Happy Holidays!

Gift Certificates are now available at eReadingPro!


What a wonderful way to assist somone you know who wants to use the eReadingPro system to teach a child to read! Once you decide on the amount of your gift, you have the option of printing the gift certificate and delivering it in person, or you can simply email the certificate! The recipient can redeem it toward ANY eReadingPro product. How simple is that?

We hope that you enjoy this amazing opportunity, and wish you a wonderful holiday season!

Happy American Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to wish all of my American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving, and give you a taste of what our day was. We've had lots of snow fall over the past 3 days, and the trees are laden with heaviness. Quite a beautiful site, and impetus for those individuals itching to begin their Christmas shopping!

Enjoy!

Field of Dreams

This past weekend I travelled to Kirksville, MO by way of Kansas City to present an eReadingPro workshop. It was a two and a half hour drive NE from Kansas City, during which time I saw three beautiful deer, two eagles (I think that's what they were) and this amazing entrance gate. I thought it was so cool! It led me to pondering throughout the duration of the drive, to what each person's dreams actually were that entered through that gate.

MY dream is that all children learn to read BEFORE they begin school. Wouldn't that be amazing? The teachers would have it made in the shade, the parents would be happy, and the children could use this skill to flourish!

What would your field of dreams consist of?

Great Read!

I recently presented a workshop in Knoxville, TN. While I was in the airport in Toronto awaiting my outbound flight, I came across a book that screamed out for me to read. The book was called "Someone Knows My Name: A Novel". I purchased it, and began reading when I settled into the flight. Needless to say, between meals, a workshop, and excercising, I completed my 500-page read on my return flight. I could not put it down! I have to say this is one of the best books I’ve ever read – and I LOVE to read! The prose is magnificent! I could not skip a word, a sentence or any minute aspect, as I was so enthralled with every ounce of the story! I especially love that it is fiction, but based on so many relevant historical facts that many Canadians (and Americans alike) are ignorant to.

If you are looking for the book in the US, it can be found under a different title: Someone Knows My Name.

I highly recommend this book!

New eReadingPro Kits Are Now Available!

The new eReadingPro kits are finally ready!

It took a while to find a new printer.
Then it took a while for him to get price quotes.
Then it took a while to edit the Instructional Guide.
Then it took a while for the parts to all come in.
BUT now that we have all of the components, we are ready to roll them out!

The first NEW eReadingPro kit was shipped out last Friday - but we made sure we snapped a few pics first :-). We really hope that you enjoy the new look!

eReadingPro goes to Knoxville, TN

eReadingPro is going to Knoxville, TN on Sunday, November 9th
from 1 - 4 pm at:
Tennessee School for the Deaf - Middle School Bldg.
2725 Island Home Blvd, Knoxville, 37920
(Directions at www.tsdeaf.org)

To REGISTER, click here.

You will learn to teach your child to read using the whole word approach, to teach your child to progress from reading single words to reading
sentences and books, and to implement a fun reading program that works for you and your child. Admission is free.

Each DSAG family (families that have an individual with Ds and are on DSAG’s mailing list) that registers and attends will receive a $40 voucher to use on take-home materials available at the workshop. (Be sure to check out www.ereadingpro.com for more information on the workshop and products for sale. Materials are for sale in complete kits or downloadable do-it-yourself programs.)

Childcare will be available – but must be reserved. Registration forms for workshop and childcare MUST be received by Wednesday, November 5.

Call or e-mail with any questions: 865.905.2968 or events@dsagtn.org.

eReadingPro donates eBooks in Nigeria!

eReadingPro has donated a set of eBooks to The mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe (OLG) Health Foundation & Autism Centre in Nigeria.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Health Foundation/Autism Center was founded in June, 2006 by Dr (Mrs.) Doris Izuwah and is currently the first foundation that offers biomedical intervention for children in the Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Nigeria. OLG Foundation also runs the Defeat Autism In Nigeria project on whose platform they also organized the 1st World Autism Awareness Day celebration in Abuja Nigeria.

As some of you may know, I have a great love for Africa, and a deep desire to assist the children there who are in such unfortunate situations. eReadingPro will be working together with the founders of OLG to improve the lives of children in Nigeria with Autism by providing our easy to follow reading program in the form of eBooks.

