About UsMy first profession is dental hygiene. I've spent a quarter of a century in the dental field, in practices focusing on pediatrics to periodontics and implantology. I still practice on a limited basis.
My journey into dyslexia began in 2014. My second child, Alex, was finishing preschool. My husband and I were worried that Alex could not retain letter and some number symbols despite exposure to good educational opportunities and being read to nightly. We decided to be proactive and enroll Alex in an additional year of preschool. He fell right in with his new peers; however, by the following spring it was clear that in terms of early literacy skills, Alex was in fact falling behind his new peers. I knew something was wrong, but didn't know what it was. His preschool teacher stated 'he's a bit of a mystery, isn't he?'. One day while cleaning the house, dyslexia popped into my mind. I wondered, could it be dyslexia? I found Susan Barton's video on bright solutions for dyslexia. She spoke about her nephew failing kindergarten and how that prompted her to learn more and eventually develop a fully scripted Orton Gillingham based reading and spelling system. Tears came rolling down my face, I knew what we were dealing with now. It's been quite the learning experience for me since that fateful day. Alex's school difficulties came to a head when he was a 6 year old in kindergarten. He knew he couldn't do what most of the other kids could do at this point and he developed severe school refusal. At the same time we received his official identification of being dyslexic and dysgraphic from a neuropsychologist (Pinellas County school district had found Alex's phonemic awareness deficit that summer during a pre-kat eval, yet they denied him services). We continued to attempt to work with the school system to improve Alex's situation, yet we were met with a lack of awareness and understanding, along with a dose of rudeness (being told 'your child's not even once exceptional, forget about twice' by a school psychologist) and incompetency (the interim guidance counselor who was suppose to speak with my son didn't manage to find the time to do so given an entire month). We decided it was time to try something else. I homeschooled Alex for a half of a year, along with the support of an OG tutor, a homeschool coop and a disappointing trial of full time virtual school. Subsequently, Alex enjoyed first grade at a Waldorf school and currently attends school at a dyslexia specialty school. Along with other parents in our community, I have been advocating in our district and state for improved identification and remediation of dyslexia in our public schools as well as for professional development to improve awareness of dyslexia and other learning disabilities. It is my passion to help struggling students by offering affordable literacy therapy. I've also gained significant knowledge in education law and state statutes during and after our family's experience, therefore, I am available to attend child study team and IEP meetings to help you advocate for your child's educational needs as well. |