Personalization of Visual Characters and Text-to-Speech (TTS) to Support Learning in Students With Reading Difficulties

NCT ID: NCT06947512

Last Updated: 2025-05-04

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 90 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2023-02-16
• Study Completion Date: 2025-12-31

Brief Summary

Previous research has shown the importance of font type, size and spacing to facilitate text reading in dyslexia. A special automatized procedure was designed to select the most favorable parameters for both text visualization and text-to-speech (TTS) conversion to be used by students with reading difficulties. The validation of its outcomes will be carried out through a systematic comparison of the use of the personalized versus standard fonts and voices in reading and writing tests.

Detailed Description

Seleggo is a free compensatory tool for dyslexic students. It is an online platform where school textbooks are transcribed and visualized on the screen in portable format (PDF) versions, characterized by special attention to graphical features and readability, and can be listened to via TTS technology. Special functions such as karaoke modality, conceptual maps building software, summary creation, verbal and visual definition search and the possibility to record and retrieve one's own notes and sketches are also provided. Each student with Specific learning Disorder (SLD) has a personal library and can choose the parameters for text visualization to facilitate reading, modifying the display of the text, choosing font, size and spacing, as well as TTS parameters, such as speed and pitch.

The availability of many options for text visualization and TTS, however, can be advantageous only as far as the students are able to choose and use parameters that objectively facilitate their reading and comprehension. Since the analysis of the literature suggests that subjective choices may be misleading and that general recommendations may not fit the individual's needs, we decided to build an automatized, as objective as possible procedure to help the students find the combination of parameters that is most likely to facilitate them in reading and studying. This procedure, composed by an initial, gross-grained subjective procedure and followed by a thorough, systematic analysis of reading and comprehension performance, was named "Seleggo test" to match the compensatory tool it was meant to complement.

The present study aims to assess the actual advantage of personalized parameter selection through the "Seleggo Test" procedure in supporting reading compared to the use of standard parameters. The working hypothesis is that children with reading disorders would benefit from personalized text features and TTS.

The recruitment of participants will take place in schools. It is foreseen that 30 participants are recruited for each of the three groups: typically Developing children (TD), Developmental Dyslexia (DD) and Special Educational Needs (SEN) - with reading difficulties).

Additional children will be recruited form patients with DD at Scientific Institute (IRCCS) E. Medea, if necessary to reach the expected number. Children will attend the third grade of primary school to the third grade of middle school (7 to 15 years old).

Conditions

Developmental Dyslexia; Reading Problem

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Participant

All participants in the study will be assessed with the Seleggo Test procedure and then tested on reading and writing to dictation in the two conditions, with personalized and with standard visual and auditory parameters for text visualization and TTS

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Seleggo Test

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Seleggo Test is a computerized procedure to identify the personalized visual and auditory parameters facilitating reading and writing for each participant. By applying these parameters to the visualization and to the TTS software during reading of school texts, the participants are expected to be facilitated in reading and understanding the text.

Interventions

Seleggo Test

Seleggo Test is a computerized procedure to identify the personalized visual and auditory parameters facilitating reading and writing for each participant. By applying these parameters to the visualization and to the TTS software during reading of school texts, the participants are expected to be facilitated in reading and understanding the text.

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• age 7-15 years
• no history of reading difficulties
• attends school in Italy

• age 7-15 years
• diagnosis of Developmental Dyslexia or Specific Reading Disorder
• Attends school in Italy

• age 7-15 years
• reported by school to have significant difficulties in reading and writing
• Attends school in Italy (at least 6 months continued schooling and exposure to the Italian language)

Exclusion Criteria

• special educational needs or diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders

• diagnosis of Intellectual Disability

• diagnosis of Intellectual Disability

• Minimum Eligible Age: 7 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 15 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

IRCCS Eugenio Medea

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Locations

IRCCS E. Medea, polo di Bosisio Parini

Bosisio Parini, LC, Italy

Site Status: RECRUITING

IRCCS E.Medea, polo di Conegliano

Conegliano, TV, Italy

Site Status: RECRUITING

Associazione La Nostra Famiglia

Treviso, TV, Italy

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

Italy

Central Contacts

Maria Luisa Lorusso, Ph.D

Role: CONTACT

marialuisa.lorusso@lanostrafamiglia.it

031-877592

Facility Contacts

Maria Luisa Lorusso, Ph.D

Role: primary

marialuisa.lorusso@lanostrafamiglia.it

031-877592

Francesca Borasio, Ph.D

Role: backup

francesca.borasio@lanostrafamiglia.it

Federica Martinez, MD

Role: primary

federica.martinez@lanostrafamiglia.it

Malida Franzoi, MD

Role: primary

malida.franzoi@lanostrafamiglia.it

References

Lorusso ML, Borasio F, Panetto P, Curioni M, Brotto G, Pons G, Carsetti A, Molteni M. Validation of a Web App Enabling Children with Dyslexia to Identify Personalized Visual and Auditory Parameters Facilitating Online Text Reading. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction. 2024; 8(1):5.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Other Identifiers

996

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id