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Disney media and speech therapy combine! By Margaret Langevin, Connacht Tribune One of the most memorable quotes from finding Nemo was when Dory repeatedly said, just keep swimming, just keep swimming. That's exactly what Enda and Valerie Dodd did with their twin sons Conor and Eoin who were diagnosed as autistic at an early age. The medical [...]
A Galway family has developed software that aims to help children with autism communicate. Enda and Valerie Dodd’s innovative software solution ALL, Animated Language Learning, is a state of the art, visually rich language learning programme they say has “already lifted their twin sons from the isolation of autism”. They are now determined to make [...]
Animated Language Learning in the national news By Catherine Shanahan Irish Examiner Reporter A Disney movie, parental love, and two autistic sons whose connection with Buzz and Woody gave them the language to communicate were all key to formulating a simple but genius idea that could help autistic kids the world over. With a background [...]
Animated Language Learning short listed for major award Two Galway based social entrepreneurs have been shortlisted for the annual Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards Programme, sponsored by DCC plc. Over 180 entries were received by Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, with 50 being shortlisted to attend Social Entrepreneurs Bootcamp in Dublin’s Liffey Trust Studios this week. The prestigious [...]
The parent advocate and special needs families I am often asked by parents who made the most difference in the lives of the boys after diagnosis - a parent advocate, speech therapist, a school, a clinic or someone else? And what were the decisions we made that helped most in bringing the boys forward. [...]
Overcoming language disorders and building a future for our children comes in the most unexpected places. For millions of children to world over, language disorders and deficits are a major obstacle to just about everything. I remember Conor's teacher saying to me once that 'he was so intelligent but fundamentally unteachable'. Imagine saying all that in just [...]
The Autistic child and communication I remember the early days of confusion surrounding Conor and Eoin after the autistic child "diagnosis". Both boys had been described as intelligent to Val and I, but at the same time unteachable and unreachable. What a nightmare, all I could think of was Dustin Hoffman in Rain man. The idea [...]
Galway Family’s Ambition to Change the World Through Their Sons’ Eyes NUI Galway Business and Innovation Centre support a Galway family’s global mission to make their language learning solution accessible for children with autism Thursday, 26 May, 2016: Enda and Valerie Dodd’s innovative software solution ‘ALL’, named after their company, Animated Language Learning, is driven [...]
Autism: how we taught speech and language. While it might sound obvious, if your child has autism or a speech and language disorder, your ability to practice language with your child becomes very restricted. I think the key word here is practice. I remember Conor turning 10 years old and thought my god, if he and I [...]
Want to teach time? Many special needs parents ask me how to teach time to their non verbal autistic child. As with the Animated Language Learning program, visual strategies are the way to go: Help your child to x off each day on a calendar in a visible location like the kitchen. By doing this [...]
