Dictation Comments

Is it useful for dyslexic students?

A thread on disforum, the mailing list for those involved with disabilityin Higher Education in the UK:

> From: Heather Morris
> Sent: 26 October 2000 06:22
> Subject: Voice activation and dyslexia

As a disability officer, one of the most frustrating things is the inconsistency in needs assesments.

Some of the Dyslexic students I meet are hugely, vocally eloquent but could not attempt to express themselves in writing in the same way. For these students, voice activation is a real blessing, they tell me it has changed their lives. Whilst I do not think anything should be prescribed for the sake of it, I do believe that all students should have the opportunity to comment at their assesment.

Real problems occur when a student talks to others and finds out that someone has VA, whilst it was never even mentioned to them. (Especiallywhen an educational psychologist has made a specific recommendation that it be used.)

Sometimes this appears to be dependent on who did the assesment rather than on need. If a student will not be best served by this technology then fine, but it should be at least discussed and the decision unaffected by the assesor’s feelings on its usefulness. It is impossible to generalise in this way. Student’s opinions on what will help them are really valuable.

I have students who have paid for VA themselves, I believe this is unfair when others have it included. If any software enables students to perform to the best of thier ability then it’s worth having. It may not be ideal but if it helps even a little and boosts just one person’s confidence then I’m all for it! Sorry, I seem to be going off on one, I’ll stop now.

> From: Peter Hill
> Sent: 25 October 2000 21:47
> Subject: Re: opinion on Voice activated and Dyslexia

One of our students who has dyslexia recently visited an Access Centre (not SWRAC). Like several before her, she was told that VoiceRcognition (VR) software is ‘no good’. She has since tried Dragon V4 on a fast UCW machine and described it as ‘brilliant and the answer to a prayer’. Incidentally, the same assessor has been saying the same thing for the past 18 months - I suspect that his reasoning may be based on his experience with an early version of the software running on a slow PC. Today’s kit really is altogether different.

It’s true that some students do not get along with VR - particularly if they are not very IT literate, if their reading is particularly weak, or if they expect the software to write the assignments for them. However, dismissing the software out of hand is a mistake. It can be the answer for some ‘individuals’. Students with dyslexia who have spent 14 or more years at school trying unsuccesfully to master the business of simultaneously thinking, composing, spelling and transcribing, are unlikely to crack it during three years at university - even if they could find the time. I’m not sure that many will find the time, either, to persevere with Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing - which is the package that some Access Centres seem to recommend as an alternative to VR. (I acknowledge that students won’t have the time to struggle with VR either- but sound advice and/or training make learning how to use it fairly straightforward.)

I took delivery of a new PC this afternoon (P3 700mhz). After loading Dragon NS V4, I enrolled my voice on the programme, which took about 7 minutes (I understand that the enrolment time is even shorter with the new Version 5). I then read a sentence to test that it was functioning correctly. The recognition was perfect - not a single error. I had not used the Vocabulary Builder - that is unnecessary anyway unless you are using particularly specialised language.

Of course, when I use it to dictate longer passages, it will misrecognise the odd word - but correcting those errors is no big deal and the recognition will get better and better.

I’m not suggesting that the software should be recommended for all dyslexic DSA applicants (though if a student receives it and doesn’t make good use of it, it is hardly going to bring the DfEE to its knees) but that they should at least be enabled to try it out on a fast PC when visiting an Access Centre.

Regards

Peter Hill

Disability Coordinator

University College Worcester

Article last updated: 20 November 2006