eReadingPro, Reading and Teens

Many times parents email me asking what reading programs eReading has for teenagers.


While we are currently working on a program specific to teenagers and their interests, I firmly believe that our existing program is perfectly appropriate for individuals of all ages who are not currently reading. My reasoning is that our main program consists of 128 words that all teens would be very familiar with. The way our program takes the individual through each word as a single word, then couplet, then phrase and finally sentences will help any teen in more areas than just reading. It will help with verbal articulation, reading fluency, reading comprehension, as well as assist with creating longer phrases and/or sentences when they speak. It truly is a building block process.

That being said, I am going to share a little story with you! A really great thing happened recently at an eReadingPro workshop in Rapid City, South Dakota. Rachel (the 15-year old girl in the above photo) and her mom were present during the workshop and Rachel was eager to participate. Rachel has always wanted to read but has never been able to. Her mom Rhonda was hopeful that the workshop would be of benefit to them, as she was told by someone that our program was only for young children. (She came to the worskhop hopeful, despite this untrue comment.)

Rachel joined in and wrote her own flashcard out along with the other participants. Then it came time in the workshop where the participants practice flashing the cards they've written within small groups of five people. After seeing the cards in her group shown only twice, Rachel wanted to have a turn at reading the cards by herself. Rachel proceded to read all five cards - without error! Her name was the only name that she would have ever seen written down before, and some of the people in her group were individuals she had just met. It was truly wonderful for the other workshop participants to see this, and it brought tears to her mother's eyes.

We will be following Rachel's progress as she uses eReadingPro, since her mother has agreed to document her progress along the way. Thank you Rhonda!

Amazing Individuals with Down Syndrome

As I mentioned in my last post, I was very fortunate at the 10th World Down Syndrome Congress to have met many amazing individuals, with and without Down syndrome!

One young woman who really impressed me was Karen Gaffney. Karen is a '30-something' year old self-advocate from Portland, Oregon. Karen has earned a regular high school diploma, and graduated from Portland Community College after completing the requirements for an Associates of Science degree and a certificate to be a teacher's aide. An accomplished public speaker, Karen is also the President of The Karen Gaffney Foundation, which is devoted solely to helping other individuals with Down syndrome. In addition to all of the above, Karen is also an incredible athlete and has even swam the English Channel in a relay swim during the Summer 2001!

Karen's mom, Barbara, said that Karen learned to read at an early age using the whole-word approach and flashcards. She said they are strong advocates of teaching reading this way! They were both very happy to see that eReadingPro had put a reading program together using all of the research that is available on how children with Down syndrome learn to read, making it easy for parents (and educators) to teach their children to read early. She even purchased a program to give to Karen's previous Grade 5 teacher, who had a huge impact on Karen's academic success!

Karen, her family, and The Karen Gaffney Foundation are "dedicated to championing the journey to full inclusion for people with disabilities. Many young families around the country have become dependent on Karen, her messages to help them on the journey to full inclusion for their child." (Quoted from the Foundations's website). I urge you to visit their website for more information on The Karen Gaffney Foundation.

I sincerely hope many of you have the opportunity to meet Karen Gaffney at some point, (if you have not already). She is stunningly beautiful, has an amazing presence, and will inspire you beyond your wildest imagination!

Dylan Kuehl

While I attended the 10th World Down Syndrome Congress in Dublin, Ireland, I was fortunate to meet some really amazing people with Down syndrome.

One young man really stood out for me - perhaps because he was exhibiting at the booth directly across from us (eReadingPro), and that gave me a chance to watch, listen and understand him more than others indivuduals I only met briefly.

Dylan Kuehl is an extremely talented human being. He is an artist who like others, uses his art to express himself. It allows him to be focused and detailed, while enabling him to build confidence and character. Dylan is a visual and performing artist, a writer, and a speaker. His art is simply beautiful.

When I fell in love with one of Dylan's paintings I pointed out how I loved the way the clouds in the picture parted to form a heart shape. His Mom said that they never even saw that until quite some time after he had created the picture. I realized today when I was staring at the beautiful card that he gave me as a token of our friendship, that the existence of this unintentional heart was like a profound reflection of what I see when I look at an individual with Down syndrome. The heart within is so pure and open, and many individuals overlook the joy that can be found from someone with Down syndrome, simply because they have not taken the time to look within. I am eternally grateful that I have 'tripped' into the world of Down syndrome, and devote every day to helping individuals like Dylan learn to read so they can lead rich and fulfilling lives like him.

If you would like to learn more about Dylan and his art, you can find him at: http://www.dylankarts.com/.

10th World Down Syndrome Congress huge success!

