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Creating hope, defeating challenges for the learning disabled

posted by Ben Foss on November 10, 2009

I am so proud of the team that put the Intel® Reader together, and as someone who has difficulty reading standard print myself, I am very excited to see it entering the market. I filed the first patents on this technology a number of years ago and am thrilled to see the results of the hundreds of people who have worked so hard to make this Intel branded product possible.  As the director of access technology in the Digital Health Group at Intel, I would like to tell you my personal thoughts on this introduction.

 

The Intel Reader is a mobile handheld device designed to increase independence for people who have learning disabilities such as dyslexia, or have low-vision, blindness or for anyone who struggles with reading standard print.  It is going to be a great tool for people like me who have difficulty with text.  I am dyslexic and was in special education throughout elementary school.  When I was growing up, my 'reading technology' was my mom and my 'accommodation specialist' was my dad.  I, like most students, was tested on my ability to learn to read, and I failed miserably.

It is important to remember that a central experience of a disability, and especially a learning disability, is loneliness.  It was a lonely feeling to have to leave class in third grade, and head to a special room to sound out words while the other kids had reading groups. And adults feel lonely as they worry that people might find out they do not have any books at home and that they cannot read the text off a power point slide in a meeting.

 

There are an estimated 55 million people with specific learning disabilities and vision impairments in the United States. This population will grow as we all age and the Baby Boomers reach their senior years.  The public policy impact of this is massive - the lost workers, the cost in daily time for parents and kids to help with reading and homework, the unnecessary increase to the dropout rate. The National Institutes of Health found in 2000 that a person with a learning disability like me was twice as likely to drop out of high school and 12 times less likely to get a four-year college degree. That is a huge loss for society and a frustrating personal experience for people living it.

 

I went to Stanford Law School and Business School and earned my JD/MBA.  Ironically, this can lead people to question how dyslexic I really am. I like to tell the story of a college friend who came to visit me once. He walked into my living room and said "Wow!  You really are dyslexic!  You don't have any books here.  No novels.  No cook books.  No travel books." And my response was "Nope. They are not useful to me. Why would I?"  He got it and no longer doubted who I was.

 

Since using the Intel Reader, I have bought five books online - five more than I even bought for pleasure in my life.  I have heard the same thing from low vision and blind folks. My favorite example is of Dorrie Rush, the access technology reviewer for the Lighthouse International--one of the many advocate groups that are supportive of this product.  She worked for years in the fashion industry.  Recently, she began loosing her vision to macular degeneration.  She used to enjoy reading Vogue and seeing the latest trends. With the Intel Reader, she says she gets that back - she even told me about a pair of Prada shoes she read about with a ruffled velvet fringe! These small things are really important- being able to talk with a friend about a book, or to read a invitation to a wedding; and more people will be able to get this in their lives now with the Intel Reader.

 

Intel has done a great thing for the world. Some people with disabilities can do great things, and some people cannot.  But we are trying to level the paying field so that people with disabilities can determine this for themselves.  With the Intel Reader, we are a step closer to that goal. 

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Comments (6)

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Comments

Nov 10  |  Dave Schleppenbach said:

Great job on getting this product to market. The amount of work involved is both staggering and humbling at the same time. This product has a chance to revolutionize the way that the disabilities market is served. Now, for the hard part...wating to see how it sells.

Nov 10  |  Trudy said:

Hi Ben,
It is exciting to see this new technology in the market now. I met you and saw "The Reader" at the International Dyslexia Conference a year ago in Seattle. As a parent who has purchased a lot software and technology for my dyslexic son, this looks very appealing. I really enjoyed your blog about the background of this new technology. Thank you for sending this information to me.

Trudy

Nov 10  |  Kelly Rose said:

Congratulations, Ben. Today is a signficant for you and Intel. Wishing you and the entire team great success with The Reader. We were thrilled to be a part of the launch.

~kelly

Nov 10  |  Craig said:

It all sounds wonderful, except for that excruciatingly high price. When similar reading technology is available from RFBD.org and bookshare.org for less than $100 in software costs, and netbook products for less than $300 that have similar hardware, a $1499 product is, shall we say, breathtaking. But not in a good way. I have a daughter with reading disabilities myself, so I should welcome anything that expands the field, but this product seems more exploitive than magnanimous. Could you guys find it in your hearts to release the software so it could run on a commercially available netbook? If the PHB need to, you could ensure that it only runs on Atom processors, but Intel pretty well owns the netbook market anyway.

Nov 10  |  Drew said:

Hi Ben,
I would love to arrange a demo of your new product for my mother and her blind support group. How can I do that? I understand that you have created a multi-use/ multi-function device that is marketable to the sighted, low vision, dyslexic, blind, techogeeks, or just lazy (I put myself in that last category). I have combined a scanner, PC with OCR and text to speech in an attempt to make a useful tool but my target audience (blind elderly mother) is capable of finding the on button and go button and that is about it. I have watched the video and read the manual for the E-Reader and fear that, although the portable capture station and one button capture are a step in the right direction, the play function and menu setting are too close together, complicated and prone to erroneous button pushes. The menu display will be completely invisible to her. In spite of my worries stated above I am really excited about your product and hope to see it work.

Nov 30  |  Melissa Kirkwood said:

Mr. Foss, I want you to know how very impressed I am with your efforts and the team at Intel with the creation of the Intel Reader.

I am a working mom and advocate for dyslexia as I have twin boys (9), both diagnosed in 2008. I left a job of 11 years in healthcare as the Director of Children's Miracle Network for Wichita, KS to start a new position at the Fundamental Leaning Center also in Wichita. The Center is committed to all children reading...all children succeeding.

We are a educational non-profit focused on children with learning disabilities associated with reading, writing, and spelling including dyslexia.

In 2010 we would like to begin to inform parents, families, and children that come to our Center the ability to learn to use assistive technology like the Intel Reader. I am in the process of writing grants right now to find funding to purchase two readers to use as models at our Center.

If possible, could Intel provide me a CD of the movie created for the Intel Reader on your website? I need to place it in the hands of reviewers in the easiest way I know how.

We also are looking at creating an educational forum for our community on "Stewarding the Health of our Children's Education" and would love to talk with you about hosting a lecture.

If this is something you would be willing to discuss I would love to talk with you about this possibility.

Thanks so much for your creativeness in building a better tomorrow for children like my boys.

All the best,
Melissa Kirkwood

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