[Web4lib] Audiobooks, are they helping kids learn to read?

[Diane I. Hillmann]

Michelle:

I really think that audiobooks can be very helpful. One of my 
daughters, now grown, is learning disabled, and my strategy with her 
was to spend as much time as possible reading to her, and the 
audiobooks I bought for her were an adjunct to that.  What it 
provided for her was a strong motivation to read--she wanted access 
to stories that weren't on tape, and becoming an independent reader 
became very important to her.  In her teens she was in a special 
boarding school for learning disabled kids, and her teachers 
commented to me that she was the only kid there that they would 
characterize as a "reader."  I was very proud of that.

It's my guess, looking at my grandchildren, that TV and computers are 
far more a factor in the lack of motivation for kids to read.  In 
many ways, audiobooks, because they are non-visual, some how tap into 
the imagination in much the same way regular books do (and tv and 
computer games don't).  At least that's my theory. ;-)

Diane

>I was just wondering what your thoughts are on audio books and
>education? In my opinion audio books are NOT helping kids learn to read.
>I believe that the current generation of children are lazier than ever
>and audio books are just feeding into that mentality. I teach 7th grade
>and it is amazing how many children can't read.... and their spelling is
>atrocious. Can we blame it all on audio books, of course not, but I do
>think it is a contributing factor.
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Diane I. Hillmann
Research Librarian
Cornell University Library
Email: dih1 at cornell.edu
Voice: (607) 387-9207
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