E-reader or iPad for dyslexic ds?

[SonshineMama]

I am considering getting my ds either an iPad or an e-reader. I am feeling it's time for him. He already has an iTouch so I am not sure an ipad would be worth it as the majority of apps can be had on both, right?

 

I'd like to hear from other moms who have BTDT.

 

I'd like the following

*the ability to change font/make larger words

*a reader that can highlight a word and "read" it for him- is this available in an e-reader? I think it's available on iMac

 

What else am I looking for?

 

Finally, would it be better to just use his iTouch and get a reader? It seems he might need a larger screen to read easier. Thoughts?

[chiguirre]

I love Kindle's e-ink. It's very easy on the eyes with no glare. The Kindle will read text to you unless it's been deliberately omitted from an ebook, so books I've loaded from gutenberg.org have worked with this feature. It doesn't do one word at a time, as far as I know, but you can turn it on and off.

[PeterPan]

You need to just go to the store and let him try them. Some kids have strong preferences one way or another. For instance my dd is adamant that only an iPad will do. She likes the two page spread of it and hates e-ink. I think e-ink is something I could get used to. If your kid is really particular, you don't want to get in the middle of that, lol.

 

Do you know the new iPads will be coming out this spring? So when they do, the current models should drop in price... and you get an educator discount... Maybe they'll have refurb old models? Snatch them up when the news come out, and that would equalize the price sort of. Whatever. You can go to the macrumors site to follow. :)

 

PS. Don't forget you can download kindle for your pc/mac and use it right now. My dd likes reading on my regular computer (iMac, large screen), go figure. You get all the same features (bookmarking, highlighting, etc.), but it's using something you already have.

[LaughingCat]

I got the old style kindle that has the computer voice capability partly for DD8 (basically I was getting a kindle for myself, and paid more for that type because of DD). It does not read a single word but will read the whole book (if the ability is turned on by the publishing house). DD hasn't really latched on to it at all but will read it if I assign it to her - she likes that it allows her to make the words larger, she could care less about the voice capability (I still like it because I assign her reading "along" with it as an exercise trying to keep up with something faster than she currently reads).

 

Also, I got an ipad for my Christmas present - I haven't ever had DD read from that but I think it would be an uphill battle anyway because there are too many other fun things to do. She will sometimes play educational apps on her own, but usually I have to assign those too. I could assign reading on the ipad - but I know there would never be a time where she said "oh I reset my timer because I wanted to finish the chapter" (which only has started happening recently anyway :hurray:).

[javafinch]

We have both and I think for straight reading, the Kindle is awesome. I like that I can increase the font size and it just makes reading longer books less intimidating because there isn't as much on each page.

 

The iPad is great for doing a lot of the other apps, but for reading I like the Kindle better. Also the Kindle has less distractions. The iPad you feel like there is SO much more to do besides reading and end up saving the reading for last, then not getting to it (that's what happens to me).

[LaughingCat]

I also wanted to add that the IPad feels heavy to me for reading - it is just not comfortable for reading. And putting it into a PC style case seems like it defeats the purpose - if I wanted to read that way I could just read on my laptop (via Kindle for PC).

 

As far as the less on the page - I like that because I can get away with no reading glasses if I forget them :sigh: but I really prefer having more words on a page - it irritates me to read with less words & I feel like it slows me down. And I really dislike reading as few words/page as DD likes. Which makes me wonder, am I using some "subconscious read ahead" strategy that she just hasn't "gotten" yet? And does that mean there is something I should be working on with her? Which does fit in with a suggestion I've seen that it's better to put a line marker (card/bookmark whatever) above the line being read rather than below the line.

[Quiver0f10]

I love Kindle's e-ink. It's very easy on the eyes with no glare. The Kindle will read text to you unless it's been deliberately omitted from an ebook, so books I've loaded from gutenberg.org have worked with this feature. It doesn't do one word at a time, as far as I know, but you can turn it on and off.

 

We bought our 12 yo DS a Kindle for Christmas for the above reasons and he loves it!

[jenbrdsly]

We have a Kindle Fire and a Kindle touch. I like the touch better for reading because it has less glare and is lighter. My son likes the Fire more, because it is "cooler".

[prairiewindmomma]

We love our kindle touch for those reasons...but I would recommend dragging your ds along to play with the device to see if it will work for him.

[merry gardens]

My son with dyslexia has read from my Kindle and I hope to get him and all my children their own one day. I love the dictionary feature that scrolls down to give brief definitions of words. When he reads outloud, if we encounter any word that I suspect he may not know, I ask him and if he doesn't know it, we take a second to learn what it means.

[rafiki]

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