Parents and friends, I'm excited to post this first part of a series on Dyslexia by NPR. Being dyslexic has it's challenges, for sure, but those who are dyslexic do not lack in intelligence. I will remind you of one of my favorite quotes about dyslexia which states: "Dyslexia is defined as a specific and significant impairment in reading abilities, unexplainable by any kind of deficit in general intelligence, learning opportunity, general motivation or sensory acuity." (Critchley, 1970)

Dyslexia, does however, have to do with a difficulty in being able to break words apart into syllables and sounds. This short piece by NPR touches on how difficult it is to read a big word such as galloping or discombobulated without proper training. The work I do with my students (and the general Orton-Gillingham approach) addresses this very issue. All of the work we do together is training the brain how to read a word, to recognize sounds, syllables, spelling patterns and rules in a logical way. Because of this very precise method of teaching, I'm proud to say that my students who have had training in decoding multi-syllable words would be able to confidently decipher both galloping and discombobulated. This program works!

Listen to the piece or read the transcript; invite your children to listen too. I bet they will identify with the people in the story.

I'm excited to hear what they will discuss in the next part of this series. Regardless, it has inspired me to write a piece on how the brain function of a dyslexic person differs in comparison to a "regular" brain. Most people are unaware of this and I find it to be the most interesting component to understanding dyslexia. Stay tuned!