Re: Reading versus books on tape

["Freed, Dan" <DFreed@xxxxxxx>]

To amplify Dawna's point: there's a charitable organization in the US
that specializes in recording textbooks and making the recordings
available to students.  Originally the organization was named "Recording
for the Blind" (RFB).  But over the years, they found that an increasing
percentage of their clients were dyslexic rather than blind.  Eventually
the percentage grew to the point that the organization officially
changed its name to "Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic" (RFB&D).
Also, to follow up on Tony's comments, RFB&D now offers its textbook
recordings on CD-ROM with various navigation features.

	http://www.rfbd.org

Dan Freed
Senior Engineer, Hearing Aid Research Lab
House Ear Institute
2100 W. Third St.
Los Angeles, CA  90057  USA
Phone: +1-213-353-7084
Fax: +1-213-413-0950
Email: dfreed@xxxxxxx


-----Original Message-----
From: AUDITORY Research in Auditory Perception
[mailto:AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Lewis, Dawna E
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 9:24 AM
To: AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: FW: [AUDITORY] Reading versus books on tape

 Anecdotes continued:  Retention also can be related to reading ability.
I
have a brother-in-law and nephew with reading disabilities.  My
brother-in-law was not diagnosed while in school.  He learns best and
retains
information well when he watches programs about a topic or has someone
read
him the text.  He later can go back and find the information he wants
from
text but to read it himself is very laborious, causing him to avoid it
whenever possible!  My nephew was just diagnosed at age 13 years. If
someone
reads a text to him he retains the information well and is able to
correctly
answer questions.  If he reads it himself, his retention is very poor. I
was
told that the school has decided to allow him to have text for
reading-intensive classes recorded (books on tape) and to provide
additional
support for reading material. I wonder if re-listening is the same as
re-reading in terms of the depth of understanding and ability to ponder
a
passage?

Sincerely,
Dawna Lewis 

-----Original Message-----
From: AUDITORY Research in Auditory Perception
[mailto:AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of David Anderson
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 10:36 AM
To: AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [AUDITORY] Reading versus books on tape

Another anecdotal tid-bit:  I listen to many books on tape while
commuting,
including history and/or scientific books.  I find my retention is a
little
poorer and that my understanding isn't as deep sometimes (a result of
not
being able to reread and ponder a passage).  However, I am much more
likely
to have portions memorized.  I have found that I am able to recite
random
selections after listening only a few times.

David

On 7/6/06, Toth Laszlo <tothl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> On Thu, 6 Jul 2006, tony stockman wrote:
>
> > anecdotally I believe for myself at any rate, as a blind person and 
> > having used braille since primary school, braille reading is more 
> > effective for learning than listening to tape.
>
> I think that quite many people (including me) performs a kind of 
> visual learning. For example, I can recall even after years how a 
> certain piece of information was positioned on the page of the book. 
> Because of this, I can hardly imagine how I could learn anything by 
> listening to a tape (I have never tried it, though). Sorry, this is 
> only "anecdotal", but I hope somebody here can name some real study on
this.
>
>                Laszlo Toth
>         Hungarian Academy of Sciences         *
>   Research Group on Artificial Intelligence   *   "Failure only begins
>      e-mail: tothl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx            *    when you stop
trying"
>      http://www.inf.u-szeged.hu/~tothl        *
>
>