Reviewed by:
Heidi Zabilansky, MA.Ed.
Special Education Teacher
EO Smith High School
Storrs, CT 06268
hzabilansky@eosmith.org

Carol L. Magliocco, Ph.D., PT
Assistive Technology Consultant
EASTCONN Regional Education Service Center
Hampton, CT. 06247
cmagliocco@eastconn.org

Crick Software, Inc.
Bellevue, WA 98004
Phone 425 467-8260
Fax 425 467-8245
www.cricksoft.com

Single copy price $149

System Requirements:  Pentium II 200 or greater, 8 MB RAM, 12 MB hard disc space, Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP

Rating: A

Penfriend, a talking prediction tool that works with a variety of word processing programs.  Penfriend displays a customizable prediction window directly within the word processing document. Prediction options include prediction based on first or consecutive letters typed as well as prediction of the next most likely word based on grammar and syntax. Prediction improves with use by learning individual words for each user, creating a user profile referred to in the program as a lexicon. Words added to the user lexicon can be reviewed and edited to ensure that only appropriate terms and spelling are included.

Penfriend enables the user to hear the predicted words as well as the text in the word processing document.  Speech feedback can be adjusted by letter, word or sentence. Longer passages can be read by placing them within the clipboard. One concern with the program was that, at least for these reviewers, we were unable to find how to edit word pronunciation within Penfriend.

Penfriend automatically capitalizes the first letter of a sentence and adds a space after selection of a word from the prediction list. When sentence-ending punctuation is used, the space is automatically deleted. 

A particularly easy feature to use in Penfriend is the abbreviation expansion. For example, an abbreviation could be constructed to expand a studentís initials to his full name.

Penfriend also includes an onscreen keyboard. The keyboard appears within the word processing document.  This allows the user to generate a prediction list based on the letter selected within the onscreen keyboard.  For some students, not having to shift visual focus from the keyboard to the screen can be a useful feature.

For students with accessibility concerns, Penfriend can integrate seamlessly with Clicker4.  Using the prediction keyboard in Clicker 4, as a student selects a letter, the predicted words appear in the left hand column, as illustrated in the screen shot shown on the Crick website. The student can then click on her choice of words from the left hand column to enter it into the Clicker Writer.

Penfriend is an easy to use tool that provides writing support to struggling students with its prediction window, speech feedback and abbreviation expansion. It can be used with many word processing programs, so the student can use the programs he already is familiar with or the same program that others are using.  This allows the student to create a final paper that looks just like his classmates.