UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 26, Page 12
April 7, 1994
Project ASSIST gives others a hand

     Project ASSIST, located in Edgewood Community Center in northern
Wilmington, got a big assist from three students, Jodi Erb, Chuck Hadley
and Gavin Garrison, when the staff decided to computerize office records.
     The non-profit organization helps children with dyslexia who are
having problems learning to read, write and spell in the traditional
classroom setting.
     Project ASSIST can now function more smoothly and efficiently, thanks
to the student volunteers who helped develop a new data base.  They were
supervised by Clinton White and John Wragge, accounting.
     Members of the University community have played an important role in
Project ASSIST Institute from its beginning. It was founded in 1982 by
Virginia "Ginger" Biasotto, Delaware '59, whose son had encountered
difficulties in learning to read. He attended a special school that helped
solve the problem, and Biasotto trained in the school' reading methods.
     According to Elisabeth Simon, Delaware '66, executive director, the
program uses multisensory, intensive phonics, involving not only the eyes
and ears but muscles, too. Children do such activities as writing in sand
trays and sky writing, which help lock in their reading skills.
     The program trains volunteers, who work with the children on a
one-to-one basis, and also trains teachers. As Project ASSIST grew and
moved out of volunteers' homes into office space at Edgewood Community
Center, the need for computerized records arose, Simon said.
     Volunteer Mary Lou Flynn, Delaware '64, who helps with Project ASSIST
computer needs, contacted her alma mater for advice in installing the new
data base.
                                                  -Sue Swyers Moncure