Guest guest Posted January 1, 2007 Report Share Posted January 1, 2007 Cindi- My adult daughter with Down syndrome is actively involved in a Next Chapter Book Club that has just finished it's first book - The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, by CS . We have structured the group a little differently than what was suggested to us by Ohio State University researchers, in that we have only four members of the group with disabilities, as compared to the 10-15 members suggested. One of our members started out as a non-reader. He, as well as other members of the group have greatly improved their reading over the past few months even though that is not the goal. Because the focus of the group meeting is social rather than academic, no one puts pressure on members to perform. Facilitators help as much as needed in an inobtrusive manner. We meet in a local coffee shop or book store cafe where members can purchase their own refreshments and greet friends and acquaintances going in and out. The only issue for us has been in facilitation. It is extremely important that members be treated as and spoken to as the adults they are - not as if they are children. All of our members look forward to the weekly meetings, and are excited about getting together next week to choose our next book. Vicki Niswander > > , Ups for Downs hosted a training from OSU, " Next Chapters Book Club " > . Very interesting concept many of us were interested in. The youbg people > get together at local spots, barnes and NOble etc books are selected, and > read by the individuals in the group. This is aimred at people with DD, so > the model is written for a different reading level. It is social, > community, and to the surprise of the people doing it, there has been an > increase in reading level. Cindi > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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