Numeric keypad doesn't work in Speakup under Gentoo kernel 3.4.9

[John Robinson]

Hi everyone.  I've been a Gentoo and Speakup user for quite some time
and until recently, Speakup has worked perfectly.  Now that I have
upgraded to Gentoo kernel 3.4.9, however, Speakup is no longer working
as it should.

I am currently using Speakup version 3.1.6 with softsynth driver version
2.6.  The softsynth I am using is Espeak which connects to Espeak
through Espeakup.

My problem is that my numeric keypad doesn't work when Speakup is
active.  Whenever I press a key on my numeric keypad, my computer
freezes.  When Speakup isn't active, for example when using Orca under
Gnome, the numeric keypad works perfectly.

I would very much appreciate any advice anyone may have as to how to
solve this issue.

Regards,

John