When Cassie Clark first learned about the Wilson Reading System® (WRS) in 2015, she was simply a mother searching for answers. Her daughter had just been diagnosed with dyslexia, and the WRS instruction she was receiving at school was leading to tremendous progress.
Curious to learn more and better support her child, Cassie attended a three-day WRS introductory course. “At the time, I never would have imagined that those three days would ignite a whole new passion, purpose, and career path to which I have devoted myself ever since,” she recalls.
What began as a quest to help her daughter soon became a calling. Cassie pursued Level I and Level II Certification, left her corporate career, and cofounded the EAC Dyslexia Center—now a Wilson® Accredited Training Partner.
In July 2020, Cassie began a new chapter—one that would change the way she thought about literacy instruction. That summer, her friend Beth Ann Martinis reached out. “I knew I had dyslexia,” Beth Ann says. “My husband had encouraged me for years to seek help. I finally felt ready to try.”
Cassie administered the WADE assessment, and together they began working through WRS. It was Cassie’s first time teaching an adult student. “I understood the high level of trust Beth Ann was placing in me,” Cassie says. “She’s empathetic, resilient, and incredibly self-aware. We connected on many levels, and that helped foster a supportive environment.”
Beth Ann was nervous at first. “I wondered if it would really work. I kept questioning myself,” she says. But the program’s structured, cumulative approach quickly reassured her. “When I didn’t understand something, we went back over it until I retained it.”
For nearly five years, they met regularly—online and in person—pushing through challenges, celebrating wins, and building a partnership rooted in trust. Beth Ann’s self-awareness became a teaching asset. “She was metacognitive—able to share her thinking and help me adjust my instruction,” Cassie says. “I learned as much from her as she did from me.”
One breakthrough came when Beth Ann conquered her “nemesis” words, sign and sing, and began hearing sounds within words more clearly than ever. With each milestone, her confidence grew—not only as a reader, but as a person capable of taking on new challenges.
“I’m confident now. I actually pick things up and read them for fun,” Beth Ann says. That newfound confidence also gave her the courage to open a Kona Ice franchise—something she once thought she couldn’t manage. “I doubted myself and my ability to do the paperwork, emails, and business stuff. But now I have two trucks, and it’s going great.”
Their formal WRS journey ended in May 2025, but the impact continues. Inspired by Beth Ann, Cassie now works more frequently with high school, college, and adult learners, and serves on the board of Everyone Reading Illinois to create new opportunities for adults with dyslexia.
Beth Ann’s advice for other adults considering WRS? “It’s worth the time and investment. Don’t quit. Even when you feel like nothing is changing, it is. You’ll see results.”
And if she could go back to that first meeting in 2020, she knows exactly what she’d say to herself: “You can do hard things—and for once in your life, put yourself first.”
Their story proves it’s never too late—for literacy, for growth, and for changing the path ahead.