What do Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein and Stephen Spielberg have in common? Not only are they among the biggest game-changers in their fields, they achieved their feats while dealing with the challenges of dyslexia.
“I first bumped into dyslexia at my first school, when a third-grader took a swing at me,” said Bill O’Flanagan, head of school at The Liberty School, a private school in Durango that specializes in students with dyslexia, students who are gifted and those considered twice exceptional – dyslexic and gifted.
“It was my second week as a teacher, and I had just given him a 10 percent (grade) on a multiplication test. The tears were flowing. It turned out that while he knew his multiplication tables, the only one he got correct was 4 times 11 – 44 – because it was the only answer where he couldn’t reverse the numbers.”
The experience led to O’Flanagan’s now 44-year-long-and-counting career in the field.
“Now people know more about it, and those who have dyslexia are learning to cope better with it,” he said. “Gov. Hickenlooper (who’s dyslexic) tells his staff to only give him one-page report summaries, not 10 pages, because it will take him too long to get through otherwise.”
What is dyslexia?
Most people reading this story are using the left side of their brain to process letters into words. But functional MRIs have shown a “neurobiological signature for dyslexia,” specifically a disruption in the two left hemisphere systems in the back of the brain, according to a number of studies, including one by the Yale University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics. So people with dyslexia often use systems on the right side of their brain to compensate.
The International Dyslexia Association estimates 13 to 14 percent of the U.S. school-aged population deals with some form of dyslexia. It varies in severity and symptoms, but basic variations include reversing letters and numbers and having difficulty distinguishing “b” from “d,” “q” from “g” and other similar-looking letters and numbers.
In Colorado, dyslexia is not considered a distinct learning disability, said Randy Boyer, the state interim assistant commissioner for exceptional student services. Instead, dyslexia is grouped in the specific learning disability for reading.
“It takes a lot to tease out whether the student actually has a learning disability,” Boyer said. “Did the student have the opportunity to learn, or did they move around a lot? Are they at an economic disadvantage? Are other languages involved?”
Under Colorado’s new Reading to Ensure Academic Development Act, which went into effect July 1, the goal is to provide extra help to all students in kindergarten through third grade who are diagnosed with a significant reading deficiency.
The ultimate goal is to have all students reading at grade level by the end of third grade, said Jackie Oros, executive director of student services at Durango School District 9-R.
District 9-R, estimated to have 198 students who meet the criteria, will receive more than $72,000 in support from the state. Both the Bayfield and Ignacio school districts are estimated to have about 48 students who qualify for additional support, with about $17,500 of support coming from the state.
Teaching dyslexics
Johnny’s having a hard time reading, or Susie can’t keep up with the homework and is a terrible speller. Dyslexia is the diagnosis. Now what?
“We just have to wake up the part of the brain that turns sounds into letters and letters into sounds,” said Laura Kuniansky, a certified dyslexia intervention specialist at Liberty.
The school, which teaches students in first through eighth grades, uses the intensive Orton-Gillingham method, which employs a multisensory approach.
Liberty students approach reading and writing from a multitude of angles, including working one-on-one with tutors, fluency reading with volunteers and pursuing a variety of activities from crossword puzzles to worksheets to cement the skills learned with the tutor.
In 9-R, once a teacher notices that a student is having difficulties, different levels of evaluation and intervention follow, ranging from an informal assessment in the classroom to significant intervention through the special education department and the San Juan Board of Cooperative Education Services. A number of Orton-Gillingham-trained educators work for the district.
“Kids with standard learning disabilities need the gift of time and the right interventions,” Oros said. “They all develop at their own rate.”
Hope for the future
Eleven-year-old T.J. Gretz and his mother, Cheryl, moved from Castle Rock to Durango a few weeks ago for him to attend The Liberty School. He’s just one of several students who came to Durango to get the Liberty experience. Other families have moved here from Kirtland, N.M., Washington, Ind., the Virgin Island of St. Croix and even New Zealand via Texas.
It was both a choice and an investment, as annual tuition at Liberty is $12,900, although many students attend on partial scholarships.
If Terra Goens, 15, is any example, these families made a good move. Now a student at Big Picture High School, Terra, the daughter of Jesse and Renay Goens, wrote an expressive piece about her journey with dyslexia, which included bullying by other children and an extreme sense of isolation.
“Sending me to The Liberty School was the most important decision my parents ever made for me,” she wrote. “I get the satisfaction of knowing that with every word and sentence I write that I have proved the people who thought I was stupid wrong; I can learn.”
abutler@durangoherald.com
Terra Goens' Dyslexic Journey (PDF)
To volunteer
The Liberty School always is seeking volunteers to meet one-on-one with dyslexic students for fluency reading – working on accuracy and flow. Fluency reading takes place from 12:25 to 12:50 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.
To volunteer, call the school at 385-4834.
To learn more about dyslexia, visit the International Dyslexia Association’s website at www.interdys.org.
