Technology has the potential to help dyslexics quite considerably .One such technological aid is an E book reader. The E book reader is a small portable computer device which enables you to download books which you can read wherever you are.
There are a number of readers available for example : Kindle Amazon , Nook( Barnes and Noble), Sony E Reader, Ipad, Reeder ( this brand is sold a lot in Turkey) etc.
Advantages
The font size can be enlarged.
Kindle ( Amazon) has a text to speech option allowing children to listen to the book while they follow the text, which in turn can help to improve comprehension.
The text to speech facility also would enable dyslexic children to tackle a more difficult book than they would normally read by themselves. In addition this option would be useful not only for recreational reading but for reading textbooks.
Children are generally drawn to technology and it might help to make reading seem more appealing to reluctant readers.
Possible Problems
The initial cost of the e book reader .
Some publishers have decided that it is a copyright infringement to have the book read out .As a result not all E books allow you to use the“text to speech” option.
Unfortunately the choice of e books in Turkish is considerably more limited compared to books written in English. The “Kindle Reader” does not read Turkish books .
I wonder if it will be tiring on the eyes reading from the screen constantly. ?? Some readers have anti-glare screens so they can be used outside in bright sunlight.
If you are going to invest in a e book reader do some thorough research first before buying …
Check whether books in the your language can be downloaded .
Is there a text to speech option ? .Not all of them have this option– with some you have to purchase another programme to enable you to get speech to text.
I would be interested to hear anyones feedback about the use of e readers for dyslexics.
A great blog with useful information about technology and dyslexia is Ian Smythes technodys site.
http://technodys.blogspot.com/
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1 comment:
My husband and I were just researching these a bit. We thought we might have to buy the ebook and then buy the audio book so that we could have it read out loud. A text to font option would be amazing!
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