How Speech-Feedback and Word-Prediction Software Can Help Students Write

disabilities are spending more and more time in the general classroom (McLeskey, Henry, & Axelrod, 1999), where they are exposed to the same wealth and variety of information as their peers. But students like J.T. often face higher expectations of productivity in these inclusive environments than they may have traditionally experienced in separate special education settings. Many students with learning disabilities struggle to be successful with these increased academic demands. One area that is especially problematic for some students with learning disabilities is written expression (Graham, 1990; Houck & Billingsley, 1989; Moran, 1981; Newcomer & Barenbaum, 1991; Thomas, Englert, & Gregg, 1987). The demands of writing are particularly problematic for children with learning disabilities. As writers compose, they must juggle not only the ideas that come to mind, but also the many requirements associated with different writing formats. They must also consider the audience to whom the work is directed and the purpose of the writing (descriptive, expository, persuasive, and so forth). Students must know whether they have written “enough” information, and if their ideas are all connected and relevant. They must ensure that neither these ideas nor the vocabulary they use is unnecessarily repetitive, and that their words and sentences have been constructed correctly. Students with learning disabilities in written expression can have particular difficulties with many of these issues as they write. Assistive technology, in particular computer software, can be a valuable tool for many students with disabilities; and students with learning disabilities in written expression are no exception. Word processing, speech recognition, speech feedback, word prediction, and other varieties of software packages may serve to help students with learning disabilities participate in well-developed classroom writing programs. Research about these tools, however, is limited and has generated mixed results (Lewis, 1998). The case study described here examines the experience of a single student with learning disabilities in written expression and his use of word prediction and speech feedback software during journal writing. The results of the study suggest that instruction and instructional feedback play a critical role in student success, regardless of the availability of technology.