We hope you are having a great 2012 so far. Here at Spectrum Press we are busy getting three new books ready for release in the fall. 

One project has assembled a focus group of adults with disabilities to create an alphabet book for children learning to read, with photos of models with disabilities participating in their communities for each letter. Dr. Susan Powell will be working with adults to “imagine,” write, plan and be models for the book in community settings they use, and the book will be sold to libraries, schools, groups and individuals so that images of people with disabilities participating in valued roles will be available to those communities. Participants will be paid for their participation.

Another exciting addition to our catalogue will be Susan Stanfield's new book, Community Support Worker Essentials: supporting people with developmental disabilities in their pursuit of the good life. Susan had been looking for resources to use in staff training - current, Canadian content; practical information for staff supporting people in community settings – and discovered there isn’t a whole lot out there. So she decided to write something herself. There is an excerpt available on our 101 friends blog - www.101friends.ca. Check it out!

And last but not least, we are planning to publish an anthology of current thinking about how people with disabilities can be supported. The essays in this anthology From Institutions to Individuals: On Becoming Person-Centred, will be directed to college  students in Community Support Worker or Disability Studies programs and new or experienced community support workers.

If you haven't already, please follow us on Twitter - @101friendsbc and like us on Facebook - Spectrum Press: books and media by, for and about people you care about.

By the way, we are currently running a special on-line offer. The next 5 people to buy anything from our on-line store will receive a free first edition copy of 101 Ways to Make Friends. So don't delay. Buy now!