Bulldog Letter Reversals game goes global!

Bulldog b/d Reversals KS1 DOWNLOADSue Kerrigan ( yes, our very own entrepreneur committee member!) has had her Bulldog game accepted for marketing by Crossbow Education. You can find it at http://www.crossboweducation.com/b%20d%20confusion.htm#Bulldog_Letter_Reversal. Alternatively, you can go to Sue’s own site – and see what else she has to offer at http://www.letmelearn.co.uk/bulldog-reversals-ks1-download-p-729.html?zenid=b8ifp8u2qh8gt62mb68dg9t5

Bulldog Letter Reversals is the games, worksheets and kinaesthetic activities pack for children aged 5-12 years. Bulldog, the adorable dog that features throughout this multi-sensory learning pack, helps children to learn and remember the difference between ‘b’ and ‘d’. Introducing your child to Bulldog, will give him / her a strategy to remember the difference between ‘b’ and ‘d’ and in most cases it will resolve the problem entirely and you will have a happy smiling child again. The Bulldog theme keeps children engaged and motivated helping them have lots of fun whilst they learn.

Bulldog Letter Reversal has been designed by a dyslexic teacher and tutor for all teachers, teaching assistants, home educators and parents. 10 years of teaching experience and a lifetime of first hand personal experience has gone into making this resource along with 1 year of testing and refining the activities for maximum motivation, fun and engagement for children.

Why does Bulldog work?

The unique Bulldog theme is linked throughout the entire pack which builds essential memory hooks every single time any resource is used.  This is combined with proven multi-sensory activities to create an engaging, fun and motivating learning environment.”

 

If you buy from Crossbow Education the ‘ready to go’ kit will cost you £23.99 + VAT.

Sue provides a do-it-yourself downloadable version for £7.35 (KS1 only) or £9.55 for KS1 and 2.

Government consultation on Fulfilling Potential

Jean Hutchins has drawn our attention to this latest initiative.

Individuals can respond.
The announcement is at:
http://odi.dwp.gov.uk/odi-projects/fulfilling-potential.php

All credit to the Office for Disability Issues for making available a
range of formats:
a summary on YouTube, a pdf (with good bookmarks), an easy read pdf,
sign language, the document split into 11 audio files and a facilitation
guide (and there was some funding available for meetings and
communication up to 20 January).

There is an on-line response form.
https://secureonline.dwp.gov.uk/odi/disability/disability-strategy-discussion.asp

BDA Newsletter

BDA Newsletter 2012, Issue 1
is available on BDA web at:
http://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/news/e-newsletter.html

BDA office send will send this out to you personally, as a pdf document , if you sign up for it.

The Dyslexic Hero’s Journey by Kenneth J. Gordon

We have heard about this book on our Helpline. Has anyone read it yet?

The publishers say:

The main emphasis of this book is on counteracting the lack of  confidence and feelings of low self-esteem encountered by many dyslexics and others with learning difficulties. The book brings a vision of hope to all of those who care for young people with dyslexia or other learning difficulties as well as to adults who have not fared well in the educational system and may wish to return to it. It is a very empowering and liberating book. The author, who was dyslexic, left school at the age of 15 unable to spell or to write. He did however go on to educate himself up to the level of being a well-qualified professional accountant. This man has truly walked the walk, every single step of the way and now lays that journey out before you. His message is simple – if I could do it then you or your child can do it too. If you have any interest in the overcoming of learning difficulties then you simply cannot leave this book unread.

This URL should take you to the Amazon page for this book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=9780957052109&x=17&y=24
If the link does not work a search for The Dyslexic Hero’s Journey on Amazon should do the trick.

We all know that there are no silver bullets when it comes to overcoming  learning difficulties. It is a journey and often a very difficult one. This book is therefore one approach to making that journey,which perhaps only someone who has made that journey can truly understand. I hope you will find it, at least in part, enlightening.

Quick Reads have new titles

To celebrate the publication of eight brand-new Quick Reads titles in February 2012, we’re encouraging adults across the country to fall in love with reading.

Quick Reads are brilliant, bite-sized books specially written by bestselling authors and celebrities. With a great range of titles on offer, they are the perfect tool for inspiring adults to pick up a good book. People who have stopped reading or find reading tough often experience the enjoyment and benefits of reading for the first time with Quick Reads, giving them the confidence and encouragement to go on to read more.

This year’s authors include Maeve Binchy, Alexander McCall Smith, James Caan and Tony Parsons to name but a few. Find out more about the brand new titles.

