Revue de livre
Teaching by Design: Using Your Computer to Create Materials for Students with Learning Differences (2005)

Kimberly S. Voss
Woodbine House via Monarch Books of Canada
5000 Dufferin Street Downsview,Ontario,M3H 5T5
334 pages; $34.95 US ISBN: 1-890627-43-7

This excellent book provides design strategies and detailed instructions for creating educational materials to teach visual-perceptual, math, language, communication, reading, handwriting, and self-help skills, which meet an individual’s unique learning needs. The author enthusiastically relates her journey in developing these practical solutions when available materials were inadequate to educate her daughter who had multiple disabilities. The clear and concise descriptions reflect the author’s expertise in specialized teaching strategies and the basics of graphics and computer skills. She clarifies details to enhance the effectiveness of learning materials, e.g., balancing text size and line length (does enlargement improve legibility if the phrase is split into two lines?), aspects of text design ambiguities, or spacing between letters or lines. The sequential organization of the book and use of pertinent headings caters to the needs of the novice or the expert who may need to only review specific information. The instructions cover the use of available software on the Mac or the PC platform and working with specialized graphics programs. The information is cross-referenced to direct the reader to a skill taught earlier in the book. A CD-ROM provides templates to start the reader in making the customized educational materials. This book is absolutely essential for special education teams to develop individualized curricular materials. Although its utility to occupational therapists would depend on the extent of their involvement in developing these materials, the information presented is very useful. To therapists who often supply the technological expertise to their special education teams, this book is a priceless resource.

Asha Asher