3Word Nerds

Dyslexia: Superpower?

8/4/2018

This summer, my daughter, Megan is working at a Christian summer camp for elementary age kids. As one of her responsibilities, she helps lead the archery activity for campers. As young kids will do, they ask a lot of questions. Megan shared one with me during her weekly call home.

A few girls were at Megan's station waiting for their turn when one asked her if she'd ever hit the bullseye with an arrow. Megan said that no, she hadn't because she had forgotten to wear her glasses to the range so it was harder for her to see the bullseye target and she often missed. One of the girls, Sarah, said that she, too, had a hard time seeing without her glasses and it was hard for her to read the Bible verse during their group time that morning. Another girl in the group responded, "Oh, I was wondering why you couldn't read as well as you talk. You talk normal, but when you read it gets choppy and mixed up." Sarah said, "Well, it's also because I have dyslexia."

Megan said she quickly jumped in with, "Wow - you have a superpower?" Sarah and the girls seemed puzzled. One of the girls said, "What superpower?" "Why, dyslexia...that's her superpower," Megan explained.

Sarah responded, "I don't see how dyslexia is a superpower."
"Oh, but it is! God gave people with dyslexia great superpowers. They are SO smart and creative, out of the box thinkers, and great problem solvers! My mom teaches kids with dyslexia and she is always telling me about their superpower, dyslexia, and the amazing things they can do that regular people can't. Sure, reading is a challenge, but my mom says that teaching kids with dyslexia to read just takes the right teacher, a dyslexia therapist, that knows how to teach it to them. My mom can teach them how to read and spell, but she says the superpowers, they're just born with them, they can't be taught."

Megan continued to tell the girls about many famous people with dyslexia and how they are responsible for so many fantastic accomplishments and contributions to the world. She told them about her uncle and her grandfather and how they also have dyslexia. She said their eyes widened and before she ended the conversation for the next girl to take aim a the target, several were saying that they, too, wanted to be dyslexic. All the while, Sarah's face was just beaming. She told Megan that she hadn't thought of dyslexia in that way before. Before they parted, Megan said Sarah gave her a big squeeze and the best smile, ever.

Later, Megan said she was able to share with the girls' cabin counselor that Sarah was dyslexic and a little shy about reading aloud in the group setting.

Needless to say, I'm so proud of my daughter. During our call, I told Megan that she may have just changed Sarah's life forever. That because she seized the opportunity to shine a light on the positive and lift Sarah up, she may never think of herself as flawed by dyslexia, but enhanced because of it.

It further reminds me that there is always a silver lining to any challenge we face in life and when we have the chance to help others see the light in their circumstance, we can help them walk in the light.

While dyslexia does make it more difficult to learn to read, spell, and write, it also comes with some pretty outstanding advantages, too. With the right intervention program and a trained dyslexia therapist, students with dyslexia can overcome the obstacles in their path to achieve whatever goal they set for themselves. I'll bet Sarah has a new outlook on dyslexia now and may even have the confidence to aim for a much higher target.

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New Year - Fresh Start

7/15/2018

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I just LOVE new school supplies and although it's just the middle of July, Target, Walmart, and Staples already have aisles filled with back to school supplies to fuel my addiction. Maybe you're in the camp that says it's way too early to be thinking about back to school and maybe, just maybe, you're like me - and can't wait to start preparing for the new year - drooling over those pristine boxes of crayons and the latest colors and designs on notebooks as you browse the displays.

I already have my homework folders purchased from Staples - red, 3-hole bracketed, durable plastic pocket folders which I had to purchase in two transactions to get the 35 cents per folder price (limit was 30 and I needed 50.) I picked up a few new items for classroom decor on sale at Hobby Lobby, too. Yesterday, it was a trip to Teacher's Tools to select new bulletin board borders and today, it was Target to use the 15% off incentive for teachers. I purchased highlighters, Super Sticky Post-it Notes, Flair pens, and Expo-markers. A stop at JoAnn's Fabrics to purchase some fabric to back my bulletin boards, and I'm pretty set.

