Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 2, the Texas Education Freedom Act, establishing the country’s largest ESA or Education Savings Account which will launch in the 2026-2027 school year.
Visiting the Seattle Art Museum
Recently I had such a nice visit to the Seattle Art Museum. It reminded me of how well dyslexic strengths can be cultivated in the multisensory experiences that are museums. This past summer we had had a visit by Yuko Tsuji, a dyslexia advocate in Japan who spearheaded an effort to get Dyslexic Advantage translated into Japanese. The photo includes our son Krister, who is an artist and author illustrator of graphic novels. I had seen that there was a visiting exhibit featuring Hokusai’s wood block prints at the museum.
MUSEUM VISITS ARE MULTISENSORY STORY EXPERIENCES Today’s modern museums are rich multisensory experiences, with pictures and 3-dimensional works of every size and shape, and stories conveyed in pencil and paint, sculpture, […]
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My Child Won’t Go to School: What to Do About School Avoidance
By Dr. Dan Peters of Summit Center "Things were fine last year and now he wakes up with a stomachache and says he doesn’t want to go to school. It takes me forever to get him out the door. We are often late. He ends up screaming at me and telling me I am the...
Getting into Film and TV with Isla Mcdade-Brown
“I think that dyslexia is hard. And I think that it’s OK to admit that it’s hard…and also admit that sometimes it does really suck…but I think that when you find your niche, and that can only really come from taking random opportunities…it really helps you find your thing.” — Isla McDade-Brown, Filmmaker It’s hard not to be enthusiastic about Isla McDade-Brown, because of all her her resilience and pluckiness filming Brock at Cambridge University when he traveled to Britain. Isla had first contacted us about her film dissertation on dyslexia and although there were some challenges organizing logistics along the way, she traveled down from York (with her film partner Ella Clements) to film him. One of the unexpected challenges they had […]
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What to Do This Summer?
Summertime tends to be a great time for dyslexic students. The grinding schoolwork routine is gone – and school, if at all, has fewer time commitments and less time in a seat. TAKE A BREAK First, especially if your student has had a difficult school year with heavy workloads, make sure there’s sufficient time to rest, recover, and do different things. Many students need a chance to remember that life is not school and they are not their report cards. EXPLORE AND CONNECT Summer can be a great time to explore the world, pursue new interests, and spend time on hobbies. So many people have told us over the years that what matters the most to them in their career success had little to do […]
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Dyslexia in Popular Culture… Great or Cringe-Worthy?
With so much dyslexia in creative communities, it’s not surprising that more authors and screenwriters are including dyslexic characters in their works. The strength side is appearing more commonly, but is it great or will it make you cringe? The answer is, probably a little bit of both. First the GREAT – dyslexia has been in entertainment news lately as Kelly Clarkson has been sharing her interest in dyslexia after her 8 year old daughter was found to be dyslexic. In the YouTube clip below, Kelly asks Captain America Anthony Mackie about the latest script for his Avengers movie and he shares how he must log onto a site to read the top secret material. He has to read under the supervision of an intern […]
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![Question: How to Help with Reversals [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/reversals-300x250.png)
Question: How to Help with Reversals [Premium]
Question: My middle grade student still has trouble with reversals. What can I do to help? Answer: Reversals can occur in different contexts, so understanding the different causes can help determine the best solutions. PERSISTENT LETTER REVERSALS Reversals can be a normal developmental finding up until the age of seven years. After that, severe difficulties with letter reversals may require intensive training or even therapy. Letter Recognition Persistent letter recognition problems are usually helped by a variety of multisensory sensory and mnemonic approaches. Programs like Zoophonics combine little memory associations and character drawings to help improve letter recognition. Hand visual mnemonics may help some children to distinguish between the letters b and d, as shown in the bed image: See more: Usually older students develop […]
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![How to Survive and Thrive at Parent-Teacher Conferences [Premium]](https://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/How-to-Survive-and-Thrive-at-Parent-Teacher-Conferences-1.jpg)
How to Survive and Thrive at Parent-Teacher Conferences [Premium]
Some teachers find parent-teacher conferences the most stressful part of their job so it’s best to keep that in mind before you head off to the meeting. I remember we had “good” meetings and “bad”. The good ones seemed so easy – sit back and be presented with student work and positive comments. But there were also hard ones, frustrating ones, and depressing ones. People react to conflicts and crises in different ways – so that there can be psychological minefields for everyone involved in parent-teacher conferences – the parents, the teachers, and the students…and it all seems to go by so fast. BRING SOMEONE If you’re a single parent, bring someone with you – whether it’s a friend, fellow classroom parent, or relative. If […]
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Daily Thinker Fundraiser for Dyslexic Advantage – Thanks Preston!
Recently, we were contacted by a member of this community, Preston Ausbrook, who told us that she has been making The Daily Thinker quote calendars for family and friends since 2018. She asked if she could now donate all profits to Dyslexic Advantage! We were very touched and said yes! They are now for sale in her newly created Etsy store HERE. Preston said the idea for the calendars came from her dad who was a writer had a love of “all things literary” and was able to recall quotes from all different books. Preston said she never became a writer, but loved collecting other people’s words. When she had her own child, she would buy little quote calendars, and they had a regular routine […]
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Julia’s Project : Boosting the Esteem of Elementary Kids with Dyslexia
As promised in the last newsletter, here’s my interview with Julia de Montagnac of ColoringConfidence.com Julia shared her vivid memories of reading struggles in the 2nd and 3rd grades, and when the possibility of a service project came up, she wanted to interact with young students who might be undergoing some of the struggles she recalled. She was able to improve her reading and rejoin the general classroom, but she doubted her ability until she realized she that she wasn’t unintelligent. Her project with students involved drawing pictures to convey ideas and stories. English is one of her favorite and strongest subjects and she is an avid reader. Way to go, Julia! Thanks for sharing your story and finding such a creative way to boost […]
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Dyslexic Strengths in Times of Adversity
“…dyslexics sometimes seem unusually well suited to deal with major changes — to being able to see opportunities inside of adversity. They are known to be particularly good at rethinking situations in an original way. They are known to be able to see what others cannot see. They are good at not being stuck with conventional views and conventional solutions. They have trouble reading and memorizing old knowledge — but they are often really good at creating new knowledge and insights.” — Thomas G. West Tom West, author of Seeing What Others Do Not See, In the Mind’s Eye, and Thinking Like Einstein, has a wonderful article titled: Dyslexic Strengths in Times of Adversity. We thank the DAS, or Dyslexia Association of Singapore for letting […]
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Huge Win for Dyslexia in Federal Court
Federal Court Orders Clark County School District to Reimburse Parents $456,000. A federal court has ordered a school district to reimburse a family that had accumulated significant expenses to document their student's educational needs with dyslexia, ADHD, and...
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