The Power of the Written Word to Change Lives

Imagine a world without books. Now imagine a world filled with books that you can’t read or understand. This is a circumstance that many adults—with and without disabilities—experience to some degree.

Scott is a case in point. He was good at connecting letters into words and words into sentences, but he knew that he wasn’t fully understanding the meaning of words or extracting useful content from the text. This impacted his ability to gather information, learn new skills, achieve important life goals, and pleasantly while away an afternoon with a good book.

To change these circumstances, Scott participates in a variety of activities to improve his reading comprehension.  

The Computer Life Skills program provides lots of opportunity for reading improvement through exploration of special-interest topics on the Internet; interactions with others through email, Facebook, and chat rooms; word processing projects; and data entry tasks.

Scott’s reading comprehension improved a big boost through his work with a therapist and a rehabilitation engineer last year. Several technology-based treatment programs were trialed before they discovered BLIO, a software program that uses a multisensory approach by presenting reading material in both auditory and visual formats.  When Scott ran into a word he didn’t know, he highlighted it and the software said it for him. When Scott didn’t know a word’s meaning, he accessed a dictionary definition.  To remember key content matter, Scott highlighted words in the text.  

One of Scott’s favorite activities is the Redwood Book Club. Scott takes a leadership role in the club by reading to other adults each week. An enlarged copy of the text helps him better see the words. At the end of each chapter, Scott participates with the other adults in a discussion prompted by comprehension questions. As the meeting closes, members try to foretell what will happen next in the story.

Reading instructor, Rachel Otte says, “Scott is great at foretelling. He uses good critical thinking skills to guess upcoming content based on the chapter’s title and his comprehension of the chapter just finished.”

The Book Club is currently reading White Fang by Jack London. Scott looks forward to reading more mystery novels. “I like the book club because it helps me practice and improve my reading skills. This will help me reach my future goals,” explained Scott.

As Scott continues his quest to improve his life through the power of the written  word, we believe he will reach his long-term goal of attending Gateway College.