Friends at the NDSC Convention

Well, we are now home from Florida, where I spoke and exhibited at the 2010 NDSC convention. What an amazing time! We were reacquainted with friends, made many new friends, and had a really wonderful time.

In my last posting, I mentioned Specs4Us and my friend Maria Dellapina. I am happy to announce that Maria received a President's Award for her contribution and commitment to the Down syndrome community. We attended the awards banquet with her, and are so proud of her! Maria and I will be heading to New Zealand together in September to present and exhibit at the National Forum for Down Syndrome. Can't wait!!!

Specs4Us and eReadingPro had some really great t-shirts created (that included both of our logos) especially for this conference, and had the pleasure of supporting a new company called Down Syndrome Footprint, who employs only individuals with Down syndrome to create their awareness products. Katia Hauser is the brainchild behind this company, and we met in March at the AIA Conference in Kansas. Katia and our t-shirts can be seen in the photo below.

I really love attending the NDSC Convention, being reunited with people that I've met along the way, and meeting new people who are connected to this group in some way. Parents are so grateful for the assistance I can offer in the area of reading, and it warms my heart when they return the next year to tell me their child is now reading!

eReadingPro is continuing to work hard at bringing new products to parents and educators. In June we presented an in-service to a school district in Arkansas. More and more schools are jumping on board with our program after seeing great success by parents using the program with their children at home. Our goal is for it to be used in ALL school districts across the US! We are currently working on the next level and hope to have it in parents' hands soon!

For more information on our products, visit our site at: http://www.ereadingpro.com. View videos of children with Down syndrome using eReadingPro as young as 3 years old!

eReadingPro and Specs4US

Last year while I was at the NDSC convention with eReadingPro in Sacramento, my husband and I met an amazing woman named Maria Dellapina. Maria, her partner John, and her son Anthony were in the booth next to ours in the exhibit hall. Their booth was called Specs4Us.

Over the three day duration of the conference we spent a great deal of time getting to know them, and we have become great friends. In fact, she opened her home to me when I was touring Ohio last week, and spoiled me rotten for four whole days - it was amazing!

Specs4Us is Maria's company. Her daughter Erin was born with Down syndrome, and is now 10 years old. After spending over 25 years in the optical industry as an optician, and her daughter Erin having no success with glasses being comfortable or staying up, Maria decided to take it upon herself to create a frame that would fit her daughter - and all the other individuals of the world with Down syndrome!

Unlike other frames, the bridge of these eye glasses is adjusted to fit on their smaller noses and the temples (some people call them arms) are designed to help keep the glasses from constantly slipping. 'Erin's World' frames are available in a variety of sizes and styles to fit toddlers to adults. The BEST part is that all her frames are very affordable! Parent's report that their children are now actually leaving their glasses on, and happy to wear their new glasses, and they no longer slide down their noses.

It is Maria's mission to improve the sight and quality of life for children with Down syndrome by providing these custom frames. I think what Maria has done, and continues to do is amazing work! I'm so lucky that through our work we will be crossing paths in live over and over again, and look forward to seeing her at the 2010 NDSC Convention in Orlando this July!

If you haven't checked out her products yet, you should go to www.specs4us.com.

P.S. Maria's daughter Erin is now using eReadingPro and is doing amazing! I will be posting a video of her soon....stay tuned!

NDSC 2010 Conference in Orlando...Here We Come!

Our line-up of eReadingPro workshops this year is amazing - you should check it out! I'm so excited for many reasons - but especially because so many people will learn about a method for teaching their children to read that really works!

Today we found out that I will be speaking (and exhibiting) at the NDSC 2010 Conference in Orlando, which is being held from July 16th - 18th.

There is so much for us, as speakers and exhibitors, to learn at conferences, such as what parents are looking for in a product. I like meeting other speakers and learning about what they are doing within the Down syndrome community. I also like meeting other exhibitors and learning about their products. Last year at the NDSC conference in Sacramento we met Maria Dellapina of Specs4Us. Since then I haven't stopped telling people about the amazing eyeglass frames she has created - just for individuals with DS!

I have to say that one of my favorite parts about going to the NDSC conference is when parents come up to me, hug me, and thank me for creating a program that helped to teach their child to read. THAT is what makes my job incredibly easy! It's the joy that comes from their hearts, and that of their family when their child reads the words they see on a page with confidence.

The fact that the conference is in Orlando this year will make it fun too - as I'm just a big kid at heart, and have never been to Disney World. I will drag my husband around, and force him on a few rides while we're there I'm sure. I can't wait to see the ear to ear grins on the faces of the children as they encounter Mickey and Minnie and all the other characters that Disney has to offer!