Secret Weapons for Struggling Readers

From 'Check it Out' magazine's Spring 2012 issue:  a statistic from Reading Rockets, a national multimedia literary initiative, over 40% of kids regard reading as a challenge and according to Deb Simmons, prof. of special educ. at Texas A & M Univ., the window of opportunity to become a successful reader often closes early, often by the end of 1st grade.  Reading Rockets article "Benefits of Audiobooks for All Readers" feels that children, adults, & patrons can be turned into readers for life, even if they don't like or can process the written word, by a variety of technology tactics which make the context more interesting, convenient and engaging.  Audiobooks, tablet computers, mp3 players and eReaders present excellent opportunities because of the variety of delivering the words, accessibility of anytime, anyplace, highlighted text, etc. and the tech interest of  savvy children in general.   These tools are powerful weapons against illiteracy and carry the common goal of encouraging reading no matter how old the patron is or how it's achieved.