At this point in my teaching career, that's more than I need to get started. In my position as a dyslexia therapist, I don't need students to bring in supplies, and since I have enough pencils to last a few years, my only real need is a homework folder refresh. Well, maybe a stockpile of Kleenex... The rest is all simply due to my obsession with NEW school supplies and what they signify - a fresh start.

We all need a fresh start, right? It's a chance to begin with a clean slate - with crisp white paper, pointy pencils, brand new crayons, and a sweet new backpack. That, and a new pair of shoes for the first day of school, and any kid can walk through the doors feeling confident and ready to learn.

For a lot of kids, a new school year is just that - a new pair of shoes and a cool backpack. They breeze into Meet-the-Teacher night to see the new classroom and find out who's in their class and if they'll have PE or Music on the first day for specials. For others, it's a refresh of another sort.

For them, it can bring up anxiety, apprehension, and dread. Will this teacher point out my faults, my weaknesses, and my insecurities and embarrass me in front of everyone? Will I be able to hide that I can't read, spell, or multiply, like other students? How long before I start losing recess to finish classwork in "study hall?" Will my new teacher think I'm dumb?

My students, my kids with dyslexia, often feel like this...anxious, apprehensive. They are longing for a genuine welcome, and a true fresh start. They are hungry for the chance to show what they can do - a chance to thrive in a classroom where accommodations to support their different learning needs are the norm and not the exception. They are searching your eyes to see if you will be the one to appreciate a quirky sense of humor, a quick wit, out of the box/creative thinking, and if you will encourage their innovative problem solving skills. Will this new teacher give me a fresh start?

Will you? Will you look beyond the struggles and see the strengths and gifts of each student that enters your room this new school year? Will you invest yourself to nurture each student - even those that need a little more? Will you provide the necessary accommodations - reading questions and answers aloud, providing extra time, not using recess as a penalty for incomplete work - without making students feel like you are doing a huge favor or that it's an imposition? Will you be their champion - their advocate - their inspiration?

A new school year with brand new school supplies is but weeks away and it offers us all a fresh start - a new beginning. As I'm putting up the new border on my new bulletin board and preparing my classroom to welcome my students, I'm recommitting myself - and my heart - to giving each sweet face the reassurance that this year, this class, and this teacher, WILL be the difference they need for the best year, yet.

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Teaching Kids to Read - When My Best Wasn't Enough

9/18/2016

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BORN to Teach!
When I became a classroom teacher, I finally felt I was in my element. This is where I thought I could make a real difference and besides, it’s in my blood. My grandmother and mother both began their adulthood as teachers so it was no brainer that I would thrive in a career as a teacher. I even began playing school with my special needs sister at a very young age in the corner of the dining room, complete with desk and chalk board propped up on a chair to enclose our “classroom”. Teaching is in my DNA.

It was a thrill to see my students experience the joy of discovery and watch them make connections to grow into eager learners. Above all, I loved teaching children to read. It felt like giving them the key to unlocking all of their potential. It was especially important to me to teach kids to read well because I grew up knowing that reading was the greatest struggle for my own dad and younger brother. They must not have had the right teacher or one that used the right method for teaching them to read, so I was going to make sure that MY students had the benefit of my expertise, focus, dedication, passion, and commitment. I want to tell you that I was 100% successful with every student – but that would be a lie.

Can't be MY Fault, Can it?!?
There were certainly many students that were hungry to read and for most of them – it came rather easily. For a few, it was difficult and for others, downright impossible. With my high success rate in teaching kindergartners to read, I found many reasons why the fault lay elsewhere – it couldn’t be my lack of ability to teach. No way! Their parents must not be reading with them daily, they must be too immature and just weren’t ready to begin learning to read, they lacked focus or were too hyperactive, and sadly – I even thought that some were experiencing trouble because their cognitive ability was lacking so they would always be behind.