A workshop in Nigeria is being planned for 2009!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well it is indeed my birthday AGAIN today, lol! It feels like I JUST had a birthday! What amazes me about birthdays is how many people tend to know it's your birthday. I actually had birthday wishes from people I went to high school with 30 years ago - thanks to Facebook!

When I decided to write a post today, I noticed that there was a comment on my post regarding Autism and the "On the Brain" blog by Dr. Merzenich. The gentleman who posted the comment suggested that we look at the Brain Fitness Program created by Dr. Merzenich's company, Posit Science. So I went to their site and eagerly tried the Brain Fitness Demo - in order to see just how far along I have actually aged, lol. I was happy to discover that my brain is still very functional, and that in fact I am able to visually track 5 moving objects on a screen at one time!!

I think that what Dr. Merzenich has created is wonderful, amazing, fun to use, and very necessary - especially with the size of our aging population. While their program is at the opposite end of the spectrum from eReadingPro (our program is for beginning readers, whereas Posit Science - Brain Fitness is for the aging reader), I think both program are equally important. After all, knowledge is power! Try it out for yourself at Posit Science!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving all you Canadians!

The temperature in Ontario, Canada this weekend has been extraordinarily beautiful - and perfect for a Sunday afternoon stroll to wear off all of that extra gravy! So, I took the dog and the camera out for a walk, and made my best effort at catching the beauty of the day. The colours of the leaves are so vibrant, and a multitude of flowers are hanging on to that last essence of sunshine before the snow begins to fly. I really hope that you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed my walk!

Autism on the Rise

One of my favourite blogs to read is one by Dr. Michael Merzenich called "On the Brain". Dr. Merzinich is a professor at the University of California in San Francisco and is a leading pioneer in brain plasticity research. When I read about him in a book by Dr. Norman Doidge called "The Brain That Changes Itself" I emailed him to tell him about our program. He promptly emailed me back and urged me to continue creating new programs and challenging my brain, lol. I was extremely impressed that he took the time out of his obviously busy schedule to reply to my email.

Dr. Merzinich's blog address all sorts of things to do with the Brain. One that I read recently called "Autism on the Rise; additional factors?" addressed the concerns that we are all facing with autism on the rise, and no near-term solutions to be found. You can read it here at On the Brain. Other recent posts include a discussion about drugs for children with bipolar disorder and the concerns about keeping troops on alert by use of various drugs. Interesting reading indeed!

Tips for Teaching Reading - for ALL ages!

Teaching reading can be a daunting task - especially for parents with no teaching background! I remember when my children were young I really wished that I had the knowledge and the tools to teach them to read. So I wanted to provide some tips for teaching reading to the visual learner/struggling reader! These tips are appropriate for ALL ages of readers.

Tips When Teaching Reading:

• Understand your child’s preferred style of learning (visual, auditory or tactile).
• Focus on using the whole-word approach first for visual learners.
• Only after mastery of the whole single word should you then show how the word is broken down into letters and sounds.
• Begin introducing words to which your child can associate a visual representation (i.e. food they are familiar with, names of people they know, etc.)

Keys to Success:

• When using flashcards, flash them quickly! (Approximately one second per word is all that is needed).
• Ensure the flashcards are large enough and colourful enough to have a visual impact.
• Begin with a well-organized plan that will be included in a day-to-day routine.
• Do not test the child or ask them to repeat the words as you present them! This can cause anxiety and then your child may not want to participate anymore.
• Keep your program moving along – do not be too repetitive just because you think they are not processing the information quickly enough.
• Avoid presenting similar looking words together, as this can be confusing (i.e. Grandma, Grandpa).

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Teaching Reading Early

Many of the blogs and social networks that I read and/or participate in online center around Down syndrome or Autism due to my own interests. Whether children are typical or have differing abiliites, it is important to teach reading as early as possible.

