goldnloks

Hey Scotty, 

I find the PDF of the pamphlet that we need on a troop website.  I just google. "camping merit badge pamphlet PDF". then there is a bunch of options from troops, pro tip make sure its a current pamphlet...LOL We download and save it.  Then when we open it we just hit the icon to read it.  I am not the techie, my husband is so I can ask him to respond to the particulars.  Obviously its not as nice as Learning Ally since its a computer generated voice, instead of a human, but it works.  Another option is if you or your scout has an I phone, under settings then under general then under accessibility click on speech then toggle on Speak selection and Speak Screen.  You can also select highlight content to highlight as it is being read.  My son uses this all the time.  So if you can download the merit badge pamphlet to a phone you can have it read on the phone.  We have also downloaded  the path to eagle app and he uses this to help him with his handbook since its current and lists so much information.  

My youngest is profoundly dyslexic, but his goal is to earn all the merit badges...He crossed over in mid December 2018.  He is the one with the hat.  He has about 16 more merit badges coming to him at their next CoH at the end of the month. His older brothers have slight dyslexia and dysgraphia which were not diagnosed until after my youngest was.  So It is possible just takes a lot more work.  

Hey Scotty actually there is a solution.  Many troops scan their pamphlets and keep them on line in PDF format.  All you have to do is open them click play and they are read to you.  

Learning Ally can do the pamphlets they just choose not to.  I have spoken to them several times.  My oldest a life scout wanted his eagle project to be get all the eagles read and posted but we received a resounding NO!  My youngest is profoundly dyslexic so this would have helped him as well as countless other scouts.  Our hope was to continue this project with all 3 of our sons.  So much for BSA helping scouts of all abilities!

2 hours ago, Lizzyttt said:

Learning Ally has many of the MB booklets recorded. Moreover, Learning Ally is a service specifically designed for dyslexic students. He/she listens to a recorded book while “watching” the book on their phone or iPad. As words are read, they are highlighted. Learning Ally is a subscription service. A student must be recommended by a teacher. There are scholarships available which make the subscription free.

Yes it is true they have the pamphlet but they only have a few, they have multiple of each, don’t have all the eagles and the important component is they are all outdated.  So unfortunately it doesn’t do a scout any good.  We have learning ally and it’s a bit more complicated than a recommendation from a teacher.  

I am so glad I found this thread!  I have 3 son's in Boy Scouts.  My youngest just crossed over and is profoundly dyslexic and has Dysgraphia.  My other 2 have very mild dyslexia and dysgraphia.  In fact the other 2 were not diagnosed until my youngest was diagnosed.  We already are members of Learning Ally and its a great program however its advertised that they have about 70 merit badge books available, problem is there are about 20 duplicates which means there are only about 30 individual books available and they are missing like three eagle required. In addition they have the scout handbook.  My oldest is a life scout and we have reached out to Learning Ally several times to have his Eagle project be get more merit badge pamphlets up and running and we were blocked in 2 directions.  First readers must audition, and second the reader has no choice in book selection they read...so back to the drawing board.  I scribe for my son's and we have listened to a few of the audio merit badge pamphlets on learning ally but we are now at a standstill.  For my youngest it takes so much effort to actually read what is written he can't comprehend what is being read.  He is a bright kid, has no issues with comprehension or cognition.  So I recently learned if you can get a PDF file of a book on the computer you can have it read to you, still have to try this out.  But I find it absolutely insane that BSA does not have audio books for those scouts with reading disabilities, or are visually impaired.  So this mom is on a quest.  Because obviously my kid is not the only dyslexic kid in scouting...