The following instructions are for MacOS Sierra (10.12.16). You can activate Read Aloud (or Text to Speech) on your Mac so that it reads documents (word, pdf, etc.) or websites when you select certain keys. Apple Icon > System Preferences > Accessibility >...
How to Read Aloud on Your iPhone
Here are instructions for turning Read Aloud on your iPhone. Settings>General>Accessibility>Speech>Speak Selection (you can adjust speed with the slider at the bottom of this page; turtle for slower and rabbit for faster) Once you have completed the steps...
50 States – Audio Driver Training Manuals – Department of Motor Vehicles
Check out the links below to audio versions of state drivers manuals OR pdf files of the manuals that can be read with our web-enabled text to speech program ReciteMe. ALSO, if the manual is available to read online, you can try read it in a Google Chrome browser. A...
Let Them Listen – Audiobooks and Dyslexia [Premium]
Let Them Listen! “The objective of the present research study was to understand what benefits the use of audiobooks (both school-books and books of various genres, recorded on digital media) could bring to preadolescents and adolescents with developmental dyslexia. Two groups, each consisting of 20 adolescents, were compared. The experimental group used the audiobooks, while the control group continued to use normal books. After 5 months of experimental training, the experimental group showed a significant improvement in reading accuracy, with reduced unease and emotional–behavioural disorders, as well as an improvement in school performance and a greater motivation and involvement in school activities.” – Milani et al., Dyslexia (journal) It’s surprising how often we continue to hear that dyslexic students are denied the use of audiobooks […]
DROPPING OUT BECAUSE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE [Premium]
At Harvard University in the 1970s, a clinical psychologist made a startling discovery. Intending to study the emotional problems that caused students at one of the world’s elite universities to drop out of school to drop out, he found out instead that the most common reason students dropped out of their degree programs was that they were unable to satisfy Harvard’s foreign language requirement. “Dinklage described three groups of students who were otherwise, bright, gifted, and highly motivated, but who remained unsuccessful in the foreign language classroom. He reported that these students were not helped by merely improving study habits or by adjusting to postsecondary demands.” The 1st group of students demonstrated problems in written language that were most apparent in “the student’s reading […]
WHEN A UNIVERSITY IS DYSLEXIA-UNFRIENDLY [Premium]
Despite recent advances in dyslexia-friendly policies and statements in K-12 and higher education, reports of dyslexia-unfriendly and discriminatory practices are more common than anyone would like to mention. At the university level, rarely is there any education for faculty and staff about the needs of dyslexic and LD students on campus, so it should not be surprising that many professors will not understand why accommodations are necessary for dyslexic students. They may actively discourage students from obtaining such accommodations although it is against federal law. As we have recently reported, US Department of Justice regulations requires that private colleges give “Considerable weight to the documentation of past accommodations, modifications, or auxiliary aids or services received in similar situations” and not require additional burdensome re-testing. […]
Dyslexia and Medical School – AMA Journal of Ethics [Premium]
In an important article published in the AMA Journal of Ethics, physicians call for mandatory dyslexia training for medical school faculty. The article presents the case of a 1st year dyslexic medical student who excelled in college and in clinical research, but who is conflicted about whether to disclose his dyslexia to faculty and fellow classmates because of his concerns that it would negatively impact his “education, performance, and reputation.” The writers comment: “Given the scientific progress in understanding the epidemiology, cognitive basis, and neurobiology of dyslexia, it is surprising that ignorance of the condition persists; such ignorance continues to result in faculty misperceptions of dyslexia. For example, the very common and physiologically based symptom of slow reading in dyslexia can be misinterpreted as slow […]
Top Back to School Apps for Dyslexia [Premium]
EARLY READERS Endless Reader by Originator – Free to try; $5.99-11.99 bundles. iPhone and iPad Great for visual learners. Animations and characters help with sight word learning. Orton Gillingham Card Deck by Mayerson Academy FREE. iPhone and iPad Multisensory card deck with consonants, single vowels, consonant digraphs, vowel teams, vowel + r, short vowel signals, VCe, and common suffixes. Auditory drill. Record and playback to hear pronunciations. Video see and hear sounds. Great phonics practice. Sight Words by Little Speller – FREE Iphone and Ipad All 220 sight words, no-frills program that allows you to create your own sight word lists – lower case or upper case letters. Can allow hints. Sight Words Reading and Spelling by Edoki $3.49 Android. Includes 320 sight words (Fryes + Dolce). […]
How to Make Safari Talk in 60 Seconds or Less
If you own a Mac, get your Safari browser to talk in less than 60 seconds. If you tell Safari to speak without selecting the text, it will start at the top, but also read details you may not want to read.