We’re honored to feature two proud dads of Bookshare students. Mr. Drake Leong from Palo Alto, California, is the father of Kevin Leong, and Mr. Andrew Cooper from Austin, Texas, is the father of Ben Cooper. Both dads care deeply about their sons and are intimately involved in their education and use of Bookshare. These fathers represent the best in parental dedication to students with print disabilities. Today, we’re sharing their thoughts about their sons.
Drake Leong
“Life before Bookshare was very difficult for my son,” says Drake. Kevin suffered an unexpected brain injury when he was little and had to relearn lots of things, including how to read. He could not read standard print in school because it was too difficult to keep up. “Using accessible books and an iPad, he is back on track and doing well in school.”
Kevin is a whiz on lots of different technologies. Sometimes he us
es his iPad with Bookshare’s Read2Go app and finds it helpful to enlarge the font and set preferences to high contrast to read better. “Accessibility and portability are two very important factors in Kevin’s ability to learn and to be independent,” says his dad. “He likes to read digital books directly on the Internet with the Bookshare Web Reader and uses his iPhone to read on the go! It’s wonderful to watch Kevin’s progress and know that he is well on his way to accomplishing his dreams.”
Andrew Cooper
“Bookshare has been a vital component to our son’s academic journey,” says Andrew Cooper. “Knowing and understanding Ben’s challenges with dyslexia was a first step to help our family identify the right solutions for him. We always knew that he was much smarter than his reading ability suggested and learned about this through scientific research conducted by Sally Shaywitz at the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity. At the end of the day, we’re all just trying to educate children the best way we know how!”
As a technology entrepreneur, Mr. Cooper knows firsthand that technology holds limitless possibilities for kids with print disabilities, such as blindness, low vision, a physical disability, or a severe reading disability like dyslexia. “People are just now learning about the benefits of accessible materials,” he says. “These resources made a world of difference for our son. Ben no longer guesses at words and can focus on understanding the content. His comprehension skills are at an advanced college level and we are very proud of him!”
Happy Father’s Day to All!
The Bookshare team thanks all moms and dads and knows that you support your children in incredible ways. Tell us your stories by posting a comment on this blog, and we will follow up. We also invite you to join engaging parent discussions on our social media sites, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
For those who want to help other families directly, learn more about our new Parent Ambassador Program. Parent ambassadors share, guide, and learn from other parents to find the best strategies, resources, and technologies to support their children with print disabilities.
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