Dyslexia: Failure is Not an Option

by Brittany Lovejoy

Brittany Lovejoy and her children with Vermont Governor, Peter Shumlin

I wish I would have known what was going on when my eldest daughter, Madeline, started learning to read. She hated it. She loved all of her other subjects but reading was painful. She used to hide under the table to avoid it. The most frustrating thing about this was that the school kept telling me that Madeline was fine. I was confused and bewildered. I knew that she needed more help than what she was getting. After years of research, we finally realized that Madeline has dyslexia.

Dyslexia runs in our family. I have it. My husband has it. All four of my children have it. Ever since Madeline started having trouble with reading I have been researching, advocating and fighting for my kids to get them all the support needed to allow them to succeed.

For Madeline, we hired tutors and even hired a professional advocate to help support and move us along. I’m happy to say that we are finally seeing results. Over this past summer she worked one-on-one with a tutor every day, twice a week with an instructor from the Stern Center and three times a week with a Wilson-trained tutor from her school. She is now on her way to overcoming her reading difficulties.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have known that our twins, Rita and Julia, were also likely to be challenged with dyslexia. In my research I had learned that people are genetically predisposed to dyslexia so their chances of developing it were higher. And, by two years of age the twins were already showing heavy speech articulation issues and as time went on they had a very difficult time with sound letter confusion. By the time they reached first grade I found myself in a similar spot with them as I had experienced with Madeline. The public school was unable to meet their needs.

Unlocking Literacy for My Student

by Jen Darrow

Have you ever had a student who did not know their letters and sounds coming into first grade? Who could not segment or blend sounds?

Over the past six years Crystal, a first grade teacher, and I, a special educator, have had many students who fit this profile. We were unable to find the key for these struggling readers and were becoming frustrated at not having the proper tools to meet these students’ needs. When consulting with outside sources, specialists would often recommend Orton-Gillingham (O-G). Due to lack of training, we were unable to offer this multi-sensory literacy approach to our students.

When given the opportunity to take O-G training through the Cynthia K. Hoehl Institute for Excellence at the Stern Center, we were eager to participate. We took a 30-hour Orton-Gillingham Classroom Educator course over the summer and dove headfirst into a yearlong 50 hour practicum. Thanks to a grant from the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators for 1st through 3rd grade classroom teachers, Crystal and several other classroom teachers were able to participate in the O-G course and practicum. Currently, there are six staff members at my school (three are special educators) doing this work.