As a parent of a child with dyslexia, I came to this world of reading wars, phonics, balanced literacy, leveled readers, and other instructional methods that we argue about, as an innocent. I merely wanted to know why our daughter was struggling so much, and why nobody could help her […]
“The greatest enemy of progress is the illusion of knowledge.” John Young, Astronaut Several years ago, I was working as a contractor in the educational publishing industry. The scope of one of our contracts was to build curricula for a few disciplines so the publisher could assess whether to pursue […]
I can’t tell you why a “c” sounds like an “s” in the word certain. Without Googling, I can’t tell you why certain patterns of letters make a specific sound. Ask our daughter. She has an understanding of alphabetics, phonemic awareness and she understands the particular rules that make letters […]
Educational publishers are important stakeholders in the educational landscape, but you don’t hear much about them, and rarely do you hear what they are doing right. One area where publishers are doing a lot right is accessibility. Accessibility is usually considered within the context of assistive technology, but it’s actually […]
Our backstory: Fifty years ago, my husband was labeled as stupid or unintelligent. It was easier for him to become a class clown. Only one high school English teacher recognized his struggles and intelligence and encouraged him. Twenty years ago, our daughter with dyslexia was labeled lazy by one […]
It’s Dyslexia Awareness Month and the perfect time to consider why the alphabet is so much more than A, B, C. Each October, Dyslexia Awareness Month generates awareness about the 1 in 5 people who have difficulty decoding words because of a challenge at the most basic level in […]
New York is making progress towards better dyslexia awareness, and the acknowledgment of science-based approaches to reading. That’s the good news! As a parent, though, what I want to know is will the guidance memo change anything. Will more teachers get trained? Will we get more effective services? In August […]
Each summer, families like ours, with kids with reading and learning issues, have endless debates about our school options for the following academic year. “What are you going to do about school next year?” “We’re in due process. Maybe our district will pay for a specialized school.” “We were moved […]
Nobody likes to tell little white lies about dyslexia services for school-age children, but that’s where we are. What would you do to change the educational climate of teachers and or the kids they teach with reading issues such as dyslexia? We have to do something, and as parents and […]
“It will get better. Your daughter will be OK,” said a friend whose daughter with a reading issue recently started college. Many times, throughout the years, parents of an older child with a reading issue like dyslexia would assure us that their kid was doing fine; enjoying college, succeeding in […]