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Struggling Writers Find Their Voice Through Assistive Technologies
by Carol Seibert
| "Before I had Co:Writer and Write:OutLoud, I couldn't talk. Now, when I
talk in my mind and dreams, they become my voice." |
Many years ago,
Write:OutLoud and
Co:Writer gave a nonverbal learner his own voice for the first time. In a letter to Don Johnston, this young man wrote about how Write:OutLoud, with its text-to-speech and Co:Writer, intelligent word prediction, gave him a voice after years without the ability to adequately communicate his thoughts to the people who meant most to him.
Change a Struggling Writer's Life!
Write:OutLoud and Co:Writer REALLY WORK to support successful writing experiences for struggling writers. Try these assistive technology tools with YOUR struggling learners.
Annie, from Santa Fe, New Mexico, wrote:
"Without Co:Writer and Write:OutLoud my students' work is simplistic and limited due to the words they know they can spell or use. With these programs, their writing comes alive with new vocabulary and a liberated sense of self-expression."
Like you, the team at Don Johnston is passionate about making a difference in the lives of people who struggle with learning… a passion continually fueled by letters and calls from parents, teachers and students whose lives are being changed through the use of our tools and resources.
Write:OutLoud and Co:Writer, in particular, have provided the support that struggling writers needed to find their "voice" — sometimes literally — to effectively express their ideas in writing for the very first time.
Are you already using Write:OutLoud and/or Co:Writer to support your struggling writers or are you learning about these programs for the very first time? Either way, we want to make you aware of the power of this software and the wide range of resources available to help you find the "writer's voice" in even the most severe struggling learners."
Check out the links below and find out how to remove mechanical barriers to writing, like spelling, grammar and legible handwriting, and give your learners the tools they need to share what's in their minds and their hearts.
Customer Appreciation! Get MORE HELP in Supporting Struggling Writers
If you already own one or both of these products, be sure to check out the learning supports included in the HELP FILES of your Co:Writer and Write:OutLoud programs. Use the Help Index in each program to navigate to:
Write:OutLoud
- Editor's Checklist for Write:OutLoud
- Write More
- Mark for Deletion
- Homonym Checker
- Compare and Analyze Writing Progress (for Write:OutLoud)
- Create a Bibliography (APA or MLA)
Co:Writer
- Options for Special Needs
- Flexible Spelling
- Linguistic Prediction
- Collecting and Using New Words
- Working with Topic Dictionaries
- Create New Topic Dictionaries
This article first appeared in the February 2008 issue of The LeaderLink.
