Speak (your essay!) and the computer writes what you say

If you struggle with typing/writing your essays, you should check out a great computer program known as a "speech to text" program. I asked an assistive technology expert how it all works, what it costs, and other stuff, and here are the answers.

Ben, in simple terms, what IS this program?

This software program, called Dragon Naturally Speaking or “Dragon.” will type what you say, almost like your personal secretary.

How do I start?

You sit at the computer with a headset and microphone on, much like the people who work the drive-thru at either Dunkin Donuts or Mc Donalds would wear. The computer program asks you to read aloud a story. You choose from an easy story written by children to an advanced speech from President Robert F. Kennedy, it's up to you. The computer will “learn” the sound of your voice and adapt to you. When you're finished, the computer is trained to your voice and can type what you say fairly accurately.

Ben, you see people using this program all the time, what are your best tips?

The Dragon program works very well for those who aren't great at typing. The big limitation is that you should know beforehand what you want to say. -Otherwise you may be tongue-tied or waste time saying "ummm". It's best if you have notes, or the whole essay, jotted down for yourself when you begin.

How much is it?

The Dragon Naturally Speaking program isn't expensive. There is a version available from Best Buy for under $50. It's in most computer stores and the most expensive versions are still under $300.

Which students get most use out of this?

The ones who come prepared, with notes jotted down, and stick with it for a few hours until they really get the hang of it. Once you have done the initial training you can work fast but the training part, even though it's really only an hour or two, can put off some students.

When you say training, is that the part where you read the story?

Yes. You can read one story or more if you want to. You can read one story and then start with your own work straight away. The point is that the more the computer hears of your voice, the more accurate it gets at writing up what you say. Oh, and you can take breaks of course.

Can you fix mistakes in the print, say, for example, you say "patch" and the computer writes "pinch"?

Yes. The print goes into a word document so you can edit it as you would any other regular word document.

Ben Lim works at Bunker Hill Community College, Boston. Thanks Ben!

Adult signs of dyslexia

Wondering if you slipped through the net in school? Considering getting assessed? - According to the The International Dyslexia Association you should take notice of these kinds of symptoms:

·       Hiding your reading and writing problems.

·       Being really poor at spelling.

·       Having weak management and organizational skills.

·       Often relying on your memory and verbal skills rather than your reading and writing.

·       Working a job that's well below your intellectual ability.

The Fonz talks up reading in Bridgeport

Here's another great article about one man's realization that he has dyslexia. Remember the Fonz? In, The Fonz talks up reading in Bridgeport, he recalls his own, nothing like his TV show, tough school days.

This article is from the Connecticut Post, 11 Sept, 2007.

I cried with relief to hear I was dyslexic

To read a great personal account by an adult diagnosed with dyslexia later in life, check out, I cried with relief to hear I was dyslexic. Derry Ann Morgan, 48, says, "I couldn't concentrate, and I had terrible trouble learning my spellings and tables. I was a nervous child. I took everything seriously, and I was desperate to succeed. But the harder I tried, the less well I seemed to do."

Her children show signs of dyslexia too but now she feels better able to advise them, "The children are brilliant in their way. They see the world differently, but the disability creates ability in other ways. Gary has phenomenal spatial skills. He's brilliant at making things, as is Niall. And Emma is a wonderful artist."

The article is from the Irish Independent newspaper, Monday September 10 2007

Downloading audiobooks from itunes

If you've just been given your reading list for for school or college don't forget that you can download audiobooks from itunes for about $15 a pop.

Other things you might want to consider:

1.Check to see if your school or college disability unit can help you. Maybe they loan out ipods and/or can buy the book?

2. At Costco you can buy a $50 itunes card for $45 (you save $5).

3. Maybe someone who likes you will buy you an itunes gift voucher (since this is an educational need).

scholarships and internships

Here are a couple of websites I came across. I can't vouch for them but they seem worth a look.

-For a search of college scholarships check out http://www.fastweb.com">www.fastweb.com
-For internships for students with disabilities in Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science, and some fields of Business check out the Entry Point program at http://ehrweb.aaas.org/entrypoint/

Tips for comprehension and vocab

I just received some questions from a student about comprehension and vocab so here are the short tips I gave him:

Q I have a hard time with authors purpose and compare this to that.

A Do you have a list of possible answers ie persuasion, explanation, humor? A list is helpful because you can talk about it with a friend and act the common ones out so they stick in your mind better. With compare/contrast type questions be sure you know you'res looking for 'same as' and 'different' (and key words are words like "likewise" and "similarly", and "by contrast". When I teach this I usually say really simple things like, “I am wearing pants and similarly you are” or “I’m short, by contrast, you’re tall” and I get my student to say some of his own examples (real easy ones) and we act them out where we can (sitting/standing, in/out).

Q My knowledge of vocab words is also really low

A Vocab can be hard because you want to discover new words naturally but how often do we really consider vocab except in school books? I usually start thinking about vocab by discussing the advantage of having good vocab ie when you know big words you look smart! Then we find words we don’t know and want to know, practice spelling them, thinking up any handy ways of remembering them, then using them in sentences (orally). Then we pick the hardest 5 to save. I have students explain them again and write them out again . They take them with them, or I keep them, and we review them next session. Oh, and any novel ways you can think of to remember them, the better. Acting out is good, also drawing things in and around the word and thinking of your own experiences or people the word describes ie My mom’s frugal!. When you spell the word, look out for tricky syllables and highlight them, eg in/CES/sant.

Q If the teacher says turn to page 263 in your book, read to page 266 and do problems 1-5...I can't remember it all.

A A quick review of note taking would help you. In this example you would jot down something like:

Pg 263

2 266

pr 1-5

You might have fun thinking up your own creative/bizarre/artistic shorthand.