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| Frequently Asked Questions |
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 How can Special Reads impact my child's reading success?
Our materials provide the missing link in teaching children with special needs to read: beginning reading materials formatted uniquely, on topics they love (kid foods), with one goal: fast success. Our presentations provide cutting-edge information on how our children learn best and most easily, and provide resource information critical to success.
What's so different about your materials?
Based on research and experience, we use oversized type, putting extra spacing between words and extra space (or "leading") between lines. We separate illustrations from text for maximum focus and true reading. With a population of typical children, illustrations are always (and we do mean always) placed on the same visual plane as the text. The assumption is that children will be helped in learning to read by cueing off of the illustrations, and for typical children, this is generally true. But for our children with special needs, research tells us that such a juxtaposition can actually delay learning to read. Instead of helping, the illustration distracts. At Special Reads, we use the illustration as a reward, all by itself. We also provide oversized flash cards to teach the words in our books, along with instructions for using the Fast Flash method, a method far more effective than standard flash card use. One parent summed it up in a letter to us, "It's quite difficult to find books for my daughter (with Down Syndrome) that have an interesting subject, are easy to read, visually uncluttered, and still aren't babyish. So keep publishing!"
Do you teach a method?
Our materials focus on the very beginning stages of reading. We now know that the very first step for our children should be logographic reading, or sight recognition, and that it will be normal for them to rely on sight words for longer than the typical child. We know that this will serve them very well in the end, establishing a solid base long  before they are developmentally ready for alphabetic reading, or phonetics. So our focus is on logographic reading, motivation through "hot" topics of interest, and quick success.
Our goal is to take nonreaders and struggling readers and quickly bring them confidence and success. To do this, we use an approach based on years of both experience and international rresearch. We know that, for maximum learning speed, the words on flash cards should be quite large, with lowercase letters as big as 2 inches high. That flash cards should be shown as fast as one per second. That, for our children with special needs, illustrations shown alongside type can actually delay learning, rather than accelerate it. We also know that, in the early stages of reading, focus is primary, especially for our children with ADD/ADHD or any focusing issues.
Special Reads materials are built with these facts in mind. When we combine materials that work with methods that work, success can come with astonishing speed. Special needs children as young as 20 months have mastered Step 1 materials, signing flash card words long before they could speak them.
Additionally, Natalie Hale is available nationally for presentations on Reading Made Easy for Children With Special Needs. These presentations give parents and educators effective methods and resources which can turn a reluctant reader into an enthusiastic, accomplished reader.
Which children can be helped by your materials?
Our materials are designed to make reading success accessible to children with developmental delays such as Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Down Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, etc. While each of these disabilities is unique, similar learning difficulties can be found across a broad spectrum of developmental disabilities. Special Reads materials address these commonly held difficulties. |
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