Word Rings

I just had a question from a parent about how to help their typical child with reading, in a way that will help build his vocabulary AND help with spelling.

A method I used with my own daughter when she was in Grade 1, was to create a word ring. Using poster board, cut cards approximately 2" x 6". Then punch a hole at one end of each, write a word on each card using a chisel-tip marker and ring them together with a metal ring.

Start with about 10 words that they are struggling with, or simply words that represent things they are familiar with. This could be things around the house, school things - anything really. Go through the group of words EVERY evening before bed. Once they have clearly mastered a word (say it aloud with no hesitation), remove it from the ring and replace it with a new word. You can have up to 15 words if you like - just don't have so many that it overwhelms them each time.

This simple idea will help to increase your child's vocabulary, and they will learn the spelling of the word as they learn the word.

Technology To Go

More and more frequently, I have been receiving calls, emails and requests at workshops as to whether we have thought about creating an iPad/iPhone/iPod app.

It is something I have pondered over the past year, as technology persists in being an important part of our lives. One parent in particular pointed out that their young son with Down syndrome, who is 4 years old, picked up a family member's iPad and was extremely intuitive with learning how to use it. One woman, who has a 9-year old son with Autism said he began spending about thirty minutes at a time using the iPad to learn spelling, math, puzzles, etc. - voluntarily! Studies have already begun to examine the effectiveness of the iPad/iPod as learning tools for children with autism and other special needs.

Using an iPad (or something similar) is a stress-free, fun way for a child to learn. They are cheaper than a computer, portable, If you're interested, this is a great article on the benefits of the iPad for children with Autism, as well as some app recommendations. These amazing gadgets are less expensive than a full-blown computer, very portable, most applications are under $10 - and many are even FREE to try. The positive stories of how effective they are seem to be abundant.

So... after spending the time to understand the benefits of using an iPad for educational purposes, it became clearer and clearer that it is time to step up and create a version of our eReadingPro system for the iPad/iPhone/iPod. An iPad is now on my Christmas list, and eReading To Go is on it's way! Our hope is to have it on the market early 2011!

Merry Christmas everyone!

eReadingPro and Specs4Us in New Zealand

eReadingPro toured New Zealand in September (2010), and introduced our amazing reading program to parents and educators throughout the country. Wow! What a great trip it was! Maria Dellapina from Specs4Us came with me, and together we shared our special products for individuals of all ages with Down syndrome and other special needs.

The tour was planned and organized by the President of the New Zealand Down Syndrome Association, Neville Strong, as well as the National Coordinator, Zandra Vaccarino, and began with presentations at their National Forum in Auckland. Leaders from parent groups across the country were brought to Auckland to learn about various ideas and tools they could take back to their groups. The forum was extremely well-organized, and we met some wonderful people! Neville was a gracious host who was helpful beyond words!

After the National Forum, full workshops were presented in Auckland, Tauranga, Paikakariki and Christchurch. Great attendance at each workshops brought parents, educators and professionals to see just how eReadingPro works, and how easy to use it really is. We were welcomed with open arms by everyone we met. New Zealand and its people are beautiful and amazing, and if you haven't been there yet, you really should visit!

As a result of the amazing response we are having with our program internationally, we have now added an instant 'Downloadable' version to our range of formats available. This will allow individuals all around the world to have eReadingPro at their fingertips in only moments after visiting our website! Technology truly is amazing! This new downloadable version not only provides you with the complete Instructional Guide, all the vocabulary to present to your child, 14-month Presentation Schedules, AND over 600 printable flashcards that you can either print, or show your child right from the computer. The download also provides you with our 'Step-By-Step' video of how to set up and use the program.

We are always interested in hearing feedback and comments about how we can get more and more children reading - after all, it's just a matter of teaching them in a way that works best for them! Keep spreading the word about how well eReadingPro works! Invite us to come and speak to your parent group, school, or at your conference - you will be amazed!

Expect. Don't Accept

I awoke on Thursday morning to an email in my Inbox that contained a link to a keynote speech delivered by Paul Daugherty in 2009 at the Remarkable Families Symposium. You can take a few moments to read it here - it is truly inspiring!

In the speech, Paul spoke of his daughter Jillian, who was born with Down syndrome and was 19 at the time of his speech. He spoke of her impressive accomplishments such as performing in the school play, managing the school volleyball team, participating on the junior varsity dance team that entertains at halftimes of basketball games and holding the school record in her weight class for the bench press, the dead lift and the squat.

He went on to state that Jillian once had a special ed teacher who sat in an IEP meeting with him and his wife, stating that Jillian was incapable of learning. Other teachers didn't now how to teach her so they just didn't. Throughout their journey however, they have been guided by one thought: Expect. Don't accept.

Ironically, on Thursday afternoon I received a telephone call from a teacher who said she works with children who are mostly non-verbal, many of whom have Down syndrome. She questioned me about skipping the part in eReadingPro where you introduce 12 names. Her logic for skipping the teaching of names was that "names mean nothing to these children". My response, after I picked my chin up off the floor, was "why not try?" She then replied with "trust me, I've worked with these children for some time now, and I know the names will not mean a thing to them". I was appalled , and persisted in trying to convince this woman that learning what their friends' names looked like would mean a great deal to the children she was working with. The heart-wrenching part was that she truly believed what she was saying! I should have asked this woman for her email address so that I could forward the link that I had received just that morning.

I will be sharing the message of 'Expect. Don't Accept' in my eReadingPro workshops. It is a powerful message that needs to be shared, over and over again!

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!

University of Pittsburgh and eReadingPro

I just returned from a driving tour presenting workshops in Pennsylvania and Ohio - 5 workshops in total. During my trip I met with Dr. Chris Lemmons of the University of Pittsburgh. I had met Chris in the lunch line at the World Down Syndrome Congress in Dublin in August, 2009, and was anxious to meet with him regarding his current studies involving children with Down syndrome and reading.

Dr. Lemmons has been studying the use of phonetics with children with Down syndrome, and his general outcome on all studies confirms previous studies that children with Down syndrome are better able to understand how to decode text after they have learned how to read a bank of words by sight (Stanovich, 1986; Lemmons & Fuch, 2010).

During our meeting, we discussed the possibility of him conducting a study using eReadingPro's system for teaching reading using the whole word approach, which takes the learner from reading single (whole) words to couplets, phrases and sentences in a progressive and systematic manner. He is very excited about setting such a study up and we will be working towards this in the very near future!

I look forward to working with Dr. Lemmons on this endeavor!