I'm not sure who Kevin is, but since your question arrived here on our
listserv, I assume a shot at the answer is open to all.
The youngest successful user - long term - of discrete speech recognition
that I have personally worked with is a bright but very impulsive and VERY
dyslexic 4th grader who was 9 at the time I started using it with him. He was
using DragonDictate (DD) for DOS, and we had him writing into a talking word
processor with word prediction called WriteAway. He was able to use either
voice or keyboard (word prediction) to enter words, although he certainly
preferred voice, due to his major spelling issues. He was a successful user on
a computer at home until 6th grade which was the last time I saw him, and when
his family suddenly moved from the area and dropped off our radar. This
youngster was very effective, and had a precocious vocabulary which he liked
to show off using DD, but it required some fairly extensive training for him
to learn to use the software effectively, due to his impulsivity.
I have introduced DD for Windows (DDW) to a student who is also very dyslexic
of 8, a 2nd grader, who seemed promising and with whom I hope to do a bit more
training this summer to see if he is mature enough to handle the procedural
requirements of using the software.
As you may have seen from our website, we have some concerns about the use of
continuous speech recognition for a variety of reasons. However, we are
learning a lot about its potential. I have met, but not directly observed,
another youngster who told me (and whose parents told me) that he is
successfully using Dragon NaturallySpeaking (DNS), the continuous speech
product. I just posted another note about him (Young DNS user), so I won't go
into any further detail about him here.
In general, the use of SR is very beneficial for many (not all) kids with
significant literacy issues, in terms of reading as well as writing, as it:
greatly increases the amount of text they can produce; provides them with the
opportunity to write AND THEN EDIT text that they have created themselves by
virtue of increased output; exercises their word recognition skills in a
meaningful context (i.e., they have to look on a list for a word that they
have dictated); allows them if using Dragon products to refine their guesses
if need be by spelling; to name the few obvious benefits that occur to me at
this moment. If coupled with synthesized speech readback, included in most of
the SR products or through a "talking" word processor, the amount of useful
feedback and potential for literacy learning is even further increased.
I hope this is helpful. Please keep us abreast of your research.
Bob Follansbee
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