When I started teaching 2nd grade, the blame that some of my students weren’t good readers had to rest with their former teachers, parents, or even with the child, themselves. Accepting the challenge, I doubled my effort and offered after school tutoring, increased guided reading groups and focused on phonics. I even referred students to work with a very experienced Content Mastery teacher in small pull out groups. I saw minor improvements but with all the extra effort, nothing seemed to help bridge the gap and get them on grade level.
I was discouraged – no, defeated. Every child should be able to learn to read! What was missing? What was I NOT doing? What instructional strategy was eluding me? I went to training, revamped my instruction, and implemented new techniques. Each effort yielded minimal, if any, improvement. I was feeling like a teacher FAILURE.

What's the Secret???
Then, I began to notice some remarkable reading improvements in two of my students. I was mystified because they were both receiving special education services and were pulled out of my classroom for two hours daily to go to another campus for their ELA instruction. Hmmm. I was also approached about referring another two students, due to beginning of the year reading assessment scores, for dyslexia assessment. They were both identified with dyslexia and began going to a small group intervention for 45 minutes a day with our campus dyslexia therapist. I didn’t know much about dyslexia at the time. I thought it was seeing words backwards and reversing letters when writing. But, if our dyslexia therapist could help them, GREAT!

These two students also began making measurable, significant improvements. My curiosity was piqued and I had to know what was going on in that therapy room. What did these teachers know that I didn’t? Where did they discover the secrets that created these amazing transformations? I had to know.
Mrs. Laney, our campus dyslexia therapist was more than happy to share.

Here’s what I learned.

Dyslexia is a neurological difference in the way the brain functions.
Dyslexics are smart – often, exceptionally bright. They are creative, out of the box thinkers, and great problem solvers.
1 in 5 students are dyslexic and need a multisensory approach to learning to read that works best for the way their brain works.
They will continue to struggle with the conventional methods of teaching reading and will have increasing levels of frustration – like beating their heads against a wall. What’s that saying? – the meaning of insanity is doing the same thing over and over yet expecting different results.
They may act out, have behavior issues, avoid work, lose (forget, hide) assignments, etc. etc.
They must receive the appropriate reading therapy for real improvements to be realized.

On a QUEST!
And so, I started on a quest to become a dyslexia therapist myself, and learn the secret code to teaching students with dyslexia to read – because I was meant to make a difference in the lives of others! I would “be the change” in their lives. Sounds so noble, doesn’t it? What I didn’t realize at the time, was the HUGE change that would occur in ME. There is nothing more satisfying than working with students with dyslexia and my role as a dyslexia therapist. Learning how to implement the appropriate curriculum and techniques of multisensory teaching, I am blessed to witness truly miraculous transformations in students and not just in their reading skills but in their self-worth, too. They become more confident, more assured of their talents and abilities – of which there are many! I’ve since come to realize that both my dad and brother are dyslexic. It is such a shame that they both grew up thinking something was wrong with them. They, and my students, are my inspiration and the reason I’ll never go back to “teaching” in a classroom because there is nothing like being a dyslexia therapist – nothing.

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Passion for Dyslexia Therapy Drives a Whirlwind Start To Summer!

7/1/2016

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Tara Chapman - QIT; Peggy Brooks - QI; Pam Bazis - QI; Deb Scott - QIT; Kara Janasak - QIT
at McKinney Christian Academy - Multisensory Teacher Training

Imagine, as a teacher - perhaps even a reading specialist, realizing that what you know about the alphabet, phonemes, graphemes, and how they combine to make words to read and spell, is but a drop in a very large bucket. Helping teachers start filling their reading teacher bucket by making them squirm, stress and strive to gain new skills - that's how I began my summer break.

Immediately after school ended, it was a whirlwind of all hands on deck to get ready for 24 teachers enrolled to take the Intro course and another 20 moving up to the Advanced course toward becoming dyslexia therapists at McKinney Christian Academy - Multisensory Teacher Training. AND, for the first time, with ME as the instructor for the Intro course! No pressure! With barely a week to get a training manual completed, materials ordered and organized, rooms set up, and technology checked out - there was no time to waste. It was exhausting and the first day of the course had not even arrived.

