Personal Pathways Prove Powerful People Prosper

A friend of mine is a qualified speech therapist who is thinking about how her skills can be put to use now that her children are happily attending school. Over breakfast she was lamenting someone in her family who had self-published a rather poorly written and utterly vapid book about wildlife stories.

We got round to talking about how the best books in a literary canon are often the best proponents of mechanisms or styles within in it combined with incredible story telling. My favourite book, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children is an epic tale of children who are born at midnight on the cusp of India’s independence. The story is about identity in the new India, while the characters are larger than life and his wit drives the story forward. It’s hard to put it down and I highly recommend it. Midnight’s Children is one of six of his books I have on my shelves. Why do I enjoy them so much? I love books that have a rich texture and Rushdie is a specialist at creating caricatures through his effusive use of language; Rushdie has a typically Indian way of telling stories, as if you’re sitting down to a tale told by an eccentric Indian grandmother and his way of digressing from the topic and then coming back to it has a comicality that I can relate to.

There is a great power in reading; there is even greater power in reading what we love, what is truly meant for us, in an Ikigai-powered way. But how do we get to this point? I’ve often lamented that musical discovery is made easier by the algorithms inside services like Spotify, but even services like What Should I read next? and GoodReads don’t triangulate my data the way they should. I guess discovery is a gripe for another day.

Then it dawned on me: what if we could make books that could serve our own personal interests or development? I’m not saying Rushdie should lose any sleep, but AI is already helping some uninspired parents to come up with bed time stories on the spot.

What if we could take this a few steps further and use AI to come up with something personalised that could help us to develop? Speech therapists, for example, are trying to get their patients to practice specific sounds - what if we could incorporate this into bedtime? Children could stipulate what they want their stories to be about and we could include the sounds they need to practice. We could use a “call and response” methodology to include the child in bedtime by getting them to say their sounds so that the protagonist can get to the next stage of their journey, here’s an example based on my daughter and her hamster, Houdini:

Once upon a time, in a small town nestled among rolling hills, there lived a little girl named Maya. Maya had a heart full of curiosity and an insatiable desire to explore the world around her. She had a special friend, a hamster named Houdini, who was always by her side, ready for adventure.

Maya and Houdini had a unique bond. Houdini was no ordinary hamster; he possessed an extraordinary talent. He could understand Maya's words and communicate with her through a special language only they shared. Houdini was Maya's confidant and companion, and together they embarked on exciting journeys.

One sunny morning, as Maya was getting ready for her speech therapy session, she noticed Houdini chewing on a tattered treasure map. Maya's eyes sparkled with excitement, realizing that Houdini had discovered a new adventure for them. The map led to a distant land called Soundaria, a magical place where the power of words reigned supreme.

Maya and Houdini quickly packed their bags and set off on their grand journey. They ventured through enchanted forests, crossed sparkling rivers, and climbed towering mountains. Along the way, Maya encountered various challenges that required her to practice specific speech sounds.

Their first obstacle was a rickety wooden bridge guarded by a grumpy troll. Maya needed to cross the bridge safely, but the troll demanded that she say words starting with the "th" sound. Maya took a deep breath and confidently said, "Think, three, thumb!" The troll, impressed by Maya's clear pronunciation, grumbled reluctantly and allowed them to pass.

Continuing their journey, Maya and Houdini came across a sparkling waterfall. To reveal a hidden path, Maya needed to say words starting with the "s" sound. She concentrated and uttered, "Sun, silly, slide!" The waterfall parted, uncovering a secret passage beyond.

As they traveled deeper into Soundaria, they encountered a magical forest inhabited by mischievous fairies. Maya's challenge this time was to pronounce words starting with the "r" sound. With the help of her speech therapist's guidance and Houdini's unwavering support, Maya practiced diligently and triumphantly said, "Rabbit, rainbow, robot!" The fairies, amazed by Maya's progress, cleared the path for her and Houdini to continue their adventure.

Finally, after many trials and triumphs, Maya and Houdini arrived at the heart of Soundaria. They stood in awe before a magnificent castle, where the King and Queen of Words resided. The royal couple congratulated Maya on her journey and marveled at her improved speech.

Filled with joy, Maya knew that her determination and practice had paid off. She had not only explored a magical land but had also honed her speech skills along the way. The King and Queen of Words granted her a special reward—a golden key that symbolized her newfound confidence in her speech abilities.

With the golden key in hand, Maya and Houdini bid farewell to Soundaria and returned to their town. Maya's speech therapy sessions became even more exciting as she continued to practice and improve her speech sounds, using the words she had learned on her adventure.

Maya and Houdini's adventure taught them the value of perseverance, the magic of friendship, and the importance of never giving up. Together, they showed that with determination, practice, and the support of loved ones, any challenge can be overcome. And so, Maya and Houdini's journey continues, filled with new discoveries and endless possibilities.

As you can see, Maya isn’t going anywhere unless those sounds are being attempted.

If we wanted to take this a step further, we could have an app that both makes up the story based on what the child is interested in and records the responses to send to the therapist who will then denote their progress against the child’s development goals. In this way, we’re using the power of AI to create a personalised learning pathway that helps a specific person to learn in a way that is more relevant, effective and fun.

What do you think about this idea? Have I gone too far? Not far enough? What features would you add? Let me know!