A great resource for use in any setting

With their short, accessible format, Quick Reads are widely used in Skills for Life and ESOL classes in colleges, community centres, libraries, prisons and workplaces across the country. They are also popular in hospitals, stroke recovery units, dyslexia centres, care homes, family learning groups, pre-schools, organisations working with homeless people and Traveller communities, and Army and RAF bases.

 

Register to receive the latest Quick Reads information and resources so that we can help you make the most of these books. We’re also offering you the opportunity to tell us how we can make Quick Reads work better for you. Tell us!
Quick Reads Reading Breaks

This year, to provide a hook to engage as many adults as possible in reading, we’re encouraging organisations across the country to hold a Quick Reads Reading Break. Free downloadable toolkits to support Reading Break organisers can be downloaded from the Quick Reads website.Workplace packs and Family Reading Break packs, which include discounted copies of the brand-new titles, are also available to purchase to support your activities.

Reading Break activity will kick-start on Tuesday 7 February 2012 to coincide with the launch of the new titles, and activities will run through to World Book Day on Thursday 1 March 2012 and beyond. Find out more.

New resources available soon

Look out for a range of other downloadable resources that will be available from February 2012, including chapter samplers, author interviews, learning resources and a toolkit for reading groups. Register now to find out more.

Look out for a range of other downloadable resources that will be available from February 2012, including chapter samplers, author interviews, learning resources and a toolkit for reading groups. Register now to find out more.

Provided at cost by authors and publishers to support the Quick Reads charity, Quick Reads are only £1.99 each. 

 

Introducing ClaroRead for Mac V5 and news for Assessors!

ClaroRead for Mac V5 is the latest version of the  reading and writing
support tool for Mac. ClaroRead for Mac is designed to support individuals
who struggle with reading and writing. Users of any age and level of
ability will have a world of information unlocked through ClaroRead.

New In ClaroRead For Mac

Nuance Vocalizer Voices
ClaroRead for Mac now includes 8 high quality Nuance Vocalizer Voices. To
hear examples of the voices go to
http://www.clarosoftware.com/faq_info.php?cPath=333&tab=x#3

“The rise and fall of the voices, as well as the tone, is better and
sounds even more natural.” Alasdair King MD Claro Software LTD

Support for Apple Pages ’09
ClaroRead for Mac now supports Apple’s Pages word processor just like
Microsoft Word. Key features supported include Homophone support, visual
highlighting tools and font features.

Check Anywhere Feature
The Check Anywhere feature allows users to spell check any text in any
application, whether it is a web page, document or PDF.

Improved In ClaroRead For Mac

Check Window Feature
The Check Window feature now includes extras such as a dictionary
definition of the chosen word and context box. The Check Window also
displays the meaning and synonyms of a chosen word.

The Dock Icon Feature
Control the functions of ClaroRead including Play, Stop and Save to Audio
through the dock icon. Access the main features of ClaroRead even when the
application is minimised.

Prediction Feature
The Prediction feature has been enhanced and can now be used when typing in
any application, such as Safari, Pages or TextEdit.

To find out more about ClaroRead for Mac V5 go to
http://www.clarosoftware.com/index.php?cPath=333

Assessors
If you are an assessor and would like a free evaluation copy of ClaroRead
for Mac V5 please contact  sales@clarosoftware.com

Claro Training Zone
The Claro Training Zone is a free online training resource to assist
assessors. Each course has been broken down into easy to follow sections,
so that users can quickly find the information that they are looking for.

Currently available on the site are the ClaroRead for PC and Mac courses.
Each course includes a thorough user guide covering each feature in detail,
help videos and interactive tutorials.

Once the course has been complete users can take part in a ClaroRead quiz.
Completing the quiz successfully will reward users with the Claro Training
Zone Certificate.

If you are an assessor and would like to register for a free Claro Training
Zone account go to http://clarosoftware.concept-live.co.uk/

Claro Links:

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/clarosoftware
Twitter - http://www.clarosoftware.com/twitter
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/clarosoftware
RSS Feed - http://www.clarosoftware.com/blog/?feed=rss2

New BDA courses for 2011

The British Dyslexia Association has announced a list of new courses around the country. They are for:

Parents – Practical Solutions for Dyslexia: Dyslexia at hone and school- cost £35 or free if accompanying a teacher who is also on the Teachers’ course.

Teachers or Teaching Assistants – Practical Solutions for Dyslexia: supporting dyslexia inclusively - a 3 hour morning or afternoon session for £69. Teachers and Teaching Assistants- Dealing with Dyscalculia – also a 3 hour session which can sometimes be taken alongside the Practical Solutions for Dyslexia course. £69

Teachers and Teaching Assistants – Screening for Dyslexia – a whole day course for £125.