Just got back from Ireland, and from speaking & exhibiting at the 10th World Down Syndrome Congress. Wow - what a great success in many, many ways! As a result, I will write a few blog entries about this conference, as there is so much to say!

I was very excited about officially launching our new CD/DVD combination at this conference, as what a better way for individuals to take eReadingPro back to their countries than in a compact pack such as this. It was a big success! So much so, that a number of people are taking the initiative to work with us to translate our reading program into the language of their country so that many, many more children can also gain from using it to learn to read!

Pictured with me here is Mr. Stanley Reddy from Down Syndrome South Africa - Durban group. His son Max is an amazing self-advocate who works full time and drives himself to and from work in his own car! The next World Down Syndrome Congress will be held in 3 years in Cape Town and eReadingPro plans to be there!

NEW Products and NEW Lower Prices!

eReadingPro has a lot of great news to share!

At the 10th World Down Syndrome Congress in Dublin, Ireland we will be officially launching the release of our program on CD, while at the same time introducing a new name for our 14-month reading program. The new '10-Minute Reading Program CD' will be packaged along with our free bonus DVD 'Step by Step with eReadingPro'. (Note: the new name, '10-Minute Reading Program by eReadingPro' simply clarifies what our program is!) This combination package allows our entire program to be in the hands of parents and teachers at a much lower price than ever before!

The new CD-ROM contains our full 14-month reading program and includes:

• Instructional Guide
• 14-month Presentation Schedules (what to show and when to show it!)
• Printable label sets for all word cards
• Printable full-color images for all abstract concepts!
• 36 Full-size downloadable color images to complete 9 books (8.5" x 11")

The NEW Bonus DVD is our all NEW Step-By-Step video featuring 'yours truly' (Denise MacDonald, Founder of eReadingPro) taking you through the set-up and execution of the program making it easier than ever to use eReadingPro! Learn how to create flashcards and flash them effectively, how to create your child's own booklets, and how to follow our full 14-month presentation schedule.

In addition to all of this excitement, we have finally succeeded in finding a new, lower-priced supplier for all of our materials. As a result, all of our prices have been been cut - in some cases up to 45%!

Check out our new product page at: eReadingPro NOW! You will be amazed!

National Down Syndrome Congress 2009 Conference

Well we have just returned from California (2 days ago) and the National Down Syndrome Congress' 2009 Conference in Sacramento. It was truly wonderful being reacquainted with friends that I've made along my way. My husband came with me, and was a wonderful help at our exhibit during the three days of the conference. We made some really great new friends that we have already arranged to be visiting in Ohio in September! The exhibitors around us were wonderful people, and we are very grateful for having the opportunity to meet them. It was such a reminder that we all have things happen in our lives for a master reason - one that we are not always aware of at the time. We each had different reasons for creating 'things' for children with Down syndrome, and it was a beautiful thing.

I have to say, the most rewarding aspect about this conference was having a number of individuals come up and hug me, thanking me profoundly because their children were now reading as a result of my reading program. One wonderful lady had her 15 year old grandson with her. She said that she bought our program when we were in Stockton about 2 years ago (I remember her very clearly), and within three short weeks her grandson began reading - and now he LOVES to read! She was so grateful!

The next hug was from Dr. Rosanne Oggoian-Donnellan. She was just bubbling over telling me her story. Her daughter is 34-months old (with Down syndrome). She had been showing her the flashcards (from eReadingPro), and thought she wasn't really comprehending. So she set the cards down in a corner and had almost forgotten they were there when one day her daughter went over and picked them up. Then she began signing the words on the cards! Rosanne said she just about fell over! She said that she felt the size and color of those cards was extremely important, as she knows that one of her daughter's favourite colors is red. She said that even though she hasn't been as consistent as she had hoped, she has re-started the program with her daughter, as she now knows that she IS processing the information and IS learning to read. Rosanne was very, very happy to share her story with me and said that she is telling everyone she knows about how amazing our program is!

California here we come!

As many of you may know, the 2009 NDSC Convention is being held in Sacramento, CA this year. As I am preparing to attend and exhibit for eReadingPro, I am thinking about the many friends and acquaintances that I've met along my journey and am looking forward to seeing many of you in Sacramento. I'm also looking forward to taking my husband along with me and carousing through Napa and Sonoma areas exploring various vineyards after the conference!

Calls and emails are beginning to take over my office once again as parents and educators begin to also get ready for their children returning to school in many states. eReadingPro workshops are being scheduled, and the excitement begins once again about the prospect of enabling more and more children in the quest for learning to read! If you're planning to host a workshop, be sure to book early - spaces are filling up!