Speech-to-text intervention to support text production for students with intellectual disabilities

AimWriting is a multifaceted skill involving planning, transcription, and revision that is challenging for students with intellectual disabilities. Some studies have examined reading abilities. However, there needs to be more research on writing proficiency in this population. Especially concerning writing with the assistance of technologies such as speech-to-text (STT). To contribute to filling the research gap, this study aimed to investigate whether tailored speech-to-text interventions enhance text production for students with intellectual disabilities.MethodsThe research utilised a single-subject design involving the participation of four students (three girls and one boy) aged 10-13 years with mild intellectual disabilities in a rural municipality in Sweden.ResultsThe results of this study revealed significant improvement post-intervention for all four students in word, sentence and text qualities.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that STT offers a valuable tool for students with intellectual disabilities struggling with handwriting, providing new opportunities for self-expression. Pedagogical implications are discussed. This study investigates speech-to-text technology for students with intellectual disabilities. Previous research on writing among students with intellectual disabilities is very limited and almost missing with the support of assistive technology such as speech-to-text.The results show improvements for all participants.Speech-to-text technology appears to be valuable for enhancing text production among students with intellectual disabilities.