None of the venues is particularly local, but there are courses in Reading, Oxford, Bristol and London. Details of times and venues as well as application forms can be found on the BDA site http://www.bdadyslexia.org/.

Librivox – free audio books

On the BDA forum recently, Jamie Munro drew attention to the American site Librivox -  http://librivox.org . Their objective is to make all books in the ‘public domain’ available – for free - in audio format on the internet.
‘Public domain’ means that the books are no longer subject to coyright legislation. In the USA this generally means texts that have been published before 1923.
The books are read by volunteers so the quality is variable. However, Jamie drew attention to the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes which you could try before downloading http://www.archive.org/details/adventures_sherlock_holmes_rg_librivox
 The Internet Archive http://www.archive.org  also has loads of old radio versions of the Sherlock Holmes stories you can download to you MP3 player or listen to online. Although these are not all written by Conan Doyle, here are more than 125 featuring among others Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce and Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson.http://www.archive.org/details/OTR_Sherlock_Holmes_smurfmeat .
Happy listening!

Initial Teacher Training Campaign

The BDA has launched a campaign and would like your help. Please read the following information which can also be found on their website www.bdadyslexia.org.uk

‘One in ten people have dyslexia and many of these go undiagnosed and unrecognised. Often this is because teachers lack the skills to identify and support children who are dyslexic and need to be diagnosed or given extra support. To help this a government report (The Rose Review (2009)) recommended that Initial Teacher Training (ITT) should include Dyslexia/SpLD. However, there is currently no mandatory minimum level of Dyslexia/SpLD training that the Initial Teacher Training course providers must deliver.

The BDA is campaigning to remedy this. In order to do this we have set up a petition on the government petition website stating that there should be a compulsory module on Dyslexia. If this petition reaches 100,000 signatures then this issue will be debated in the House of Commons.

The petition only runs for a year so every signature counts, your signature could make a difference enabling teacher to help hundreds of thousands of dyslexic pupils. We believe that dyslexic children have just as much of a right to education by teachers that understand them and their condition as any other child.

We hope that you feel the same, if you do then please take a moment to sign our petition athttp://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20674

Many thanks for your help in supporting our cause’.

 


 

How do I sign the petition?

We understand that sometimes these petitions can be confusing so we’ve designed a handy step-by-step guide to help you.

1) Enter the following address into the address bar http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20674 at the top of your web browser.
2) Click the purple “sign this petition” button.
3) Fill in your details; name, address, email address etc. The purpose of this information is to verify that you’re a real person and only signing the petition once.
4) Fill in the reCapticha box with whatever words you see displayed in the box. Again, this is to prove that you’re a human being and not a computer program generating false signatures.
5) Check the “agree to terms and conditions” box.
6) Click the purple “sign this petition” box.
7) You’ll now receive an email asking you to confirm that you did indeed sign the petition.

Congratuations, you’ve now completed all the steps to sign our petition!

Thank you very much.

 

Dyslexia Awareness Week 2011 in Hampshire

We had a very full and exciting Dyslexia Awareness Week and focused on raising awareness across different sectors of the community.

On Wednesday 2nd November our event ‘Positive about Dyslexia’ involved many pupils from Chiltern Tutorial School, Otterbourne who discussed how dyslexia affects them. This was very moving and the young pupils were honest and frank about their past experiences of dyslexia but how the future now looked very positive. The event attracted parents and three different schools used it as a (free) in-service training opportunity.

The Adult Dyslexia Network Group was launched on Thursday 3rd November in Solent Hotel, Whitely. This group sprang from one of our members who had been on the BDA Mentorship programme and she wanted to start something similar in the Solent area for adults with dyslexia. Andy Fell kindly came along as a speaker and discussed Access to Work. There was a good turn out with attendees from local employers, uniformed services and adults with an interest in dyslexia.

Parents were invited to Basingstoke on Friday November 4th to discuss dyslexia and homework. Requests for help on this topic often feature on the helpline,so we enjoyed providing tips and information about dyslexia in general and maths and spelling in particular. We were very pleased that the Chairman of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Anna McNair Scott (ex BDA Trustee and Hornsby lecturer) joined us for part of the morning to show her strong support for the Association. In the picture Mrs McNair Scott can be seen with her husband N G McNair Scott and members of the HDA Committee.

We are also very pleased that two of our members submitted poems to the BDA writing competition and were rewarded with Certificates of Commendation. It was quite a week!