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My Journey with Austin


Wilson from Austin’s Perspective 

(as told by Misty)

Wilson was challenging at first. Then, once I got the hang of it, it was easier. It felt weird at first doing Wilson because I didn’t know what a suffix was, a bonus letter, or any other rule. I wasn’t even sure about capital and lower-case letters. I had no idea what I was doing. Now, I know what all the rules are from Step 1.1 to 6.1, and I can read! Wilson means learning to me. Wilson has helped me in class and in writing assignments, as well as science and reading in my class. Wilson helped me learn football plays because I can read the play list. I can now figure out the name of the move because I can read it. Wilson rocks!

Submitted by Misty Simco, Philipsburg, PA

(An excerpt of Misty Simco’s letter) 

During the 2011/2012 school year, our district decided to certify all of their special education teachers in Level I of the Wilson Reading System®. My practicum student was third-grader Austin R. Austin showed signs of having dyslexia as well as ADHD and speech dysfunction. We started at WRS Step 1.3 and spent many 60-minute lessons at just Step 1.3. By the end of the practicum, Austin had made it to Step 4.1 and was actually reading without guessing. 

I was convinced that Wilson was the program for him, and I was determined that he was going to read. You see, his mother had been diagnosed with stage four cancer during this  practicum year, and she asked me to promise to help her little boy read. That was a promise I could not break. Now in fourth grade, Austin has been soaring.

I have fallen in love with how the Wilson Reading System lights up the reading tunnel of struggling readers. In the words of Austin, Wilson Rocks! 

This story originally appeared as an article in the Autumn 2013 publication of The Decoder