Are you a parent of a child with a print disability, like dyslexia? As part of our efforts to support parents in navigating their child’s learning differences, here are two helpful books that were written specifically for parents by people with dyslexia.
Ben Foss, dyslexia advocate and well-known author, wrote The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child’s Confidence and Love of Learning to help families build a pathway to independence for children with dyslexia. Here is Ben’s three-step process:
- Identify your child’s strengths.
- Share those strengths with school administrators and educators.
- Explore technologies that will help your child be more self-sufficient.
While other books tell you what dyslexia is, Ben’s book helps you to identify learning strategies that support a child’s individual learning style and maximize their unlimited potential. Read more about Ben Foss at Headstrong Nation.
Another recent book (2014) recommended for parents of children with learning differences is by David Flink, co-founder of Eye to Eye, a national mentoring program for students with learning and attention issues. David’s book, Thinking Differently: An Inspiring Guide for Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities, will help you understand and accept your child’s learning differences. Read stories from parents who share similar experiences. You will learn practical strategies for teaching self-empowerment and helping your children identify their inner strengths.
You can also find these great titles at your favorite bookseller. And if you are parent and a Bookshare member with a qualified print disability, you can read these books in our library: Thinking Differently: An Inspiring Guide for Parents of Children with Learning Disabilities and The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child’s Confidence and Love of Learning.
Parents! Sign up your child with a qualifying print disability for an Individual Membership to Bookshare and open a new world to reading!
Lisa Wadors Verne is Benetech’s Global Literacy Program Manager of Education, Research, and Partnerships. Lisa has a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco State University Joint Doctoral Program, in special education and policy.
My sister turned me on to Bookshare just last year (3/14). What a gift it has been! Even the idea that learning disabilities were treatable was not explored until the early 1960’s (UNC, Chapel Hill, NC), and by then I had barely gotten
through my Junior year in High School. All the while I and everyone around me kept wondering, “if he’s so bright, why issn’t he smart?”I went through my Sophomore year at college twice (with failing grades) before I found a school that incorporated a learinig-disability curriculum.
I will read the books listed above this comment with great interest, not only for children I ave worked with, but for
clues for myself as well. Many thanks.