This software called a Volunteer Recording Workstation, or VRW, will be tested at the pilot studios through next year. Its founder, Anne Macdonald recruited volunteers to record textbooks for blind World War II veterans trying to pursue a college education under the G.I. Bill of Rights. More than 5,000 highly trained and specialized volunteers read and record textbooks in every subject area and grade level. The grant, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will put textbooks on cassettes in the classroom for children who have difficulty reading because of dyslexia and other learning disabilities. Using the same books as other students at their grade level, they will follow the text with their eyes while listening to the material through headphones.
Dyslexic students have difficulty decoding words.
They typically read very slowly, frequently stopping and starting. Because this takes so much effort, understanding and remembering what they read becomes even more difficult. Using taped textbooks, the students hear the information while following the printed text and can cover the material faster. Hearing correct pronunciation and intonation provide additional cues for decoding. Betty Whalen, administrator of health services for the New Brunswick schools and the school district's project manager for the program, said they were enthusiastic about the project.