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Topic: Tablet for your special needs kido

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cheesehead mom
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Posted: May 27 2014 at 4:28pm \| IP Logged

Looking to get a Tablet this fall for my 8th grade son who is severely dyslexic as well as some other issues. Hoping it can be used for voice to text to improve his writing (either with existing software or Dragon) and learning ally downloads. One article suggested either the Ipad mini or Google Nexus 7...does anyone have any input?

Thanks so much.

Laura in WI

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MichelleW
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Posted: May 28 2014 at 7:05pm \| IP Logged

My input is to try it out first. See if you can borrow one from the library or a friend. My son is severely dyslexic, and we found that voice to text software (including Dragon) did not work at all for us. You have to be a pretty good reader to track errors that the program makes as it listens to you.

This year my son bought himself a computer with a touch screen and Windows 8. He has taught himself to use it, downloads learning ally onto it, and uses it with Reading Assistant. Those are all good things, so we are glad for the technology. Success wasn't instantaneous. There was certainly a learning curve. But, we still haven't conquered the writing giant...

Sorry I don't have any input on IPad vs. Google.

Blessings!

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Michelle
Mom to 3 (dd 14, ds 15, and ds 16)

cheesehead mom
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Posted: May 28 2014 at 8:58pm \| IP Logged

Michelle--What is Reading Assistant and how do you use it?

MichelleW
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Posted: May 29 2014 at 2:23pm \| IP Logged

Laura,

I bought it through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op here. It is a program that helps to improve fluency. We started it last year and my son was reading 11 words per minute. I can honestly say that he hated the program for most of last year, but we were pretty insistent that is was a non-negotiable because we could see his improvement. This year he is reading at an average of 120 words per minute and I no longer hover while he is working on it. He can see the value in the program and so he has made it his own.

We did have some bumps and hiccups in the road to getting it set up and learning to use it. I think Katherine in TX signed up for it this year, and I don't know what her experience was with it. It might be useful to contact her.

I am glad we stuck with it. He is a much better reader, but he will always be severely dyslexic. He is not "cured." It is something he will always have to live with, but I hope to make it possible for him to not just survive with it, but truly LIVE with it. He now has books that he is reading for fun, but I know that it is hard work and still a struggle for him.

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Michelle
Mom to 3 (dd 14, ds 15, and ds 16)

cheesehead mom
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Posted: May 29 2014 at 10:24pm \| IP Logged

Thanks Michelle I also have a severely dyslexic kido, he is reading at grade level after time with an orton-gillingham trained tutor...but it too will always be tough for him. He is also starting to read on his own. He will be in 8th grade so trying to see if we can improve writing and grammar too--which is why I was hoping to utilize voice recognition. Thanks for info!

Laura

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