Here are some important points to keep in mind with regards to teaching reading:

1. If a child can learn sign language, they are ready to read! A sign is simply a visual representation of a word - which is exactly what reading using the whole-word approach is.
2. Just because a child is not ready to speak does not mean they are not ready to read. Remember that input and output are two different processes!
3. Teaching reading early increases brainpower!
4. Teaching reading increases your child's ability to communicate.
5. Teaching reading can teach talking and/or improve speech and language development. (Speech Pathologists and Therapists tend to love eReadingPro!)
6. Teaching reading is an important intervention for helping children overcome learning difficulties.
7. You can easily begin teaching children to read at 2 years of age.

It is so important for parents to understand that teaching reading can be easier than they may otherwise think. My next blog will provide pointers on how to teach reading - for ALL ages!

eReadingPro goes to Riverside, Ohio

eReadingPro is going to Riverside, Ohio on Saturday, September 27th, 2008! The 3 hour workshop, hosted by the Dayton Autism Society, will begin at 9:30am at the Miami Valley Regional Center, 3rd Floor, 1801 Springfield Street, Riverside, OH 45431. The cost of the workshop is $10.

TO REGISTER, click here. We hope to see you there!

World Peace

One of the things that I dream about is the possibility of world peace. What an amazing concept, but one that seems so difficult to accomplish!

Well one of my good friends in Florida, Betsy, has started making jewellry - simple, fun and all handmade silver jewellry. When she was showing me her work, the piece that jumped out at me the most was her pendant called 'World Peace' (pictured here). I just LOVE IT! Needless to say I am now donning a world peace pendant as I write this, lol.

If you would like to make a small personal statement about world peace, I urge you to purchase one of these beautiful pendants yourself, and spread the word! Her jewellry is called 'Be' and can be found at: http://www.be-jewelryandcrafts.com/index.html. This link will also be added to the Resources page at eReadingPro!

New Look!

We are so excited about our new look!

Up until now, eReadingPro has been depleting the remaining stock of reading kits from the former Out of the Box Reading entity. However, with only a few of these remaining, we are about to launch our new look. The picture to the left is our new book cover! It is going to print this week, and should be available soon.

Keep in mind that the content is the same. All of the faithful users of the Out of the Box Reading kits are not missing out on a thing - it is still the same amazing reading program as before!

Downi Creations

My 12 year old daughter Melissa was reading my MacLean's magazine today - the one I just wasn't finding the time to finish. (I'm always bringing home t-shirts from various Down syndrome organizations that she wears everywhere with great pride. She loves to be an advocate for kids with different needs - just like her mom!) So when she came upon an article about Down syndrome, she marched into my office to show me and said "look Mom, they have dolls with Down syndrome!"

After reading the article (from the August 18th, 2008 Volume 121, Number 32 edition of MacLeans, Page 61), I had to sit back and realize what a difficult world it is that we live in. While the idea of creating a doll that has "the 13 distinct features" typically associated with individuals with Down syndrome was probably done with only the best of intent, there are actually people that are offended by this gesture! The article states that the dolls have "provoked a wide range of opinions" - some feel it is "patronizing and sick", while others (like me) feel it is "incredibly sweet". Personally, I recognize that someone has put a great deal of thought into something that was probably inspired by their own child, and intended to enhance their life. How can that possibly be a negative thing?

You can check the dolls out at Downi Creations and decide for yourself.

Mom Blogs & Reading

One of the things I've learned alot about in the past few months is blogs - and more specifically mom blogs. It just seems to be the thing to do now! There are blogs about just about everything!!!

My favourite blog, and the one I've found really fun to read is The Mom Crowd. It was created by four women who are moms and moms-to-be who value each other’s experiences and decided to share this with the world. What a great idea!

One of the women from The Mom Crowd, McKenna Powell, has a beautiful little girl with Down syndrome. She has started using eReadingPro and has written about it in her blog. She is so excited because her 3-year old is reading! McKenna said: "The best part of this program is it has improved her speech! When she sees the flashcard with the word on it, she is articulating so much better than she did before. Her little voice is just way too cute when she says “pancake.” I am seeing results MUCH FASTER than with the other program we were doing. It requires much less energy and time on my part as well, and Darah seems to engage very well to this program."

You know, people are so amazed when their children begin to read. It is such a magical time! A whole new world has opened up to them! Keep in mind that your child CAN read - it's just a matter of figuring out how to teach them in a way that works best for them. MOST children are visual learners and need to be taught in a visual manner - (reinforced by both auditory and tactile techniques). Check out Reading and the Visual Learner and 5 Reasons Why Your Child May Be Struggling with Reading for more clarification on this.

