Text-to-speech software can be a lifesaver. I’m not sure if I have dyslexia, but text-to-speech still makes getting through assigned readings a lot more painless. I have a lot of trouble staying focused at the best of times, and partway through a semester is never the best of times. So software like Kurzweil 3000 that highlights words as they’re read to me is immensely helpful.
When it works and when I have access to it, text-to-speech lets me complete my readings within a reasonable amount of time. Maybe not as quickly as an abled student, but much faster than if I was reading it on my own. Three hours of reading can become one hour. A passage I have to reread six or seven times to absorb can be understood after being read two to three times. It’s amazingly helpful— when it works.
Unfortunately, those two qualifiers of “When it works” and “When I have access to it” are seldom satisfied at the same time.
The way I get text-to-speech software reading my textbooks is to buy the textbook, request a digital copy from the publisher through student disability services, then use the digital copy when I need it read to me. Easy right? Well, not exactly.
You see, in order to request a digital copy you need to give your physical copy and the receipt to student disability services so that the publisher for sure knows you really bought a copy. If you lost the receipt because, I don’t know, you have a disability that affects functions like memory and concentration? You’re out of luck, have fun without your digital copy.
In addition, the process of requesting a copy can and often does take up to two or three weeks— during which you don’t have access to the textbook. It’s honestly infuriating. You’re already struggling with your class because of your disabilities, and now you have to spend a chunk of the semester without your textbook.
Now, of course they have advice to prevent this from happening.
“Make sure to buy your textbook before the semester starts so you’ll have your digital copy by the time you need it!” The problem with that being… Professors virtually never let you know what textbook you’ll need until the first day of classes. Another problem with buying the textbook early is if, for whatever reason, you need to drop the class. Then you’ve got a textbook you don’t need and have to find the time and energy to return.
“Just look at what the textbook was in previous years, that’ll probably be the one you need!” Yes, but if it isn’t? Then you have to return the book you bought (unless it was used, then you’re out of luck) in addition to not having access to a textbook for the first few weeks of classes.
Finally, some textbooks just don’t have digital copies. I ran into this problem with a textbook that had a specific edition designed for my school (it was as pointless and pretentious as it sounds). In that case, you need to have your textbook manually scanned by student disability services. This process also takes several weeks. Depending on the book, they might even need to remove the binding in order to scan it properly, thus ruining the resale value.
Well, why not just buy a digital copy in the first place? Because, in my experience, publishers like to milk students for as much money as they can. After all, why sell PDF’s when you can charge students for access each semester? The consequence of this is that if you need to drop the class, you’ll have to purchase the textbook again next time you attempt it. Also, all of the online textbooks I’ve come across aren’t compatible with text-to-speech— because the publishers have taken so many steps to try to prevent students from lifting anything that they might save instead of buying access again. As if publishers don’t make enough money with their exploitative, artificially inflated prices…
So if you finally manage to get your digital copy you’re in the clear, right? Again, not exactly. Have you ever tried to use text-to-speech to read a mathematical equation? A matrix? How about a matrix made of equations? It really just does not work.
So, what do you do if you’re in a math-intensive field like physics? To be perfectly honest, I haven’t found an answer to that yet. It’s akin to a slap in the face when you go through the long, arduous process of getting a digital copy of your textbook only to find that less than half of it can be spoken to you. Most of the time, I just don’t bother getting one and tough it out with my physical copy. It takes me a lot longer to read and it takes a significantly larger amount of my energy, but I suppose that’s just another penalty that comes from being disabled in university.
When it works, text-to-speech is a game-changing accommodation. It can change assigned readings from an insurmountable obstacle to something doable. Sadly, a lot is going to have to change before it’s a reasonable thing for a disabled student to put in place. Textbooks that automatically come with a digital copy in PDF form would be a start. More research into having text-to-speech read math would help too.
Astro Autistic 