Of course, I did not do it alone. We have an amazing team of instructors (I'm a Qualified Instructor in Training - which means that I'm an instructor under supervision) that pulls together to make it all happen. I also snagged some time from my own sweet girl to help unpack boxes of materials and get them organized and ready for distributing to trainees.

All the work and preparation was worth it. It was so rewarding to see 24 women begin their journey into dyslexia therapy and see them devote themselves to the struggle of learning something so different and push themselves outside their comfort zone. For some that expected typical summer teacher training, it was an awakening to a whole new experience. Others that had investigated and understood the commitment they were making were also wondering what they had gotten themselves into. With the opportunity to earn graduate credit from Midwestern State University, it became very clear that this was no ordinary teacher PD.

It's almost a necessary struggle for them to understand the plight of the students they will serve. Dyslexia is not an easy obstacle to overcome and while people with dyslexia are very bright - the struggle is real and often unappreciated by parents, teachers, and society. Teachers that had achieved status as reading specialists were suddenly learning how to correctly pronounce a /p/ and /b/ and discovering their similarities and differences.
Each day brought many new revelations, struggles, and the opportunity to dig deep to find the tenacity and perseverance necessary to learn.

To help them, I brought in experts - several of my own students that have been in dyslexia therapy for more than a school year. They were powerful teachers as they helped the trainees work through procedures of the lessons, even gently correcting them on how to make the proper sounds of the phonemes and write cursive letters with proper spacing.

These intensive two weeks in June are just the beginning. We will have five follow up workshops throughout the school year and they will all be working with volunteer students to gain experience. Then - next summer, they will move on to the advanced course for another two weeks of training and five more workshops. All told - they will finish the equivalent of 15 hours of graduate level work including 700 hours of practicum working with students to teach the dyslexia therapy curriculum.

What I hope they learn along the way is that this is the MOST rewarding teaching opportunity they will ever experience. The blessing of helping a student unlock the hidden code of reading and spelling while giving them the tools to navigate through school, achieving the success they are capable of reaching, is such a priceless gift to a dyslexia therapist. I've had that honor and privilege with students in my own dyslexia journey so to share that with these new therapists-in-training is an even greater joy.

If you have ever considered learning more about dyslexia and dyslexia therapy - send me an email. I'm happy to share more information with you and perhaps, you will catch the spark that ignited my own passion for the field of dyslexia.

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Parents are like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get!

5/21/2016

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It’s my annual spring roundup and I am on the hunt for new students – students that are a good fit for my dyslexia therapy program. I begin by considering first grade students and older students that have not made the progress in reading development that is expected for their age and their intellect. I scour through data and get referrals from teachers. Once I compile my list, I get permission and then I am not on it. Testing – testing – and more testing! Rounds of meetings are then held with parents to share the results. Each day this week I have had one or two such meetings scheduled.

To get ready, I prepare folders, make enough copies of the testing results so everyone at the meeting can reference the scores as I explain the results, and make sure I have my favorite pen for signing the permission form for those that qualify for dyslexia therapy along with enough copies of the Dyslexia Handbook for Parents ready to distribute. All my ducks are in a row and I am fully prepared for the meetings so they can run like clockwork.

With the testing done, identifications all made, and prep for the meetings complete, my brain has already begun working on arranging students into sweet little groups, setting my therapy schedule for the next school year, recommending class placement – I’m even thinking about making therapy folders, notebooks, and the supplies I'll need for the fall. I have the luxury of knowing and preparing – and yet, parents are still wondering. For some, it has been many long weeks since they signed consent for testing. Some become impatient and send emails asking when they will know. Some pump their kids for clues, “Did you see Mrs. Scott today?” The waiting and wondering only pumps up the emotion.

