Talk:Dyslexia Handheld Computer

Please introduce yourself if you are interested in this project.
Hello Patty,

I had a quick look at your site and there are some interesting ideas - I agree with you about the cumbersome nature of a dedicated laptop - although much more robust than they were, they are still susceptible to breaking down and that leaves a child stranded if s/he has become dependent on it for school use. Personally I am more in favour of a child having access to a good desktop at home plus a notebook like the Alphasmart Neo or Dana for doing written work, plus a digi camera for quick pics and even short videos and brief recorded notes. There is still scope for them to have mobile phones / ipods / gameboys etc that 'everyone else' has. A downside of having leisure and academic tools in the same device is that there is too much temptation to be distracted by 'fun' activities, when they should be working! The 'danger' of having an all-singing-all-dancing device is that by its nature it will be complex(more to go wrong) and if one bit fails, the whole support mechanism is out of action while it is fixed. Don Johnston Special Needs have already provided CoWriter for the Neo and a sound module and Write Outloud for the Dana, with CoWriter to follow, once it has been re-programmed - this provides very portable, cheap and sturdy support for dyslexic and dyspraxic children - they dont tend to break down but are cheap enough for the school to have a reserve machine or two. It is very easy to export data to a desktop, so notes made in class can quickly and easily be worked up into a final piece of work. Cheers Judith Judith Stansfield SEN ICT Consultant BDACC (Associate member)

Hi Patty! Your project seems interesting. I'm not a specialist on computers, but I'll be following the progress.

Patrik Austin 10:29, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Hi Patrik, Thanks for saying hello. Patty Scheel

DHC Intrest with a little info
this message is for Judith Stanfield from Mr.Stephen Waner aka paschar, ever since my aquired dyslexia due to injury i have involved myself in the study of a whole new way of viewing the world around me (backwards)the clinical term being strephosymbolia. I have a full profile at www.scribd.com under the same user name paschar. thus far over the last 20 years i have made use of my desktop with all the special technology installed in it. my system makes it possible to precieve things as if normal because the screen reads in the mirror image.over the years i have had contact with members of the microsoft MVP Team to help develope my software ideas RE: mirror image text, font text reversal & the Sakasa mouse configuration software. I have been informed that there is no known cure for my visual condition so i make due from day to day reading with all the modifications and upgrades to my system.