike Matvy, EdS, NCSP, is the School Psychologist/Assistive Technology Specialist for the Knox County Schools, Knox County, TN

For more information about these or other Alternative Methods of Reading and Writing, contact Mike Matvy at:

Eastport
2036 Bethel Ave.
Knoxville, TN 37915-2036
Telephone: (865) 594-1121 or -1529
Fax: (865) 594 8892
E-mail: matvym@ten-nash.ten.k12.tn.us
Web Page: http://www.KORRnet.org/dyslexia

RESOURCES

Software

Voice synthesis software
Speech Recognition Software
Free application program with all Macintosh computers Apple Computer, Inc.
Phone: (800) 800-2775, (800) 767-2775
Web site: http://www.apple.com

Screen reader software

outSPOKEN 3.0 for Windows
outSPOKEN 9 for Mac

Braille Display

Alva Access Group, Inc.
Phone: (888) 318-2582
Web site: http://www.aagi.com

Word processing software

Appleworks
Apple Computer, Inc.
Phone: (800) 800-2775, (800) 767-2775
Web site: http://www.apple.com

Audiotaped textbook services

Taped textbooks

Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic
Phone (800) 221-4792

Entertainment reading on tape

Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

For the phone number of the library serving the student's location, contact a local library or call The Library of Congress at (800) 424-8567

Specially adapted cassette player acquired on loan

Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

For the phone number of the library serving the student's location, contact a local library or call The Library of Congress at (800) 424-8567

Specially adapted cassette player for school use

Handi-Cassette II Stereo/Player

American Printing House for the Blind
Phone: (800) 223-1839
Web site: http://www.aph.org

2 Track/ 4 Track Cassette Recorder/Player

Lighthouse International

Phone: (800) 829-0500
Web site: http://www.lighthouse.org

Standard dictation device

Sony M-427

Available from office supply stores and general department stores.

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