Reading+Tools

In over half of the cases, autism is accompanied by an intellectual or other disability. Because of this, many individuals with autism often experience difficulty in academic areas. Reading is a primary area of concern, especially since it is a gateway to all other academic areas. Many of these students require accommodations and modifications to aid with their deficits in reading. On this page you will find several assistive technology tools that can help these individuals achieve their maximum potential by allowing them to independently bypass their reading difficulties and access the curriculum with minimal intervention from a teacher or other assistant.

Read and Write Gold | PlexTalk | PenFriend

** Read and Write Gold **
Read and write gold is a text help program for use with windows operating systems. It is available for both PCs and Macs. The software cost around **$675.00** and up depending on the version needed. There is also an option to get a mobile version available with a USB device. The website offers a free 30 day trial.
 * Overview**

www.texthelp.com/
 * Web: Read & Write Gold**


 * System Requirements:** Pentium IV 1.8GHz processor, Windows XP or higher, Vista or Windows 7, 512 MB RAM, 2 GB Free Disk Space, Speakers, Sound Card, Microphone, DVD Player (for installation), Internet, Adobe Reader 9 or X or Acrobat Version 8,9, or X (for PDF aloud)

The purpose of this literacy software is to provide students with a universal design for learning by giving to access to any curriculum. It also allows them to independently complete reading, writing, and research assignments and complete test independently. It allows teachers the opportunity to differentiate the instruction by meeting the needs of diverse student populations.
 * Instructional Purpose:**

The objectives of the program are met in that the software provides a variety of ways in which students can access the curriculum including reading, writing, and research. The program is easily used with a variety of programs that students use on a daily basis. The program can be used for a variety of different purposes such as a screenshot reader, paragraph translator, text to speech, dictionary and picture dictionary, fact finder, spell checker, word prediction and a host of other uses.
 * Content:**

The software is fully intended for students use. Once downloaded, each student has access to a floating toolbar that appears on their computer. The tool bar can be accessed from a variety of programs including Word, Explorer and Adobe Reader. The student can move the tool bar to their desired location on the screen and they can pull it up and minimize it when needed. Students can access digital content and have the text read aloud by highlighting. There is also a variety of naturally sounding voices for them to choose from.
 * Instructional Design:**

Below is an example of the floating toolbar. The toolbar contains everything they need to use the program. The buttons are identified as picture icons that make them easily understood by students of all ages. There are not too many buttons on the tool bar, so distractions are minimized to only what the students need. The buttons are well spaced and organized according to what operations they are used for.
 * Appearance:**


 * Ease of Use:** This is a very easy to use program. I was able to download the free trial and begin using it immediately. The buttons are pretty much self explanatory so I didn’t need to do the tutoring sessions. But, they offer lots of tutoring videos on their website.

Overall I believe this software is amazing. It really allows the teacher the opportunity to differentiate the instruction with minimal intrusion or accommodations. The students have control of the software so they can use it when needed and maintain a consistent pace with the rest of the class with minimal intervention from the teacher. In addition to just reading the material, it also helps with looking up words, quick facts and research. It can also read Dragon recognized text and offers online translation to a variety of languages. In addition to reading and writing, it offers a talking calculator and can read MathML files. There is a teacher toolbox available that allows teachers to control, add and edit features as well as configure settings and monitor progress. The software does not have many weaknesses. Overall it is great. Some downsides may include the necessary system requirements needed to install and maintain the software. It may also cause a student to need headphones while he/she is working which could be a distraction.
 * Strengths and Weaknesses:**

** Plex Talk **
PlexTalk is a digital book player that offers independence in reading, listening and learning. It is offerd in several versions: PlexTalk pocket, PTN2 Player, PTX1 CD/SD Online Player, PlexText Reading Software and the PTR2 Portable Recorder. It is compatible with Windows 2000 and above.
 * Overview:**

www.plextalk.com
 * Web: PlexTalk**

The purpose of this piece of equipment is to offer individuals with reading difficulties an independent means to accessing material. The products also allow the user to record lectures to listen to at a later time. In addition they can convert text to speech and preview it later. It allows students to listen to audio books, MP3s, and to transfer books from their PC using USB. There are several different versions of the digital book player. All versions are built with a rugged design suitable for durability. The device has navigational levels for easy accessibility of headings and specific bookmarks. The portable version is pocket size and offers the flexibility of taking media anywhere.
 * Instructional Purpose:**
 * Appearance:**

Below is a version of the pocket portable digital book player and the PTN2 and PTX1 CD/SD Online Player:



The PlexTalk series offers user friendly user controls. It also includes a mask cover that only reveals the basic keys for easier use. In addition there are more keys for use with complex navigation for school text book reading.
 * Ease of Use:**

The PlexTalk Reader offers a level of independence to students who experience difficulty in reading. It also offers multiple functions such as reading, recording, and listening to music. Weaknesses include the variety of buttons that may take some time for individuals to learn how to use. The higher level navigational buttons may be too much for some students to grasp. In addition, the fact the there are several different devices that offer the same uses may presents some challenges in choosing which is a perfect fit. It is also an issue that all of the devices are not offered in a portable format.
 * Strengths and Weaknesses:**

** Pen Friend **
Penfriend is a software device that adds word prediction, speech and an on screen keyboard to almost any software. It will also read just about any text. Penfried is also offered as a portable USB stick for flexible access wherever. It is downloadable software that works with windows operating systems. The cost starts at around $169.00 and runs up to $350.00 depending on the software or device ordered.
 * Overview**

www.penfriend.biz
 * Web: Penfriend**

The purpose of Penfriend is to offer assistance to students who need help reading digital text online or word documents. Penfriend also serves as a word prediction device to aid in writing and spelling. It learns the words that are frequently used by the student for easier, faster use.
 * Instructional Purpose**

Penfriend meet its objective by providing students with independence in reading and writing. The software offers a variety of voices in multiple languages. It also offers homophone support for words that may be spelled correctly but are not used in the correct context. In addition, there is a built in thesaurus and dictionary. Here is an example of homophone support:
 * Content**



The software is designed for independent use by students. In addition to an on screen keyboard and word hints for homophones, the software also offers a transparency feature that allows students to be discrete about using Penfriend. Once the software is downloaded it can be accessed when needed. The portable version requires no download; you can just plug it in and double click on the icon. Penfriend offers sensible options that allow students and teachers to choose which ones are needed for individual use. An example of options is pictured below:
 * Instructional Design:**



Penfriend offers an onscreen keyboard which aids students in writing when using the keyboard is not functional for them or when they want to avoid repeatedly looking from the keyboard to the screen. The onscreen keyboard resembles a normal keyboard and offers typing by hovering. Students can also change the color.
 * Appearance:**



Word prediction helps with spelling and writing. It keeps track of recent and frequently used words in order to predict students’ word list on an accurate basis. As more letters are typed a new list is formed to accurately predict the words the student desires. Students only need to press one button to select the word of their choice. Here is an example of the word prediction:



Speech feedback will read the highlighted words aloud to the student.

Overall the software is very easy to use. Once downloaded it is easily accessible. The program works on its own when it is activated. The text to speech is very easy to use by just highlighting the material.
 * Ease of Use:**

This software has many strengths. The variety of options for use makes if a great option for individuals that need extra help in reading, writing, and spelling. It is easy to use and has the option of transparency if a student chooses to be discrete. A weakness is that the software requires the student to copy and paste text that needs to be read aloud. This is often a difficult concept to grasp.
 * Strengths and Weaknesses:**