About Talking Fingers
Talking Fingers, Inc. is a subsidiary of California Neuropsychology Services (CNS), a non-profit organization for research and education. Founded in 1982 by neuropsychologist Dr. Jeannine Herron, CNS has conducted numerous research projects in schools throughout California, funded by organizations such as the W.S. Johnson Foundation, the Hearst Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
In 1998, Talking Fingers received a grant from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), a federal division of the National Institute of Health (NIH), to develop an updated version of its software, Read, Write & Type!™, with an additional CD-ROM providing assessment games, progress reports, reading books, an Activity Book, and other helpful curriculum materials.
The best-selling Read, Write & Type!™ software program, for children ages 6-9, offered a radically new approach to learning to read and write, based on a multi-sensory method that combines phonics with whole language and the skills of reading and writing with keyboarding, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Talking Fingers has based its software development on many years of research on how the young brain learns. In addition, the software is field-tested extensively in California schools.
Dr. Jeannine Herron, and her staff, continue to develop new versions of its software for children at home and in school, with significant enhancements based on its latest research with young children. The Read, Write & Type!™ Learning System includes an English as a Second Language (ESL) component for native Spanish speakers. New product release plans include versions tailored for specific sub-populations, such as hearing-impaired students and adults needing literacy tools.