Smart Kids With LD

We’re calling all kids to get off the computer, turn off the TV and sign up to read every day during the month of October. The first annual Smart Kids Read-A-Thon challenges kids to set aside time each day for reading beyond schoolwork, while supporting Smart Kids with LD’s work empowering parents of the estimated one in seven children with learning disabilities.

As Henry Winkler, the much-loved actor, director, and author of the Hank Zipzer children’s book series puts it, “Reading is like brain food—it makes you smarter!” Check out his invitation to join the Read-A-Thon on the website’s home page.

Each child’s reading goals are set individually with parents’ input, to ensure that the 50% of kids that have difficulty learning to read can get involved, whether they read alone, with a parent or use audio books. We want to be sure every child can get beyond the difficulties of reading for school and discover the joy to be found in books, while also helping other children by signing up friends and family as sponsors.

Everyone will have access to lists of books recommended by experts that are guaranteed to engage kids’ interest from elementary through high school—from Jeff Kinney’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” to the final volume in Suzanne Collins’s “Hunger Games” series.

The money raised through the Read-A-Thon will support Smart Kids’ work promoting research-based reading instruction, that makes it possible for almost all children to learn to read. As Dr. Margie Gillis, the prominent reading expert and President of Literacy How notes, “Research has demonstrated that the more your child reads, the greater the effect not only on his vocabulary development and the store of information he can access, but also on the cognitive processes that promote academic success.”

Each child who participates in the Read-A-Thon will receive a Smart Kids with LD bookmark listing famous people with learning disabilities, and will also have the chance to win one of five autographed books from Henry Winkler’s Hank Zipzer series.

So join the Reading Revolution and register for the Read-A-Thon today—we start cracking the books on October 1^st!

When we hear the term Assistive Technology (AT), we likely imagine kids with LD (and other disabilities) mastering previously challenging assignments with the help of the latest and greatest in high-tech gadgetry.

In fact, we may be doing our children a disservice by thinking of AT in such narrow terms. As defined by the Assistive Technology Act of 1998, AT is “any item, piece of equipment, or product that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.”

Yes, that means a yellow highlighter is AT—and it may be just the item your child needs to help her organize the information that will be on her history test next week.

Choosing appropriate AT solutions—whether high tech or low tech—depends on a number of factors: What is impeding success? How is it getting in the way? And how can a student best compensate are the first questions to consider. Other factors might include level of fatigue, strain, physical limitations, and how long it would take to complete work (e.g., to write a paper) without the use of technology.

If your child has language learning disabilities, read High Tech Help for Reading and Writing, but don’t dismiss these low-tech suggestions entirely. Alone or combined with high-tech solutions, these may help your child gain access to appropriate grade-level curriculum. Whether low-tech or high-tech, AT enables students to perform at a higher level than would be possible without the technology.

Low-Tech Help for Reading

• Tachistoscopes (e.g., an index card with a cut-out showing a few words)
• Highlighters
• Colored overlays
• Changes in lighting
• Highlighting tapes
• Dictionary pens
• Audio tapes and CDs.

Low-Tech Help for Writing

• Slant boards
• Pencil grips
• Adapted paper (e.g., colored, raised line, and with portions highlighted)
• Word banks
• Dictionaries/thesauruses,
• Alternative keyboards,
• Tape/digital recorders,
• Spelling devices, and even computers with word processing software.