Rude Readers

"Rude Readers", by John Fisher and ELR Software Pty Ltd, is a series of computer programs which contain volumes (or sets) of children's "Readers" intended primarily for children with speech, language and reading disorders. Each Reader is intended to stimulate humour and provide material targeting a range of language goals. They use naughty words and ideas to interest a child, and teach a few things about language (eg syntax, semantics, phonology, pragmatics). Within the text, everything is controlled - phrase and sentence length & complexity, syntax, vocabulary, spelling. The teaching points are listed in each Reader, and clinicians will be able to locate Readers that are relevant to specific goals using the easy retrieval method provided in the program.

The programs allow users to open a Rude Reader for reading on-screen as an "eBooK", and to print off copies, either in colour, or with sketch drawings for children who would like to colour in the pictures. The programs also incorporate features to make the stories accessible for users who need alternative computer keyboard/mouse access devices (such as IntelliKeys).

Volume 1
Hot Snot A grotty story of Dot smearing snot everywhere. Goldilocks A simple version of the traditional story in the past tense. A Boy Has A Penis A boy asks people if they have a penis. Spit Spit Spat In three-line rhymes the child gets strange gifts from aunts and uncles who have strange names. Zoo Dads Two kids find increasingly funny similarities between their dads and zoo animals.
Volume 2
Where Are You? A simple count to ten story where the questions and answers rhyme. Three Little Pigs Traditional story in simplified syntax. Party Dog The dog eats everything at the party, vomits and rolls in the mixed-up foods. Ten Naughty Ninjas The Ninjas get closer and fewer. The child's concern gets the usual adult responses. The Sofa did a Fart My brother stuffs his dinner in the sofa and a week later... Phew!
Volume 3
Duck Cack What Mick does when a duck does cack on his back. The Hobyahs A simple version of the folk story. It tries to keep the nicely-scarey feel of the original. Smart Shark Dinosaur asks Smart Shark and Silly Shark to do 'rude' things. Smart Shark has the right answers. Ten Tiny Tigers Ten tiny tigers are reduced one by one after misadventures. A B C There are two versions of the alphabet sequence with rhymes.
Volume 4
Feather Weather Seven verses of rhymed advice about how to use feathers in different weather, to practise /th/ in an amusing verse. Green Wees Different foods are eaten, with several degrees of pleasure. Sniff Your Socks The reader is asked to judge the possibility and niceness of various suggestions. Could you/would you/should you sniff your socks? Sumo's Souvlaki Sumo's souvlaki is eaten by a tiger, at school. He describes the tiger to the teacher who doesn't believe him. There is a surprise ending. Riding Hood Retells Little Red Riding Hood with simple syntax, while keeping the traditional bits.
Volume 5
Found by Me Four pets are found and looked after by a child. Far Fart Contrast CV (consonant vowel) words and CVC words in a sentence. The moose went moo at the moon. Don't Hit Dad The social rules about hitting people, animals and objects are contrasted alternately, using simple syntax and limited vocabulary. Mum's Bum Possession is expressed in two ways; a ball for Paul, and Paul's ball. Can a Kid /k/ in words in sentences to ask the same question with four alternatives: Can a [kid kangaroo koala kookaburra] catch a ball?

The "Rude Readers Library" is a small program in the same style as each Rude Reader, which is basically a single "Table of Contents" for all published volumes. It contains brief descriptions and the full Speech Pathology Targets for each Reader. There is also a cross-referenced listing of Speech Pathology Targets which allows direct opening of a story(ies) according to targets.

Usage: Download and place in the same directory as installed volumes of Rude Readers (NB: this program can only open stories for installed volumes, but will display information for all current volumes).