See and Say

The tried and true technique of teaching reading and writing via the letters, syllables and then words works for most, but not all early learners. Nuance Speak & See provides a shortcut for those with disabilities by having the computer speak a passage to students as it is displayed on-screen. Based on Dragon’s NaturallySpeaking software, Speak & See shows kids the relationship between the written and spoken language with an advanced text-to-speech engine. Kids can have the program read them material or listen to them dictate anything from an email to an essay. The software comes with a scree-magnifier that can make anything six-times bigger and easier to read. Speak & See sells for $250.