This is why I do what I do!

I received the following email and photo from a Mom who was so excited about her purchase of eBook1 and eReadingPro:

"I sped-read through each topic in the index (of the eBook) and wish I had known about this for Joey years ago. I found out about it when I went to a playdate with a child who has Down's Syndrome and will be in Joey's K class. Her mom has been using Out of the Box (eReadingPro) since she was 6 mos. old. Her typical 21mos. old son was reading when his big sis was playing the word game. I was floored!" ~Audrey, MA~

Receiving emails and photos like this, and knowing how much eReadingPro can help children like Joey is why I do what I do! If you and your child are using eReadingPro or Out of the Box Reading and wish to share your success, please feel free to send me comments and photos as I would love to share them with our readers!

New eRP Affiliates

eReadingPro already has new 'group' Affiliates!

The Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City (KCDSG) and Amy Allison are the first Down syndrome parent support group to sign up as eReadingPro Affiliates. As a group affiliate, they will raise funds each time someone purchases an eReadingPro product through the link on their website! They are really excited about this opportunity to raise extra funding for the parents in their group.

The Conway Civitan Club has also signed up as affiliates, and will be hosting the first Train the Trainer workshop for all those Civitan members who wish to learn not only how to get more children reading, but how to present and host their own eReadingPro workshop! The Train the Trainer workshop will be held at the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center on Saturday, September 13th from 1:00pm to 3:30pm. Many thanks to Rachel Rayl for all of her hard work and vision!

Florida Down Syndrome Conference 2008

Wow, another great conference! You know, as a Canadian, we always expect Florida to have such amazing weather. However it seems that I take my Canadian weather with me wherever I go, lol. It was raining and thunderstorming almost the entire time I was there! Nevertheless, I was happy to see friends that I had met at the NDSC Convention in Boston last month - Heather, Chad and Michele from Bradenton, FL, friends from prior workshops - Susan Corse Adams of Jacksonville, Sue Davis-Killan of Boca Raton and of course Amy Van Bergen of Orlando. Karen Feduccia and Kelly Brewer, also from Bradenton's Manasota BUDS parent support group, shared fun stories with me as we chatted for hours. Thank you girls!

I presented three separate workshops at the conference, and each were well-attended by both parents and educators.

Amy Van Bergen, Executive Director of the Down Syndrome Association of Central Florida, truly did an amazing job organizing this conference and everyone I talked to said they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

eReadingPro Affiliate Program NOW Launched!

I am so excited about our new eRPAffiliate Program! Kirk (my other half) has done such an amazing job at getting this up and running quickly while I've been preparing for the Florida Down Syndrome Conference in Orlando this weekend. So, all you believers in eReadingPro and Out of the Box Reading can now earn money for yourself, your club or association by telling others about our amazing reading program! You can join us here. Come aboard and help get those struggling readers to read with ease!!

Printing

Hey everyone! I just thought I'd put this out to the Universe to see what happens...
We are trying very hard to bring the cost of our reading kits at eReadingPro down by lowering our printing costs. If anyone knows of a great printer, and you can show them our kit, please let us know! Afterall, it is by networking, and helping each other that helps to make great things happen :-).

Thank you!
Denise

NDSC 2008 Convention in Boston

Wow, what an experience that was! Imagine the people you meet when you travel to over 75 cities in three years and present workshops to groups of 40 people or more. Going to the NDSC Convention was like old home week! I received hugs from so many wonderful people that I've met over the years, from various corners of the United States. Many brought their children and made a holiday around this event, just so they could learn as many new ways to make the lives of their children more enhanced. This was truly a magical experience and I thank the NDSC and especially Coleen Popp for all of their hard work in putting such an enormous event together. Kudos to y'all!

Welcome!

My goal is to have a whole lot of fun with this blog! Over the last three years I have met some amazing people, seen amazing places and done really great things and rarely got the opportunity to share these events with people other than my family. I hope you grow to enjoy my ramblings and feel free to offer your two cents where you can. Enjoy!