Introduction

[rik goldman]

I've been lurking since the meeting several days ago and thought I'd take a
moment to introduce myself.

My name is Rik Goldman; I'm high-school English and advanced technology
teacher at a school that serves students with language-based learning
disabilities - dyslexia, dysgraphia, CAPD, and others (we don't label, so I
don't know the full range). The students' disabilities typically affect
reading comprehension, reading fluency, written language mechanics, and
written language expression.

Right now we're a Windows shop and rely on Kurzweil 3000 for text to speech,
WordQ/SpeakQ for speech to text, Inspiration for mind mapping, and Soliloquy
Reading Assistant to improve fluency and comprehension.

I'm on a crusade to move us to open source, but had to pipe down when I
discovered text to speech and speech to text aren't fully mature yet in the
open-source community (I may very well have missed a successful project in
my research).

My hopes for Ubuntu are blue sky when contrasted with the concerns that I've
seen expressed here. I'm really determined to find a text-to-speech solution
that works for students without having to rely on the command line. Orca is
difficult for my to configure, and will certainly not be a solution many of
our students could cope with. Regarding speech to text, my research suggests
there are projects out there, but they're not mature.

My technology background includes time as an instructional technologist,
database designer, Solaris and Irix administration, and A+ type stuff.

Thanks for listening. I look forward to contributing where ever I can be
helpful.

Rik Goldman
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