We thought you would be interested in this great, feel good story about two parents who wanted to help their autistic son and in the end started a business that helps other autistic kids and enriches the lives young children.
Zuma Ayriyan and John Khachatryan are parents to two boys Robert who is 17 years old and Alexander who is 5 years old.
A charming child full of personality when he was born, Alexander suddenly started losing his language skills around his first year. Soon after, he was diagnosed with autism. His family’s mission to reignite Alexander’s love for books and language started them on the path to self-publishing “Look Who is Coming…”.
“While our lives were turned upside down and became filled with doctors and therapists appointments, we knew that he (Alexander) must learn to love books again. So, we transformed our kitchen table into a working station to create a book that would not only be fun, colorful, and engaging, but also personal!” says Zuma.
Determined to use all the tools at their disposal to help their son overcome his diagnosis, what began as pictures taped to sheets of plain white paper evolved into a colorful, engaging story book about all the most important people in their son’s life. Zuma continues, “We decided to find a way to make Alexander and the people he loves become characters of the book by incorporating our family photographs into the illustrations.”
“Watching Alexander enjoy lifting the flaps of our board book and finding himself and his family riding colorful cars and counting different creatures along the way, we realized that every child could enjoy and benefit from this book, and that every family could easily personalize it by substituting our photographs with their own,” adds John.
In addition to their work as writer and publisher of “Look Who is Coming…,” John is a musician and is currently teaching music and Zuma manages her own part-time law practice. Zuma and John reside in Irvine, CA and are active supporters of ASA the Autism Society of America. They have plans to continue their VaZu Kids line of personalized children’s books with additional releases planned for 2010.
VISIT VaZuKids.com to get the WHOLE STORY: http://www.vazukids.com/
To speak with the authors, please contact Townsend Olmstead Media Co. – 949.722.8488 or via email – media@tomediaco.com
ABOUT “Look Who is Coming…”
Designed for children ages 8 months and up, “Look Who is Coming…” is a charming, interactive tale that is personalized for each child via the inclusion of photos of friends, family and other special people in the child’s life by simply sliding a photo into the built-in tabs. “Look Who is Coming” also encourages your child to count, identify people, objects and colors and develop facial recognition and fine motor skills while following different friends along the way.
While “Look Who Is Coming…” is a perfect book for all young children, the concept for the book was born specifically to address the needs of the author’s young son who was diagnosed with Autism.
“Look Who is Coming…” was designed and written by Zuma Ayriyan and John Khachatryan and illustrated by Lenley Makela. It is currently available on Amazon.com and in select bookstores and children stores nationwide. “Look Who is Coming…” retails for $13.99.
