Speech recognition-based and automaticity programs to help students with severe reading and spelling problems

This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of two programs developed by the Frostig Center Research Department to improve the reading and spelling of students with learning disabilities (LD): a computer Speech Recognition-based Program (SRBP) and a computer and text-based Automaticity Program (AP). Twenty-eight LD students with reading and spelling difficulties (aged 8 to 18) received each program for 17 weeks and were compared with 16 students in a contrast group who did not receive either program. After adjusting for age and IQ, both the SRBP and AP groups showed significant differences over the contrast group in improving word recognition and reading comprehension. Neither program showed significant differences over contrasts in spelling. The SRBP also improved the performance of the target group when compared with the contrast group on phonological elision and nonword reading efficiency tasks. The AP showed significant differences in all process and reading efficiency measures.