Using text-to-speech tools boosts access and engagement for students with reading disabilities, leading to improved academic outcomes. By Kirsten KohlmeyerMay 18, 2022
| I’ll never forget the wide-eyed look and broad smile on a fourth-grader’s face when I asked him if he was willing to read in a different way. He had a reading disability, and I had just taken him to the school library and told him to choose any chapter books that he was interested in reading, not just the “baby books”—his words—that he could independently decode. His picks were available and downloaded within minutes from Bookshare, an Office of Special Education Programs-funded organization that provides a vast library of free accessible ebooks for students with print disabilities who qualify. This intersection of choice, self-determination, and technology was powerful—it started an entire new chapter of self-confidence and independence for this student. |