Inspiring group reading, Shelton Day Service, Stoke-on-Trent
Karen, Robert, Ian, Daniel, Kelvin and Tracy are a group of adults with learning disabilities in Stoke-on-Trent. They started meeting at City Central Library, Hanley in September 2008 to read together and talk about books. Some group members already enjoyed reading, for example, magazines. For others, reading books was a completely new experience.
They started with a Livewire book called The Hand which took a number of weeks to read together. However, now they can read much more quickly. In one session they might read and talk about one of the Gatehouse books; they might also read a section from a Livewire book. At the moment they're reading a biography of David Beckham together.
Group members will often practice their reading outside the group, for example, at lunchtimes. They decided to take part in the Six Book Challenge as they felt it a good opportunity to challenge themselves to read more books, and an opportunity to look back and think about what they'd read over the last few months. They have just completed their reading diaries.
Individuals have noticed changes in their reading. Daniel didn't like reading aloud at first - now he's much more confident and can tackle quite difficult passages. Tracey says that reading aloud helps her to speak more clearly and her mum has noticed a difference in her speech too. Kelvin has really enjoyed reading about football whilst Daniel liked the Livewire horror stories.