And – that’s the one wild card that can catch me off guard; the one factor that I can’t predict…the huge range of emotions parents share when they get the news – either way. So – I prepare for the unexpected and just when I think I can’t be surprised – well, you guessed it – I am! This is a sample of what I’ve encountered just this week:

The “I just won the lottery!” celebrating parent
- The parent that celebrates is the easiest. They are relieved and sometimes overwhelmed that you “found” dyslexia. They realized that something was off and some are even reluctant to bring it up to the teacher because they want to be wrong. They hope you will tell them that their child is bright (even smarter than average) and that you can wave a magic wand and fix it. Most are just grateful that you can identify the problem and have a targeted intervention to help.

The “Whatever – where do you want me to sign,” couldn’t care less parent
- This parent, if you are lucky to get them to come in for a meeting, is likely not on the PTA board, they rarely enter the school let along volunteer, and they just don’t want to be bothered. They would prefer that you send home the permission form for them to sign which may take a few attempts before you get it back. They will not generally be supportive of their student with homework nor will they attend future 504 meetings. They will generally let you work with their child – just don’t expect them to be involved.

The “It’s because I’m a horrible mother/father, right?” guilty parent
- This parent needs lots of reassurance (and tissues) and information about dyslexia. They need for you to tell them it’s not their fault – that dyslexia is a difference in the way the brain operates – a part of neurodiversity. Reassurance usually helps and the parent is generally appreciative that intervention is available to help.

The “But they need help! Now what am I going to do?” pleading parent
- This is a HARD situation. There are usually tears and tons of questions. When the results indicate that dyslexia is not present – that the reading struggles are not a result of an underlying phonological deficit, they are perplexed and anxious about what will happen next. They quickly project to their child dropping out of high school and lacking any kind of meaningful future. Reassurance is key in this case, too. Just because dyslexia was not identified now – doesn’t mean that it won’t be identified in the future. Assuring the parent that a watchful eye on student progress will occur and if retesting is indicated – that the door hasn’t closed and you can still reconsider.

The “It’s about time – I knew it all along,” indignant parent
- This is the parent that questions why it took so long for testing to take place and why their child did not receive services years ago. They often demand extra services and every accommodation regardless of appropriateness for their child. They would prefer a private therapist be provided because their child deserves it..

The “No – not my kid!” parent in denial
- This parent doesn’t care what the testing says – they don’t want a “label” and they don’t want their child to receive special treatment of any kind. They don’t want anyone telling them there is something wrong with their child. They refuse to hear that yslexia is not a “something is wrong” but rather that the child learns in a different way and needs to be taught to the way they learn. (I often wonder why they consented to the testing!) This parent will often seek private tutoring from places like Sylvan that do not have a curriculum or trained tutors to appropriately support dyslexic students. They’d rather pay big $$ and subject their child to many years of inappropriate intervention than have their child receive services at school. I have even offered the contact information for private dyslexia therapists which have been refused by the parent. I would rather have them seek private therapy than go somewhere that doesn’t know how to help kids with dyslexia. But, going to a private dyslexia therapist would be admitting something is wrong – and they can’t (won’t) accept it.

Regardless of the initial reaction, MOST parents come around. MOST welcome the support for their child. MOST will even embrace that their child is dyslexic and want to learn more about it and be the cheerleader their child needs to overcome the obstacles in their academic path. They just need time to process what you tell them. They need gentle reassurance that it will be alright. They want to know that their child can still achieve their dreams – and reach a level of success the parent envisioned for their child when they first held them in their arms. They need compassion, understanding, acceptance, and reassurance that YOU – the dyslexia therapist – have the training, expertise, experience, passion and determination to make sure their child will be OK.

Every parent is different just like very child is different. AND – most parents display reactions from more than one category. I have come to realize that I have to enter each meeting with an open mind and heart to expect the unexpected because, just like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.

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Dyslexia: Superpower?

New Year - Fresh Start

Teaching Kids to Read - When My Best Wasn't Enough

Passion for Dyslexia Therapy Drives a Whirlwind Start To Summer!

Parents are like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get!

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