<p>Hello everyone!</p>
<p>As the result of a very long email I sent at the end of May, I have been invited to testify before the Texas State Senate: Interim Committee on Dyslexia and Related Disorders meeting being held in Dallas next week.</p>
<p>I have details posted at http://ourdyslexicchildren.org .</p>
<p>As part of the presentation I plan to make some technology recommendations = including a web site to provide multimedia resources for dyslexic students of all grade levels including all subject areas, netbooks, tablets, and other hand held devices - focusing of course on the affordability of Linux/Open Source Software and the common sense of Open Resources.</p>
<p>Last summer some of you were involved in a grant writing project regarding technology and dyslexic children. I plan to submit some of those documents as well, however now I believe the web site to be the most important feature. We focused on netbooks last summer, but now there are tablets. The technology will change, but dyslexic students will always need to learn with audio and video.</p>
<p>During the school year I made Sugar CDs and spent a week trying out most of the apps with my high school classes. Sugar is really designed well for students with dyslexia. I did not have text-to-speech on the CDs I made, but having text-to-speech active in the browser and text based apps would really make it perfect.</p>
<p>At this point I plan to recommend Sugar on a Stick for elementary students and Musix USB for high school students.</p>
<p>I welcome all ideas. I can also submit documents and written testimony. If any of you are dyslexic, or have dyslexic family members and wish to submit a document . . . email me the pdf and I will print it out and turn it in. :)</p>
<p>This is the committee website. There is video here of their first meeting in April. My email was in response to that meeting.</p>
<p>http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/commit/c804/c804.htm</p>
<p>Here is their schedule.</p>
<p>http://www.legis.state.tx.us/Committees/MeetingsByCmte.aspx?Leg=81&Chamber=J&CmteCode=C804</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Marilyn</p>