My Story
Education Background
My journey to becoming a Reading Specialist began at Loyola Marymount University where I received my teaching credential in 2003. I began teaching a fourth grade gifted education class after graduation while completing my Master’s Degree in Reading. I took additional classes after my Master’s Degree to obtain a certificate to be a Reading Specialist. I taught nearly all elementary grades and in those years, also relocated to Montana. I was able to see both ends of the educational spectrum and nearly everything in between during my public education career. I taught at very wealthy schools that had a multitude of advantageous resources and also a small farming school in a very rural area. However, there was one common thread. Little to nothing was being done to help students with dyslexia.
After working in public schools, I realized that students with dyslexia were not getting their needs met, not by a mile. The schools didn’t have an intervention program in place specifically written to remediate dyslexia, nor did they have the teacher training necessary to even know how dyslexia presented itself. Because most teachers didn’t know how to identify possibly dyslexic students, the students failed to receive appropriate instruction. I was desperate to help these students but could only do so much with the curriculum the schools had purchased for us to use if they had a reading curriculum at all. So, I took a leap of faith, purchased my own curriculum that was proven to help students with dyslexia, and opened Montana Learning Solutions. I now teach using the Barton Reading & Spelling System. It is the gold standard in reading instruction and I have been blown away by the success I have seen over the last decade with all the students have been able to work with. It is truly transformational.
A few years after launching MLS, I noticed that my students were making huge gains with spelling and reading but still weren't sure how to organize and write a well-written paragraph or paper. I looked into several different programs but kept coming back to IEW. I was, in fact, the one program Susan Barton herself championed as the best program for students with dyslexia. After looking through it more thoroughly, I could easily tell why. So many of my students had such creative, detailed ideas and had so much to say but when it came to putting pencil to paper, they struggled. It seemed like some students would ramble on and on with no clear destination and other students didn't even know where to start. Luckily, IEW takes the guesswork out of that process and teaches students in a step-by-step format how to create a polished, comprehensive paper, regardless of the style they are instructed to use. IEW was the standout choice to help these students and my only regret is not purchasing it sooner.
A lot of my training in dyslexia has fallen outside of my studies at University. The certification process in the Barton Reading & Spelling System as well as my own research and outside studies are where the bulk of my knowledge surrounding dyslexia has come from. The frustrating piece is that my past teaching experience is typical of most classroom teachers. Very few classroom teachers, including special education teachers, are trained in teaching students with dyslexia or informed about how it affects approximately 20% of the population. This means that in a classroom with 30 students, 5-6 students likely have dyslexia and their teachers and parents often don’t know.
Advocacy for Learners
Dyslexia Advocates across the state of Montana worked tirelessly in 2019 to pass SB0140. I was grateful to be able to spotlight the bill through our local NBC news station (see link below).
The bill was passed, but unfortunately, we haven’t seen any real changes within our local school districts so far. Even with the best accommodations in place, students with dyslexia are still needing outside, private tutoring because their school does not have screenings to identify students, an evidence-based intervention for dyslexia, and teachers trained to recognize warning signs.
My Mission
I would be remiss here to not include my most favorite and what I consider the most important part of my job. Many students begin their tutoring journey with me feeling very down on themselves. Dyslexia does not only affect a person’s ability to read and spell, it can also have devastating effects on their emotional well-being. Students with dyslexia also have feelings of anger, low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. These students know they are not learning in the same way many of their classmates are. They feel different and often report they are “stupid” because everyone else is performing better than they are in school. Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth. These students are just as intelligent, if not more so, than their peers. They just need to be taught in a way that makes sense to the way their brain works. It doesn’t take long once they start tutoring for things to start clicking for them. We spend time talking about all the famous dyslexics of the world (Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg, etc.). We look at statistics that show at least 40% of CEOs in Fortune 500 companies are dyslexic.
Why is this? It is because they used their dyslexic advantage; their ability to think differently, and find solutions, create products, and imagine worlds that left-brained counterparts often can’t envision.