[NIFL-LD:4751] RE: Fwd: [AAACE-NLA] text-to-speech research

From: lchenven@aol.com
Date: Mon May 02 2005 - 16:35:58 EDT


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From: lchenven@aol.com
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov>
Subject: [NIFL-LD:4751] RE: Fwd: [AAACE-NLA] text-to-speech research
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Just on the level of a personal experience, my daughter benefitted 
tremendously from using Kurzweill 3000 - She started using it in her 
senior year of high school instead of the books on tape she had been 
using occasionally.  She wished she had used it all the way through 
high school.  These are the results as she reported them.  These are 
subjective responses but not unimportant.
- It cut the amount of time she had to spend on homework since 
previously she was reading all documents twice - once for decoding, 
second for meaning (page by page)
- It improved her reading speed - hearing and reading at the same time 
was faster than reading by herself
- It improved her reading even when she was not using the program - the 
increase in the amount of reading she was doing and the relative 
comfort she developed using the program made her feel better about 
reading without the program and she also felt it helped her reading 
fluency.

If there hasn't been much study of the use of this program, there ought 
to be.  I would heartily recommend it - not necessarily for the purpose 
of learning to read - but certainly as a very valuable accommodation 
for dyslexic readers.
Laura Chenven


-----Original Message-----
From: Renee Clark <reneec@FreedomScientific.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov>
Sent: Mon, 2 May 2005 15:09:00 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [NIFL-LD:4750] RE: Fwd: [AAACE-NLA] text-to-speech research

There is actually a fair amount of data indicating the benefits of
text-to-speech for individuals with learning disabilities.  Check out:

http://members.nationaltechcenter.org/matrixSearch.aspx?a=16%7C&typeId=7&c=2
%7C from the National Center for Technology Innovation for links to
abstracts of various articles.

Also check out http://crpit.com/confpapers/CRPITV23Disseldorp.pdf.

Renee Clark
Western Regional Manager
888-223-3344, ext. 127
reneec@freedomscientific.com
Visit our website at www.freedomscientific.com/lsg



-----Original Message-----
 From: nifl-ld@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-ld@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David 
Rosen
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2005 11:23 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [NIFL-LD:4749] Fwd: [AAACE-NLA] text-to-speech research

Begin forwarded message:

> From: M C Smith <mcsmith@niu.edu>
> Date: May 2, 2005 12:51:28 PM EDT
> To: aaace-nla@lists.literacytent.org
> Subject: [AAACE-NLA] text-to-speech research
> Reply-To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE
> <aaace-nla@lists.literacytent.org>
>
> Just for fun, and while killing time waiting to go to the gym, I did a
> quick search of the PsycInfo database, from 2001-2005, using the
> following search terms in various combinations:
>
> text-to-speech
> computer software
> reading disability
> synthetic speech
>
> I found no citations, suggesting that there is no peer-reviewed
> research in the psychological literature. Not a comprehensive search
> by any means, but I'm pretty good at uncovering studies using these
> quick-and-dirty methods, and I found no evidence that such research
> exists.
>
> Sounds like a scam to sell software that is "Proven by research!"
>
> Cecil Smith
>
> M Cecil Smith, Ph.D.
> Professor of Educational Psychology
> Northern Illinois University
> DeKalb, IL 60115-2854
> (815) 753-8448
> (815) 753-8750 (FAX)
> mcsmith@niu.edu
> www.cedu.niu.edu/~smith
>



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