Dyslexia Support: My Story

Too many bright, capable children spend years believing they are not smart—when in reality, they simply have dyslexia.

My journey to becoming a reading specialist began at Loyola Marymount University, where I earned my teaching credential in 2003. After graduation, I began teaching a fourth-grade gifted education class while completing my master’s degree in reading. I later pursued additional coursework to earn my reading specialist certification.

Throughout my career, I have taught nearly every elementary grade and have worked in vastly different educational settings—from affluent schools with abundant resources to a small rural farming community in Montana. Despite these diverse experiences, one troubling pattern remained the same: little was being done to provide effective intervention for students with dyslexia.

During my years in public education, I saw firsthand that students with dyslexia were often not receiving the support they needed. Schools frequently lacked dedicated intervention programs, and many teachers had not been trained to recognize the signs of dyslexia or provide appropriate instruction. I wanted to help these students, but I felt constrained by the limitations of the school curriculum.

That realization led me to take a leap of faith. I invested in specialized curriculum designed specifically for students with dyslexia and founded Montana Learning Solutions.

Today, I use the Barton Reading & Spelling System, based on the Orton-Gillingham approach and widely regarded as the gold standard for dyslexia intervention. The transformation I have witnessed in my students over the past decade has been extraordinary.

A few years after launching Montana Learning Solutions, I noticed that while many of my students were making tremendous gains in reading and spelling, they still struggled to organize their thoughts and write well-structured paragraphs and papers. After researching multiple writing programs, I repeatedly came back to the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), a program Susan Barton herself recommends for students with dyslexia.

It quickly became clear why. Many of my students had creative, detailed ideas but struggled to organize them into cohesive writing. Some wandered aimlessly on the page; others simply did not know how to begin. IEW provides a clear, step-by-step framework that makes writing manageable and successful, helping students create polished, thoughtful work across a variety of writing styles. My only regret is not incorporating it sooner.

Much of my dyslexia training has come outside of my formal university education. My Barton certification, extensive independent research, and ongoing professional development have all deepened my understanding of how students with dyslexia learn best.

Unfortunately, this reflects a much larger issue in education. Very few classroom teachers—including many in special education—receive adequate training in how to identify and teach students with dyslexia.

The good news is that with the right instruction, students with dyslexia can thrive. They are intelligent, capable learners who simply need to be taught in the way their brains learn best. If your child is struggling with reading, spelling, or writing, early intervention can make all the difference—and I would be honored to be part of that journey.