| July 2006 |
| Turning the page |
| One mother’s success story |
For the first time, a unique interactive reading scheme for children with special needs will provide teachers and parents with engaging resources for use from early years right through to teenage years.
Marie Dunleavy set out to teach her son Daniel the first 200 words when he was in primary one at South Morningside Primary. Now, Daniel is reading novels at age 10 and the books are being used with a range of children in over 100 schools in Edinburgh and across Scotland and Ireland. Daniel had managed well with the prescribed class reading scheme. But soon, the leaps in vocabulary became too great for him. Other schemes similarly failed and Daniel became frustrated as he moved from one scheme to another, making little progress. Marie knew Daniel had a unique potential. Her experience reflects that of other parents she came into contact with who were frustrated by the lack of suitable resources.
Marie now has an integrated reading scheme that promises parents an opportunity for continuous development of their child’s potential, and raised expectations for her own son's future as a result of her work. After finding no suitable resources for Daniel as he began to struggle at school, Marie decided to scrap the cut and paste approach and set about making professionally designed resources that could engage Daniel and that were presented in the quality way she felt he deserved. Together with consultations from Professor Sue Buckley, Professor of Development Disability at the Down Syndrome Educational Trust and Gillian Bird, an educational psychologist, also at the Trust, Marie has produced resources which a growing number of teachers in Scotland are using. The books will be launched in Ireland and England this year.
The colourful books range is called Pops, which stands for Plenty of Potential. They are uniquely based on the family adventures of Kal, a little boy with Downs Syndrome. Marie started to make books and games for Daniel her to teach him the first 200 common words. Daniel has become the star of his own world. Marie says the success of the books comes from their fun subjects, the grouping of words into functional topics and the opportunities for praise. A little red elephant hiding on each page provides an added opportunity for praise to build Daniel’s confidence. Marie says, “It is so encouraging that these books and games have given Daniel the opportunity to develop a real love for reading. I will keep developing the series.”
Marie produced the books, wordcards, games and phonic sets all featuring the fictional Pops family with the help of Daniel’s teacher Alexa Pope and speech therapist Janice Kelly. These have tapped into Daniel’s everyday world to create a fictional world that has helped turn his reading progress into a success story.
For information on Marie’s books and games visit her website
http://www.pops-resources.com/index.php
Contact Marie by email: marie.dunleavy@daneth.com