Text to Speech
This past year has had our kids accessing technology more than ever before. Even those who didn’t previously use Assistive Technology now find themselves with Chromebooks and other devices to do their school work at home.
But, a new environment can expose skill gaps. When school information is presented in a different format, a student may need new or different supports to access that information. Lately, many parents have been asking about Text to Speech apps and Voice to Text apps for their kids.
Difference Between the Two
Voice to Text: This type of app types out what you say. Like when I tap the little microphone on my phone in my texting app, I can quickly tell my husband something that would take me several minutes to type out. However, some are better than others. The voice-to-text on my phone (Pixel 6) is awesome. The app that I use to transcribe podcasts to my blog is not and it requires a tremendous amount of editing.
Text to Voice: Think of this as a book on tape. (I know, dating myself) Ok, think of Alexa. Alexa is a computerized voice that reads text to you. But, she sounds pretty human, doesn’t she? Some devices let you pick a voice. I use Amazon AWS to read my blog to people who prefer that option. While it might seem cute and funny to read it in a British accent or in the voice of Cookie Monster, that may not be best for an educational setting.
Adding Voice/Text to your IEP
Like everything else, supports and services are needs-driven. Ask for an evaluation in this area, or ask for RTI type format (add intervention and take data). This wouldn’t necessarily need the whole IEP team to convene and could be done with an IEP no-meet addendum. Or, an abbreviated meeting with just a teacher and SLP and parent.
Choosing the Right Voice Text App
Here are some tips for choosing the best and most appropriate Speech to Text or Text to Voice app for your child.
- First, it needs to be compatible (duh). While most app developers these days make both ios and an Android version, not all do. So double-check that it is compatible with the device your child uses.
- Can they use it at home? If your child has a separate device at home or for personal use, I would try to choose the same app for consistency. This way, they only have to learn how to use one app.
- Does the app do both? Some do both Texts to Voice and Voice to Text, but not all do. Again, it depends on how many apps you want your child to learn.
- Talk with your IEP team. Particularly if your child needs SLP or Hearing Services, they may have some specific recommendations for your child.
- Ask for extra time and recordings. It takes extra time to transcribe something and read it, rather than just listening to it the first time. Same in reverse. Extra time on assignments might be warranted.
- For multi-lingual households, choose an app that meets those needs. Some are great at translating and some are not. Your ESOL teacher should be able to assist you with choosing the right translating voice to text app.
- Adjustable speed
- Adjustable pitch
- Easy to use
- Material design
- English (Publication Language)
- Simple user interface
- Use for pronunciations of words
- English (Publication Language)
- Text to voice conversion.
- Multiple languages.
- Highlight text while reading.
- Pause and resume speech.
- Change voice settings ( Pitch, Velocity and Volume).
- Just Talk is a text to speech App!
- Note: Please download any missing language packages from market.Features
- - Text to Voice
- - Start/Stop
- - Save text
- ✔️ EYE-FRIENDLY HD SCREEN: The E-Ink Carta technology provides a crisp and glare-free reading experience, making it ideal for long reading sessions. Enjoy an eye-friendly HD touchscreen that comes as close as possible to a page on paper.
- ✔️ ADJUSTABLE SMARTlight: Indulge in eye-safe reading no matter the lighting conditions, even in complete darkness! Thanks to the SMARTlight function, you can adjust not only the brightness of the screen but also the color temperature of the frontlight, choosing a warm or cool tone.
- ✔️ LISTEN TO AUDIOBOOKS: The e-reader also supports 6 audio formats and a playback option via Bluetooth pairing. Thanks to Text-to-Speech technology, the device can read any text file aloud with a natural-sounding voice. So you can always choose to read the book or listen to its audio version.
- ✔️ IPX8 WATERPROOF: The reading device is built to withstand water immersion up to 2 meters deep for 60 minutes, complying with the IPX standard. Enjoy your favorite book while indulging in a relaxing bath, knowing your e-reader is protected against water damage.
- ✔️ SUPPORTS MOST POPULAR FORMATS WITHOUT CONVERSION: The e-reader supports 19 book, 2 comic and 4 graphic formats, including EPUB, FB2, DOC, DJVU, PDF (DRM), JPEG, CBR, and CBZ. Open a wide range of books, documents and images without wasting time converting files and enjoy the unprecedented freedom of choice.
- Voice Recording
- Text to Speech
- Audio to Speech
- Speech Notes
- Text to Voice
- Easy to use
- Material Design
- Use for pronunciations
- English (Publication Language)
I’ve given you several free ones to choose from, but most apps are pretty inexpensive. While the ‘F’ in FAPE stands for free, I personally would just purchase a $5 or $10 app for my kid, rather than go through the process.
You should speak with your child’s team about choosing a voice-to-text app.
There are a lot of options out there. And if you’re looking for AI, you want to make sure that you choose the best AI Text Generator Software that you can afford.
Good luck and if you have a fantastic text-to-speech or voice-to-text app that you’d like me to add to this list, let me know.
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