In Sanoma we believe that every child deserves equal opportunities. The number of children with special educational learning needs (SEN) is growing mainly due to more extensive scientific research, development of diagnostic tools and rising awareness. To respond to this growing demand, our learning companies, such as Nowa Era in Poland and Sanoma Utbildning in Sweden, design products for children with learning difficulties and special educational needs.
Special needs refer to children with deficits of varying intensity and nature, such as speech disorders, dyslexia, autism spectrum or concentration deficit. Because of the increasing attention on inclusion in education and classrooms, children with special needs attend more often regular mainstream classrooms.
In Poland, products are developed for the growing number of children with SEN
In Poland, around 35% of the school aged population is recognised as having a special educational needs and the majority of these children attend mainstream schools. According to latest research*, as many as 75% of children in the first grades of primary school require speech therapy due to speech and communication disorders.
To respond to this growing need, Nowa Era has designed a product portfolio of SEN learning materials for kindergarten and primary schools. The therapeutic effectiveness of these learning materials has been proven in clinical tests and six of Nowa Era’s products have a medical device status – complementing the holistic therapeutic plan for each disorder. The founding principle in designing SEN products is understanding the needs and unique strengths of these children and adjusting the content to the characteristics of the specific disorder. Overall, the ultimate goal and our shared passion for education is clear; to develop the talents of every child to reach their full potential.
Nowa Era’s broad portfolio includes, for example, ‘Logopedia PRO’ for children with speech, linguistic and communications disorders as well as ‘Autism Spectrum PRO’ for teachers and therapists working with young children with autism spectrum disorder and social and emotional problems.
LexiaProvia: a comprehensive digital database for children with linguistic difficulties
In Sweden, LexiaProvia offers support for students with dyslexia or other linguistic difficulties, helping also adults suffering from aphasia. LexiaProvia has a history of several decades in Swedish education, and today, LexiaProvia is available online, offering improved access and usability.
The digital product contains two parts: Lexia and Provia. Lexia is a database with over 1,800 exercises and Provia is a database for tests in different linguistic areas. Before the start of each school year, it is recommended for students to complete tests in Provia in order for teachers to quickly identify pupils who are at risk of developing dyslexia or other language-related difficulties. With Provia, the language proficiency of each student is evaluated on several test areas. Based on the results, exercises are automatically suggested in Lexia for the individual pupil to work on. Teachers can also easily plan and follow up on each students’ work and progress. In order to use LexiaProvia, teachers do not need to be specialised in dyslexia, and the programme can be used for the whole class to work on, for example, on spelling.
(*Research by dr Ewa Jeżewska-Krasnodębska, Faculty of Medicine, Lazarski University)
This article is part of a series introducing products and services from our Learning businesses across Europe. Sanoma develops inclusive learning following Sanoma´s Sustainability strategy. Both Nowa Era and Sanoma Utbildning are part of the Sanoma Learning business unit within Sanoma Group, serving over 20 million students in 11 countries.
Nowa Era is the largest educational publisher in Poland, with a comprehensive and modern portfolio covering all educational segments and school subjects, including foreign languages and products for children with special educational needs. Sanoma Utbildning is among the top three publishing companies for learning materials in Sweden, focusing to continuously develop both printed and digital learning materials for all subjects.
